2020-01-14
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The Compound Sentence
Both asyndetic and syndetic compound sentences are found in OE texts.
The asyndetic type may be illustrated by the following example
from Beowulf: fand pa pær-inne æpetinʒa ʒedriht swefan sefter sym-
ble; sorʒe ne cupon, wonsceaft wera '(he) found in there a troop
of warriors sleeping after the feast; they did not know any trouble, misery of men'.
In a syndetic compound sentence clauses may be connected by one of the conjunctions: and 'and', oppe 'or', ac 'but': wæs he, se mon, In weoruldhade ʒeseted op pa tide, pe he wæs ʒelefedre yldo, ond he næfre næniʒ leop ʒeleornade 'he, that man, was a layman until he reached an elderly age, and he had never learnt any song'; ic me mid Hruntinʒe dom ʒewyrce, oppe mec deap nimep 'I will acquire glory with Hrunting (a sword), or death shall take me'; pa JBeormas hæfdon swipe wel ʒebun hira land; ac hie ne dorston pæron cuman 'the Permians had had their land very well cultivated; but they (the travellers) did not dare to disembark there': Her AEpelwulf cyninʒ ʒefeaht æt Carrum wip. XXXV. sciphlæst and pd Deniscan ahton wælstowe ʒewald 'here (= in this year) king AEthelwuef fought at Charmouth with 35 shiploads, and the Danes kept the battlefield in their power'; pa was ð onne Leo papa on Rome, and he hine to cyninʒe ʒehalʒode 'then was Leo pope in Rome, and he invested him as king'; næfde se here,'Codes ponces, Onʒelcyn for sw ð ie ʒebrocod; ac hie wæron micle swipor ʒebrocode on pæm prim ʒearum mid ceapes cwilde and monna 'the (enemy) army had not, thank God, utterly destroyed England; but they were much more afflicted by deaths of cattle and human beings'.
2.2.2. The Complex Sentence
In treating complex sentences, we shall give our main attention to separate types of subordinate clauses, and then briefly indicate possibilities of several subordinate clauses of different types and degrees occurring within the same complex sentence.
As to the separate types of subordinate clauses, we will classify them as parallel to parts of a simple sentence.
Subject Clauses
These are not often found in OE texts. We can quote an example from King Alfred's preface to his translation of Pope Gregory I's Pastoral Care: me com swi ð e oft on ʒemynd, hwylce wiotan iu wæron ʒiond Anʒelcynn 'it often came to my mind what scholars there formerly were in England’. Another example is from the same text: uncu ð, hu lonʒe ð ær swæʒelærede biscepas sien '(it is) unknown, how long there will be such learned bishops'.
Predicative clauses do not seem to occur in OE texts.
Object Clauses
These are mainly found in indirect speech, that is, in connection with verbs meaning 'say', 'announce', 'ask', 'think', and the like. They may be introduced by the conjunction pæt or ʒif, by an interrogative pronoun or adverb, or, occasionally, be joined on asyndetically. Here are some examples of each variety: Ohthere sæde his hlaforde, AElfrede cyninʒe, pæt he ealra Norpmonna norpmest bude. He sæde pæt he bude, on pæm lande norpweardum wip pa Westsæ 'Ohthere told his lord, king Alfred, that he lived northernmost of all Northmen. He said that he lived in the land northward along the Atlantic Ocean'; axode ʒif him wære niht ʒetæse 'asked if the night had been quiet for him (i.e. if he had spent a quiet night)'; men ne cunnon secʒan to so ð e, sele-rædende, hæle ð under heofonum; hwa pæm hlæste onfenʒ men cannot say for sooth, counsellors in hall, heroes under heaven, who received the load'.
Attributive Clauses
These are introduced either by the relative pronoun pe or by the pronoun se, which from a demonstrative acquired a relative meaning, or by the compound pronoun sepe. Here are examples of each variety: swi ð e feawa wæron behionan Humbre, ð e hiora ðeninʒa cu ð en understondan on enʒlisc 'very few were on this side of the Humber who could understand their service in English'; ð a wæs on pa tid AEðelbyrht cyninʒ haten on Centrice and mihtiʒ, se hæfde rice o ð ʒemæro Humbro streames 'there was at this time a king called Athelbyrht in Kent and a mighty one, who had his kingdom as far as the river Humber'; he ʒewunade ʒerisen-lice leoð wyrcan pa de to æfestnisse ond to arfæstnisse belumpon 'he was wont to compose proper songs which belonged to religion and to piety'.
Adverbial Clauses
These cover a wide variety of meanings, such as place, time, cause, purpose, concession, comparison, etc. Accordingly the number of conjunctions introducing such clauses is considerable. Here we find pær 'where', pa 'when', ponne 'when', oppæt 'until', for 'because', peahpe 'though', and others.
Clauses of Place
Such clauses are rather rare. They are usually introduced by the adverb pær, e.g. Hwearf pa hrædlice, pær Hropʒar sæt 'he turned quickly to where Hrothgar sat’.
Temporal Clauses
These are introduced by various conjunctions: pa, ponne, panne 'when', sippan 'since', ær, ærpæmpe 'before', penden 'while', oppæt 'until'.
E. g.: pa he pa pas andsware onfenʒ, pa, onʒan he sona sinʒan 'when he had received this answer, he soon began to sing'; ponne he ʒeseah pa hearpan him nealæcan, ponne asras he for sceome fram pæm symble 'when he saw the harp approach him, he rose for shame from the feast'; heold, penden lifde, ʒatnol ond ʒup-reow, ʒ læde Scyldinʒas 'ruled, while he lived, old and battle-famous, the Scildings so that they were glad'; næfre him deap scepep on pam willwonʒe penden woruld stondep 'never will death harm in the wonder garden while the world stands'; pær se eadʒa mot... wunian in wonʒe, oppæt wintra bip pusend urnen 'there the blessed one can... live in the garden, until a thousand years have elapsed'; ʒewat pa neosian sippan niht becom, hean huses 'started then, when night fell, to approach the high house'.
Clauses of Cause
Clauses of cause are introduced by the conjunctions forpæm (pe), for, e. g. pa cirdon hieup-ip on pa ea, for-pæm hie ne dorston forp bi pære ea siʒlan for unfripe; for-pæm pæt land wæs eall ʒebun on opre healfe pære eas 'then they turned into the river, because they did not dare to sail on past the river, for unrest, as the land was all inhabited on the other side of the river'; wæs. seo hwil micel, twelf wintra fid torn ʒepolode wine Scyldinʒa, weanna ʒehwylcne, sidra sorʒa, for ð am sy ðð an wear ð ylda bearnum undyrne cu ð, ʒyddum ʒeomore, pætte ʒrendel wan hwlle wip Hropʒar 'the time was long, twelve years did the Scildings' friend suffer rage, every woe, great sorrows, because later it became known to children of men, sadly in songs, that Grendel had long made war on Hrothgar'.
Clauses of Purpose
These are introduced by the conjunction pæt and contain a verb in the subjunctive mood. E. g. swa sceal ʒeonʒ ʒuma gode ʒewyrcean, fromum feoh-ʒiftum on fæder ærne, pæt hine on ylde eft ʒewunien wil-ʒesi ð as, ponne wiʒ cume, leode ʒelæstetn, 'thus shall a young warrior well achieve, by generous gifts in his father's house, that willing companions should be with him in his old age, when a war comes, people should follow him'.
If the clause of purpose expresses an action to be avoided it is introduced by the conjunctional locution py læs (pe), e. g. forpon ic leof werud læran wille æ-fremmende, pæt ʒe eower hus ʒefæstiʒen py læs hit ferblædum windas toweorpan 'therefore I want to teach my dear people, law-abiding, that you should fortify your house, lest winds should destroy it by sudden gusts'.
Clauses of Result
These clauses are introduced by the conjunction pæt, which may be preceded by the adverb swa 'so' in the main clause.
E.g.: swa clæne hlo wæs opfeallenu on Anʒelcynne, ð æt swipe
feawa wæron behionan Humbre, ð e hiora ð eninʒa cu ð en understondan
on enʒlisc. oppe furdum an ærendʒewrit of lædene on enʒlisc
awendan 'so cleanly was it (learning) decayed in England, that very
few were on this side of the Humber — those who could understand
their service in English or even translate one message from Latin
Into English'; eode ellen-rof, pæt he for eaxlum ʒestod Deniʒa freʒan
'stepped the glorious one, so that he stood near the Danes' lord'.
This latter clause can also be interpreted as a temporal clause:
'... until he stood'.
Conditional Clauses
Theseare introduced by a conjunction ʒif ‘if’ or sometimes næfne ‘unless’: he me habban wille dreore fahne, ʒif mec deað nime 'he will have me bloody if death takes me'; nis pæt seld-ʒuma wæpnum ʒ eweor ð ad, næfne his wille leoʒe, ænlie ansyn 'this is not a lower man, worthy of weapons, unless his face lies; his unique countenance'.
