Old English Syntax

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this work is to chart the whole realm of the syntax of Old English. It adopts the formal descriptive approach and the traditional Latin-based grammar because, as the book states, these remain the most serviceable for the study of Old English syntax. As far as is possible, Old English usage is described and differences between Old and Modern English noted, with special reference to those phenomena which are the seeds of characteristic Modern English idioms. Volume I sets out the general principles of concord in Old English and examines the parts of speech, the elements of the simple sentence and the types of simple and multiple sentences, and the complex sentence (including sections on punctuation, subordination and hypotaxis, correlation and anticipation, and the order and arrangement of clauses). Old English syntax has been much less intensively studied than the syntax of the classical languages. There are many difficulties in the way of making definitive statements They include the absence of native informants and of a knowledge of intonation patterns, limitations in the size and range of the corpus, the difficulty in assigning definite dates and locations to texts, problems of punctuation, and the possibility of later scribal changes. Hence this book does not lay down ‘rules’ but rather offers suggestions, demonstrates – where appropriate – the possibility of different interpretations, summarizes the present state of knowledge about the phenomena discussed, and indicates possible lines of future research.