scholarly journals Strength and Weakness of the Old English Adjective

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz Malak
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Adjectival Inflection

Abstract As regards Old English, the inflectional strength and weakness are characterised by a kind of inconsistency. In the case of Old English adjectives these two inflectional properties appear to be different from those associated with nouns and verbs. In the case of the latter the two properties seem to be lexically determined while in the case of adjectives they appear to be determined by syntactic conditions. The traditional accounts of the Old English grammar attribute two paradigms to one adjectival lexical item. The analysis presented in this article postulates that one can actually speak about one adjectival inflection and what is traditionally presented as strong and weak adjectival inflections is actually the result of two different syntactic derivations.

Old English Grammar

1908 ◽  
Vol s10-IX (226) ◽  
pp. 340-340
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Grammar

Linguistics and the Teaching of English in Schools

1960 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-138
Author(s):  
M. H. Scargill
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Canadian Universities ◽  
English Grammar

It is unfortunate that in the field of English studies the science of linguistics has been largely neglected in many Canadian universities. The reasons for this neglect are varied. But the results are always the same: students lamentably ignorant of the most elementary facts about the English language. I have heard an English honors graduate from one of our universities describe Chaucer as “the best of Old English authors.” I have met teachers of English in our schools who complained that, in spite of all their courses, they did not feel equipped to teach English grammar and composition and “hated’ the school “language periods.”

Lightfoot Noch Einmal

Diachronica ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 123-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Scott Allan
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Old English ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Historische Entwicklung ◽  
Modal Verbs ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Syntactic Change

SUMMARY Since the publication of Lightfoot's work on the historical development of the English modal verbs (Lightfoot 1974, 1979:81-120), there have been several replies to his analysis. This article is another contribution to that debate and concentrates on three areas. Firstly, the time scale of the changes is scrutinized to see if it is as uniform as Lightfoot appears to think, and whether or not it supports his claim that a major reanalysis of the base of the grammar occurred in the 16th century. Secondly, the autonomy thesis, i.e., the claim that syntactic change proceeds independently of semantic and phonetic factors, is examined, and lastly Lightfoot's fragment of Old English grammar is assessed for its accuracy. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Seit der Veröffentlichung von Lightfoots Schriften über die historische Entwicklung der englischen Modalverben (Lightfoot 1974, 1979:81-120) gab es verschiedene Reaktionen auf seine Analyse. Dieser Artikel ist ein weiterer Beitrag zu dieser Debatte und beschäftigt sich mit drei Bereichen. Erstens wird die Chronologie der Veranderungen genau untersucht, urn zu sehen, ob sie tatsachlich so einheitlich vonstatten gegangen ist wie Lightfoot anzunehmen scheint und ob diese seine Behauptung unterstiitzt, daft es im 16. Jahrhundert eine umwälzende syntaktische Neustrukturierung gab. Zweitens wird die Autonomie-These untersucht, d.h. der Anspruch, daft sich syntaktische Veranderungen vollziehen, unabhangig von semantischen und phonetischen Faktoren. Schlieftlich wird Lightfoots Fragment einer Altenglischen Grammatik auf seine Genauigkeit überpruft. RÉSUMÉ Depuis la publication des travaux de D. Lightfoot sur le developpment historique des verbes modaux de 1'anglais (Lightfoot 1974, 1979:81-120) il y avait plusieurs reactions a son analyse. Le present article est une autre contribution a ce debat; il traîte des trois sujets particuliers. D'abord on examine la chronologie des changements afin de verifier l'uniformité maintenue par Lightfoot et sa these d'une restructuration profonde du systéme syntaxique de 1'anglais au XVIe siécle. Ensuit on examine la these (maintenue par Lightfoot) selon laquelle les changements syntaxique procedent independamment des facteurs phonetiques et sémantiques. Finalement on fait une evaluation de l'exactitude de son fragment d'un grammaire du vieux anglais.

The Northumbrian Old English glosses

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Elly van Gelderen
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
Early Use ◽  
Third Person

Abstract The articles in this volume contribute to our understanding of Northumbrian Old English of the 10th century, of the nature of external influence, and of the authorship of the glosses. This introduction provides a background to these three areas. Most of the introduction and contributions examine the Lindisfarne Glosses with some discussion of the Rushworth and Durham Glosses. Section 2 shows that the Lindisfarne glossator often adds a (first and second person) pronoun where the Latin has none but allows third person null subjects. Therefore, although the Latin original has obvious influence, Old English grammar comes through. Section 3 reviews the loss of third person -th verbal inflection in favor of -s, especially in Matthew. This reduction may be relevant to the role of external (Scandinavian and British Celtic) influence and is also interesting when the language of the Lindisfarne and Durham Glosses is compared. In Section 4, the use of overt pronouns, relatives, and demonstratives shows an early use of th-pronouns, casting doubt on a Norse origin of they. Section 5 looks at negation mainly from a northern versus southern perspective and Section 6 sums up. Section 7 previews the other contributions and their major themes, namely possible external (Latin, Norse, or British Celtic) influence, the linguistic differences among glossators, the spacing of ‘prefixes’ as evidence for grammaticalization, and the role of doublets.

An Old English Grammar

Language ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 535
Author(s):  
Seymour Chatman ◽  
Randolph Quirk ◽  
C. L. Wrenn
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Grammar

Old English Grammar.

1960 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 344
Author(s):  
Daniel Cook ◽  
A. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Grammar

Old English Grammar.

1898 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Frederick Klaeber ◽  
A. J. Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Grammar

The Irish Role in the Origins of the Old English Alphabet: A Re-assessment

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick P. O’Neill
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Orthography ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
English Alphabet ◽  
The One

This chapter re-examines the role of the Irish in the origins of the Old English alphabet. There are many theories about the Old English alphabet's origins. These include those contained in Karl Luick's Historische Grammatik and E. Sievers and K. Brunner's Altenglische Grammatik, which both offered the view that the model for the Old English alphabet was the Latin alphabet. But the first work to cover Old English orthography was Alistair Campbell's Old English Grammar, which rejected the notion that the Latin alphabet which underlay the Old English alphabet was the one taught by the Irish.

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