Theme: syntax in oe contents I. Introduction II. Main body. Structural relations of old english

Parenthetical Clauses

These are sometimes found in OE texts, e. g. pa wæs him eallum ʒeseʒen, swa-swa hit wæs, pæt him were from drihtne sylfum heofonlic ʒiofu forʒifen 'then it became clear to all of them, as it was, that a heavenly gift had been granted him from God himself.

Combined Clauses

Of course different types of clauses can combine with one another in various ways, and the number of such variations is probably unlimited. Here we give a few examples illustrating these possibilities: forðy me ðyncð betre, ʒif iow swæ ðyncð, ðæt we eac sumæ bec, ða ðe niedbeðearfosta sien eallum monnum to wiotonne, ðæt we ða on ðæt ʒeðeode wenden, ðe we ealle ʒecnawan mæen (ond ʒedon swæ we swiðe eaðe maʒon mid ʒodes fultume, ʒif we ða stilnesse habbað), ðætte eal sio ʒioʒud, ðe nu is on Anʒelcynne, friora monna, ðdra ðe ða speda hæbben, ðæt hie ðæm befeolan mæʒen, sien to liornunʒe oðfæste, ða hwile ðe hie to nanre oðerre note ne mæsʒen, oð ðone first, ðe hie wel cunnen enʒlisc ʒewrit arædan 'therefore it seems better to me (if it seems so to you) that we should also translate some books, which it is most necessary for all men to know, that we should translate them into the language that we all can know (and do so we very easily can with God's help, if we have peace), that all the youth that is now in England, of free men, who have property, that they may apply to it, that they may be firm in learning, while they are not eligible to any other useful work, until the time when they can easily read an English writing'.

Mixed Sentences

A sentence may contain both co-ordination and subordination, and this again in different combinations.

We will only consider here one example of a sentence of this mixed type: ond ic bebiode on ʒodes naman, ðæt nan mon ðone æstel from ðære bec ne do ne ða hoc from ðæm mynstre: uncuð, hu lonʒe ðær ðwæ ʒelærede biscepas sien, swaæ nu (ʒode ðonc!) wel hwær siendon, forðy ic wolde, ðætte hie ealneʒ æt ðære stowe wære, biiton se biscep hie mid him habban wille oððe hio hwær to læne sle oððe hwa oðre bl write 'and I order in God's name that nobody should take the bookmark away from the book nor the book from the monastery: it is unknown, how long there will be such learned bishops as now (thank God!) there are everywhere because I want them (the books) to be always on the spot, unless the bishop wants it to be with him or it may be somewhere lent, or somebody may make a copy of it'. In the sphere of syntax there is a great difference between various documents of the OE period. Thus, while the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has hardly any complex sentences, limiting itself to simple and compound ones, in other texts, such as, for example, king Alfred's preface to his translation of Cura Pastoralis, we find an elaborate system of complex sentences, with different types of subordinate clauses and many subordinating conjunctions to introduce them. Thus, it would be completely mistaken to argue due to the almost complete absence of subordinate clauses in the Chronicle, that there were no complex sentences in OE. This absence is due not to the non-existence of subordination in OE but to a certain stylistic tradition preserved by the chroniclers. From this point of view it is most instructive to compare passages from the Chronicle with those from king Alfred's preface. In the Chronicle we read:  'In this year Ceorl the alderman fought with the heathen men in Devonshire at Wembury, and they killed many enemies and obtained victory. And in the same year King Ethelstan and alderman Ealchere killed many enemies at Sandwich in Kent, and captured nine ships, and put the other ones to flight, and heathen men for the first time spent the winter there'.