Semantics and syntax in Old English mood selection

Morgan Macleod,Howard Jones

doi:10.1111/1467-968x.12191

Abstract

AbstractA principled model of mood selection in Old English (OE) has long proved elusive. We analyse the distribution of the indicative and subjunctive in the OE Bede in light of the Latin original, the syntactic construction, and a semantic model of modality which classifies clauses according to whether the situation is represented as holding in the actual world or in a possible world. The choice of mood in the Latin and OE Bede differs enough to rule out slavish imitation. In certain clauses, such as result and purpose clauses, the construction type, modality, and grammatical mood all match; however, in other clauses, such as concessives, the OE subjunctive is systematically used whether the situation is represented as actual or possible. Where the grammatical mood of OE forms is ambiguous, modal verbs are often seemingly used as a substitute for the subjunctive. Our results show that while the choice of mood in the OE Bede largely correlates with the syntactic construction, the subjunctive is close to being semantically redundant. This growing redundancy may have been one of the factors in the diminishing role of inflectional mood in the later history of English.

Highlights

Despite the wealth of descriptive material available, no comprehensive semantic account exists of the factors governing mood selection in Old English
We review each of the principal clause types found in the Old English (OE) Bede and distinguish between those which refer to the actual ‘w’ world and those which include at least some reference to worlds defined as ‘∃w’ or ‘≠w’
In some languages, including Present-Day English (PDE), a condition may be open, but the fulfilment of the condition is represented as a supposition rather than neutrally, as in If there should be/were to be smoke, there would be fire. We model these conditional sentences as representing situations obtaining in a possible world which does not rule out the actual world, as follows: 28. (If there should be/were to be smoke, there would be fire)∃w

Summary

Introduction

Despite the wealth of descriptive material available, no comprehensive semantic account exists of the factors governing mood selection in Old English. Mitchell (1985: I, 370) refrains from attempting to identify semantic properties unifying different uses of the subjunctive; more recently, Ringe & Taylor (2014: 484) merely note the widespread occurrence of subjunctive complement clauses in Old English, without more specific discussion of when these might be selected in contrast to indicative clauses. The lack of such an account is not peculiar to Old English; it reflects the absence of a widely accepted semantic analysis of mood phenomena in general. The categories of mood expressed morphologically in Old English are the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive. The difficulty of formulating a semantic analysis of the subjunctive is complicated by the general tendency towards a more restricted use of the subjunctive in a number of Indo-European languages throughout their recorded history; it will be seen that this tendency has brought about substantial changes in the communicative function performed by mood

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