The Status of Compound Relatives in the Northumbrian Old English Gloss to the Rushworth Gospels

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the relativisation patterns in the Northumbrian Old English gloss to St. Mark's gospel, composed by the scribe Owun. Its analysis leads to the conclusion that in this corpus seþe compound relatives constitute a relativisation category of their own. Owun’s use shows a skewed distribution that does not reflect the distribution of the three types in West Saxon; the þe-relative, the most frequent in West Saxon, is rare in Owun’s gloss; Non-nominative contexts are mainly glossed by se-relatives, and nominative contexts by seþe-relatives. The motivation for using se-relatives in preference to þe-relative may have been morphological. The motivation for using seþe-relatives was likely prompted by Owun wanting to reflect the topic-shifting character of many of the nominative relative pronouns in his Latin Vorlage. In West Saxon, se-relatives usually have a topic-shifting function. Owun’s use of these for non-nominative cases required another form to highlight topic-shifting: this function fell to seþe-relatives.