OE
word order
(examples
from Millward’s Workbook and from Bruce Mitchell’s Invitation to Old
English & Anglo-Saxon England Blackwell, 1995; references to Pyles
& Algeo points about Syntax, pp. 116-118)
1.
Some general issues before we get to the specifics of word order
OE
prose quite ‘paratactic’ (more coordination than subordination)--P&A 15
Linking
with and (and adverbials with meanings like ‘so, also’)
Iosua
ða swa dyde,
& sacerdas baeron ðæt Godes
scrin ymbe da burh, ælce dæge æne, & oðre seofon blewon mid
sylfrenum byman,
& hi ealle to fyrdwicon
ferdon æfter ðam.
OE
poetry had freer syntax..
and
used a lot of apposition (‘variation’)
Apposition: when two (or more) words,
phrases, or clauses have the same reference. Our
cat Bert is a very fine
fellow.
Denum
eallum wæs,
winum
Scyldinga, weorce
on mode
to
geðolianne, ðegne monegum,
oncyð eorla gehwæm, syððan
Æscheres
on
ðam holm-clife hafelan metton.
(from Beowulf)
For all the Danes – for the leaders of the Scyldings and for many a thane – it was an anguish to be suffered in the heart, a painful thing for every one of the earls...(tr. Bradley)
It
was a sore blow
To
all of the Danes, friends of the Scyldings,
a
hurt to
each and every one
of
that noble company ...(tr. Heaney)
2. Word
order within the sentence -- P&A 14
Independent
clauses
often have SV(O) word order:
Hi
forbærndon ða ða burh & ðæt ðe binnan hyre wæs.
They
burned (up) then the city & that which within her was.
And
imperative constructions generally have V(S)O:
Gað nu to ðam huse, ðær ge
behydde wæron, & lædað ut ðæt wif, ðe eowrum life geheolp...
Go
now to the house, where ye hidden were, and lead out the woman, who your life
helped
Sometimes
you’ll find VS after an adverbial
[ða]
sæton hie ðone winter æt Cwatbrycge.
Then
stayed they that winter at Bridgnorth.
[ðy
ilcan geare] sende Ælfred cyning sciphere on East-Engle
That
same year sent Alfred king (a) fleet into
East Anglia
But not always
[On
ðam seofoðan daege] hi ferdon seofon siðon ymb ða burh.
On
the seventh day they went
seven times around the city.
Sometimes
you’ll find OV when the O is a pronoun
ða
burgware hie gefliemdon
the
townsfolk them routed.
And
poets can play...
O?
S? V
S?O? S O O
Wudu
bær sunu fæder fyr and sweord
Wood
bore son father fire and sword
[wudu and sunu are from an
irregular declension: can be NA sg.]
OVS:
Isaac
(Old
Testament: when God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son)
SVO: Christ
(New
Testament: when the Christian God sacrifices his only son)
Dependent
clauses often
have verb-final (e.g. S (O/C) V):
E.g.
in adverbial clauses of place (ðær ‘where’)
ðær
ge behydde wæron
where
ye hidden were [SCV]
E.g.
in adjective clauses (ðe ‘that, which’; also introduced with demonstratives
like se, ðaet)
ðæt
folc ... ða burston ða weallas, ðe ða burh behæfdon, endemes to
grunde
the
folk ... then burst the walls, which
the city surrounded [SOV], completely to ground
Gað
nu to ðam huse, ðær ge behydde wæron, & lædað ut ðæt wif, ðe eowrum
life geheolp...
Go
now to the house, where ye hidden were, and lead out the woman, who your
life helped [SOV]
Hi
forbærndon ða ða burh & ðæt ðe binnan hyre wæs.
They
burned (up) then the city & that which within her was.[S..V]
E.g.
in ‘correlative clauses’ (ða ... ða ‘when (S..V)...
then (VS)’)
ða he geseah, ða
aras he
when
he saw [SV],
then arose he [VS]
ða he ða ðas andsware onfeng,
ða ongan he sona singan
when
he then this answer received [SOV], then began he immediately to sing [VS]
Impersonal verbs -- P&A 10
regularly
have no expressed subject
what
we would think of as the subject is in the accusative or dative case
e.g.
methinks ‘it seems to me’
hine ðyrste hwylum and
hwilum hingrode
[it]
him thirsted at times and at times [it] hungered
me gelicode
me
[it] pleased, it was pleasing to me
3. Uninflected
parts of speech & syntax of the sentence:
Adverbs
(including negation), Conjunctions, Prepositions
Adverbs
Sometimes
formed from nouns (genitive, dative case inflections)
E.g.
hwilum ‘at times’ (Spenser’s whilom) has dative –um
hine ðyrste hwylum and
hwilum hingrode
[it]
him thirsted at times and at times [it] hungered
E.g.
“I work nights” is from nihtes ‘by night’ genitive –es
Næfde
se here ... Angelcyn ealles forswiðe gebrocod.
Not-had
the army ... England completely utterly crushed.
But
mostly formed from adjectives
Hiericho
seo burh wæs ... fæste belocen for ðes folces tocyme.
Jericho
the city was ... firmly locked up in preparation for the people’s
arrival.
his
nama wearð gewidmærsod wide geond ðæt land
his
name became celebrated widely throughout the land
Negation
-- P&A 13
Ne always precedes the word it
negates
hi ne
dorston ut faran ne in faran for him
they
not dared out go nor in go because of them.
Ne could negate parts of
speech other than verbs
n-án
‘not one’
n-ænig ‘not any’
Ne could fuse with words that
began with vowels, /h/ or /w/
Nis = ne + is
Næfde = ne + hæfde
Nolde = ne + wolde
Multiple
negation used for emphasis
ge nan
ðingc ne hreppon on reafe ne on feo ðæt ge ne beon
scyldige...
ye
none thing not touch as plunder nor as property (so) that ye not
be guilty ...
[Orpheus’s
harp charmed the animals so much that]
nán heort ne onscunode nánne
léon ne nán hara nænne hund ...
no hart
not shunned no lion
nor no hare no hound
for
ðære mergðe ðæs sónes
for the mirth/joy (of) the sound
Conjunctions
Some
are familiar. E.g.
ðæt can introduce dependent
noun clauses
We
secgað [to soðan] ðæt se tima wæs gesælig and wynsum
We
say[ in truth] that the time was happy and joyful.
ðæt ‘so that’ can introduce
clauses of purpose or result
Don’t
touch anything, ðæt ge ne beon scyldige...
[so] that ye not be guilty
ðær
‘there,
where’
Gað nu to ðam huse, ðær
ge behydde wæron
Go
now to the house, where ye hidden were
Many
aren’t familiar
ðá: adverb ‘then’? conjunction
‘when’? demonstrative?
ða he geseah, ða
aras he
when
he saw, then arose he
ðe: your all-purpose
subordinator (try ‘that, which’)
Hi
forbærndon ða ða burh & ðæt ðe binnan hyre wæs.
They
burned (up) then the city & that which within her was.
Multiword
conjunctions:
preposition + demonstrative + ðe
for
ðan ðe heo
urum ærendracum arfæstnysse cydde
because she (to) our messengers
mercy showed
Probably
arise from a reanalyzed prepositional phrase
for
ðan ðe: ‘because of this: that...”
ær
ðan ðe ‘before this: that...’
E.g.
ða [on ðam ilcan dæge] æfter ðam ðe hie ðis gesprecen hæfdon
then
[on the same day] after that (on) which they had spoken this
fohton
Gallie on ða burg
the
Gauls fought against the city
Correlatives
E.g.
ða ... ða ‘when (S..V)... then (VS)’)
ða he geseah, ða
aras he
when
he saw, then arose he
E.g.
ðonne ... ðonne ‘whenever (S...V) .. then (VS)
ðonne he geseah ða
hearpan ðonne arás he
whenever
he saw the harp then arose he
E.g.
ðær ... ðær ‘where (SV) ... there (VS)’
ðær ðin gold is ðær
is ðin heorte
Prepositions
In
OE can sometimes follow pronoun objects
God
sende ða sona sumne encgel him to
God
sent then at once a certain angel to him.
Not
all OE prepositions have survived into PDE
Hiericho
seo burh wæs mid weallum ymbtrymed
Jericho
the city was with walls surrounded
...
hi ferdon seofon siðon ymb ða burh.
Some
OE prepositions have changed in meaning
&
lædde hi of ðære byrig mid eallum hyre magum
&
led her _____the city with all
her kinsmen
&
fæste belocen for ðes folces tocyme.
and
firmly locked against the people’s arrival.
hi
ne dorston ut faran ne in faran for him
they
not dared out go not in go because of them.
God
wæs ða mid Iosue on eallum his weorcum.
God
was then with Joshua in all his works.
4. Syntax
within the Noun and Verb Phrases – some final observations
4a.
Noun phrases
Modifiers
tend to be close to the words they modify (but poets can play)...
syððan
Æscheres
on
ðam holm-clife hafelan metton.
(from Beowulf)
whenas
Æschere’s
Head
they
met on that holm-cliff (tr.
Scott-Moncrieff)
when
they came upon
Aeschere’s
head at the
foot of the cliff. (tr. Heaney)
You
won’t find as many ‘articles’ in OE (P&A 6)
[ðy
ilcan geare] sende Ælfred cyning sciphere on East-Engle
That
same year sent Alfred king (a) fleet into
East Anglia
to
Myrcena lande
to
(the) land (of the) Mercians
Some
implications of noun ‘case’
Within
the noun phrase, demonstratives and adjectives have to ‘agree’ with the noun in
number, gender, and case (P&A 2):
Ic
do ðas burh Hiericho on ðinum gewealde
I put
this city Jericho into
your power {dative singular}
for
ðan ðe heo urum ærendracum arfæstnysse cydde
because she (to) our messengers mercy
showed
{dative pl.}
Genitive
sg. feminine (scyldig’guilty’ takes genitive: ‘guilty of’)
ðæt
ge ne beon scyldige sceamlicre forgægednysse
that
ye not be guilty (of) disgraceful transgression
OE
noun cases and PDE prepositions -- P&A 1
“Because
the case endings of OE made many syntactic relations clear, the language needed
fewer prepositions than are used in PDE.” (Millward 105)
Dative
|| to
for
ðan ðe heo urum ærendracum arfæstnysse cydde
because she (to) our messengers mercy
showed
Genitive
|| of -- P&A 5
ðæt
ge ne beon scyldige sceamlicre forgægednysse
that
ye not be guilty (of) disgraceful transgression
swa
hwaet swa her goldes byð
whatever here (of) gold is
4b.
Verb phrases (OE used fewer than PDE)--P&A 7
OE
prefixed verbs sometimes || PDE verb phrases -- P&A 9
Hiericho
seo burh wæs ... fæste belocen for ðes folces tocyme.
Jericho
the city was ... firmly locked up in preparation for the people’s
arrival.
Hi
forbærndon ða ða burh & ðæt ðe binnan hyre wæs.
They
burned (up/down) then the city & that which within her was.
OE tenses more 'overworked' than PDE
Subjunctive
mood || PDE verb phrases
Sy [indic: is, bið] ðeos
burh amansumod & eall ðæt bið on hyre,
Be this city cursed, & all
that is in it, [PDE: Let ... be]
buton
Raab ana libbe [indicative: leofað] & ða ðe lociað to
hyre,...
except
Rahab alone live & those who belong to her
Beo [indic bið] se
awyrged, ðe æfre eft geedstaðelie [indic. –lað] ðas buruh
Hiericho.
Be
he cursed, who ever again (might) reestablish this city Jericho.
semantically, often associated with
unreal states
e.g. wishes (curses!), clauses of purpose,
condition, &c.
grammatically,
formed by adding –e (sg.) and –en
(pl.) to present and past stems