The OE noun phrase: noun classes/declensions

PDE nouns

• productive: plural in –s
• non-productive
• mutated: foot, tooth, goose
• moose? no...
• zero: sheep, deer
• moose, fish (OE fiscas 'fish')
• –en: oxen, brethren
• children (OE cild 'children')

OE noun declensions

They slew then at once with sword’s edge

Hi ofslogon ða sona mid swurdes ecge:

• weras (men)
• assan (asses)
• wifmen (women)
• scep (sheep)
• ða wepende cild (the weeping children)
• ealle ðingc (all things)
• hryðera (oxen)

Main OE noun classes:

‘Strong’ or ‘a-stem’ (*Gmc root + a + inflection)

-Masculine

• most common in OE (about 1/3 nouns)
• source of PDE -s
• se weall, ðá weallas; [GS8] twegen penegas
• ðæs wealles ‘the wall’s’

-Neuter

• model for PDE zero-plurals
• ðæt scéap, ða scéap
• ðæt word, ða word

-Feminine:

§ séo brycg, ða brycga; [GS6] wrð his wunda

‘Weak’ or ‘consonantal’ or ‘n-stem’ (*Gmc root + n + inflection, like Latin homo, hominis)

· source of PDE -en

o masculine: sé blinda; sé nama, ða nama

o neuter: ðæt eage ‘eye’, ða eagan

o feminine: séo cyrice ‘church’, ða cyrican

§ can’t tell gender in plural: [GS1] on þ sceaðan

Mutated plurals or ‘root consonant’ stem

· se tóð “the tooth”, ða téð “the teeth”

• nb. dative singular ðam téð ‘for the tooth’:
• nb. dative plural ðam tóðum ‘for the teeth’
• And hu miht þu secgan þinum breþer...

OE: grammatical gender

· predicts correlation of nouns with (e.g.) pronouns: “My sister lost her marbles; she’s mad.”

§ doesn’t always correspond with biological gender

o grammatically masculine: sé mann, sé wífmann, se diacon, se leorning-cniht, sé æppel, se béam, sé múð

o biologically female: sé wífmann, séo hlæfdige, ðæt wíf

Sg     Acc  M          He loves the woman          ðone wifmann / hine

                    F          He loves the queen          ðá cwén / hí

                    N          He loves the maiden          ðæt mægden / hit

§ not usually evident from the form of the noun

o gást (m.), rest (f.), dúst (n.)

o stán, múð (m.), bán, wíf (n.), ród (f.)  

· predicts/indicated by the form of the pronoun (e.g. personal, demonstrative) or adjective accompanying it

Hi forbærndon ða ða burh & ðæt ðe binnan hyre wæs

They burned then the city &  that which within it was

Ælc treow is be his wæstme oncnawen

Each tree is by its fruit known

Gað nu ... & lædað ut ðæt wif, ðe eowrum life geheolp

Go now   & lead  out  that woman who your life helped

& ða ðe hyre to lociað, lædað of ðisre byrig

& those who belong to her, lead from this town

§ can be variable within OE : ðæt wíf ... hyre is ‘biological’ gender!

OE pronouns

Many grammar words are more familiar than you think, e.g.

• æ:lc, ænig, eall, hwylc, nán, sum, swylc
• sum ‘a certain, ...’

Hwylc þra þrora: “which of the three...”

Personal pronouns

§ number (sg./pl.): I/we; she/they

o not in ‘second person’

§ person (1, 2, 3): I; you; he

o speaker; addressee

§ gender (f.,m.,n.): she, he, it

o only in third person singular

§ case (subject, possessive, object): we, our, us

o object:

§ after a verb, e.g. introduced us

§ after a preposition, e.g. to us.

Clause element	Identifying it	Example (with a personal pronoun)
Subject	Usually appears before the verb. OE: nominative case.	We are getting married.
Object: Direct	Usually follows SV. Typically refers to some person or thing directly affected by the action expressed by the verb. OE: accusative case.	Our friend introduced us
Object: indirect	Typically refers to an animate being which is the recipient of the action. OE: dative case.	My grandmother gave us her car. / gave her car to us.

OE and PDE first person pronouns:

First person sg.	OE	PDE	First person pl.	OE	PDE
Nominative	ic	I	Nominative	wé	we
Genitive	mín	my, mine	Genitive	úre	our(s)
Accusative Dative	mé	me	[Objects:] Accusative Dative	ús	us

OE and PDE second person pronouns

	OE 2 sg.	OE 2 pl.	PDE 2^nd (sg., pl.)
Nominative	ðú	gé	you
Genitive	ðín	éower	your, yours
Accusative, Dative	ðé	éow	you

OE and PDE second person pronouns

§ unlike PDE, OE distinguished number

§ OE 2 pl. > PDE pl. and sg.:

o “Hwæt sægst ðú, fugelere?”

o   What  say    you  bird-er?

o PDE compensations: y’all, youse, you guys

§ OE 2 pl. ‘object’ form has generalized into the ‘subject’:

o “forwhi swá geornlice leorni gé?”

o why        so    eagerly   study you?

OE 1^st and 2^nd person pronouns

§ progressive: already had one form for ‘accusative’ and ‘dative’ functions

§ conservative: had ‘dual’ gender as well as plural

o ‘marked’ even in OE: wit ‘the two of us’

o Abram cwæð tó Lothe: “Wit sind gebróðru.”

OE and PDE third person pronouns

Third person	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Plural
N	hit it	hé he	héo, hí, hy.  [she]	híe, hí, hy [they]
G	his      [its]	his his	hiere, hire ] her(s)	hiera, hira, hyra [their(s)]
A	hit it	hine  [him]	híe, hí, hý [her]	híe, hí, hý [them]
D	him     [it]	him him	hiere, hire, her	him [them]

for ðan ðe heo urum ærendracum arfæstnysse cydde

because     ___  (to) our messengers    mercy      showed

Hy ... læddon hi of ðære byrig ...

They   led      her from the city

& hi syððan leofodon mid sibbe betwux him

& they afterward lived with peace among them.

she    saw       him he    saw  her? them?

héo          geseah hine hé geseah hí

OE vs. PDE third person pronouns

§ later innovations: PDE she; they, their, them

o fem. and pl. have confusable NGA forms:

§ hí ‘she? her? they? them?

o D form confusable for masc., neut., pl.:

§ him ‘to them’? ‘to him’? ‘to it’?

· sometimes the context helps

§ distinct accusative and dative forms later levelled under one

§ 3 sg. only category to distinguish gender

Demonstrative pronouns

§ PDE demonstratives this, that:

o indicate proximity or distance from the speaker

o indicate number: these, those

§ OE: give a lot of information about case, number, and (in sg.) gender

· nom. sg.: séo hlæfdige (f.), sé wífmann (m.), ðæt wíf (n.)

· nom. sg.: séo heorte (f.), sé múð (m.), ðaet tréow (n.)

§ OE: ðeos, ðes, ðis

o cf. PDE demonstrative ‘this’; also emphatic

§ OE: séo, sé, ðæt (acc. ðá, ðone, ðæt)

o cf. PDE demonstrative ‘that’, definite ‘the’

o cf. OE personal pronouns héo, hé, hit (hí, hine, hit)

héo                                 hine

séo hlaefdige geseah ðone guman

The lady          saw          the man

hé                         hí

sé guma geseah ðá hlæfdian

The man  saw    the lady

Đa forlét se cyng ða hlaefdian séo wæs gehálgod him tó cwéne

Then abandoned the king the lady who was hallowed as his queen

‘Case’ in the noun phrase—some basics (see Problems 5.15 for more)

Nominative

§ case of the subject of the sentence (activity)

Seo burh wæs mid weallum ymbtrymed.

The city was with walls surrounded.

[GS3] h hine forbh

he turned (himself) away

Segst þu, mæg se blinda þone blindan lædan?

Say thou, may a blind man lead a blind man?

Accusative

§ case of the direct object of most verbs (passivity)

Hi forbærndon ða ða burh

[GS3] h hine forbh he turned (himself) away

Segst þu, mæg se blinda þone blindan lædan?

Say thou, may a blind man lead a blind man?

Nis god treow þe yfelne wæstm deð

It isn’t a good tree that produces bad fruit.

§ case of the object of some prepositions (or of prepositions of movement, destination)

Sacerdas bæron ðæt Godes scrin ymbe ða burh.

priests bore the God’s ark around the city

þ h wæs wið þ stwe

when he was at the place

hu ne feallaþ hi begen on þone pytt?

how not-fall they both into the pit?

geldde on his lcehs

led [him] to his hospital

Dative

§ case of the indirect object (sharing)

ðe him hringas geaf who gave him/them rings

Þes stánwyrhta geaf þæm stáne híw.

The stonemason gave (to) the stone form

And hu miht þu secgan þinum breþer

And how might thou say to thy brother

brhte ðrum dæge twgen penegas, and sealde þm lce

[he] brought [on] the next day two pennies, and gave [them] to the doctor

§ case of the object of most prepositions (or of prepositions denoting stasis)

þu sylf ne gesyhst þone beam on þinum agenum eagan

thou self seest not the beam in thine own eye

& læddon hi of ðære byrig; and led her from the city

mid weallum ymbtrymed          with walls surrounded

Ælc treow is be his wæstme oncnawen Each tree is by its fruit known

yfel man of yfelum goldhorde yfel forðbringþ from evil gold-hoard

Genitive

§ often equivalent to PDE ‘s, of (possessive and otherwise)

Đæs stánes micelnes is wundorlic.

the stone’s size is marvellous

of ðæs tréowes wæstme ðe is ...

of the tree’s fruit which is...

of the fruit of the tree which is...

of ðaera tréowa waestme ðe synd ..

of the fruit of the trees which are ....

of þines broðor eagan

from thy brother’s eye

[GS9] Begym hys

take care of him

[GS10] Hwylc þra þrora þyncð þ þæt s þæs mg

Which of the three (seems to you) that might-be that one’s neighbour

Instrumental

§ relating to the means of manner of an action

Hé slóh þone mann þy stáne.

He struck the man (with) the stone