The Apposition
Appositions of various sizes, referring either to a substantive or to a pronoun, are found in many OE texts. E. g.: Martianus casere 'the emperor Martian', Ohthere sæde his hlaforde, AElfrede cyninʒe 'Ohthere said to his lord, king Alfred', wæs he, se man, in woruldhade ʒeseted'he, the man, was a layman', her com AElfred, se unsceððiʒa æpelins, AEpelrædes sunu cinʒes, hider inn'at this time Alfred, the innocent nobleman, son of king Ethelred, arrived here'.
The Adverbial Modifier
An adverbial modifier may be expressed either by an adverb or by a phrase "preposition + substantive". The first variety may be seen in such sentences as: pa eode he ham 'then he went home', pin bropor com facenlice 'your brother came heatingly'. The adverbialmodifier may be one of manner, or time or place, etc., depending on the lexical meaning of the adverb.
The second variety "preposition + substantive" is found in the following sentences: hwelce wiotan iu wæron ʒiond Anʒelcynn 'what wise men there formerly were in England', pis ærendʒe-writ Aʒustinus ofer sealtne æe suðan brohte 'this message Augustine broughtacross the salt sea from the south', ponne wiðnorpan Donua æwielme and be eastan Rine sindon Easfrancas 'then to the north of the Danube river and to the east of the Rhine are the East Franks'.
The Direct Address
Direct address may be represented either by a single word or a phrase: Cedmon, sinʒ me hwæthwuʒu 'Csedmon, sing me something'; ia, leof, ic hit eom 'yes, my dear, it is I'; sunu min, hlyste uunre lare 'my son, listen to my teaching', aris, fæder min 'rise, my father'.
The Parenthesis
Parentheses are not exactly frequent in OE texts, and when ever they do occur, they are usually
represented either by adverbs or by phrases of the pattern "preposition + substantive". Here are a few examples: hwæðre pu meant sinʒan 'however, thou canst sing'; næfde he peah ma ponne twentiʒ hryðera 'he had, however, no more than twenty cattle', cf. also næfde se here, ʒodes ponces, Anʒelcyn ealles for swe ʒebrocod 'the (Danish) army had not, thank God, devastated England completely'.
2.1.3. One Member and Elliptical Sentences
Impersonal sentences may be one-member ones, e.g. hu lomp eow in lade? 'how did you fare on your way?'; him on fyrste ʒelomp ædre mid aldum, pæt hit wearp eal-ʒearo 'it soon happened in the
right time among men, that is (the building) was quite ready'.
The subject of elliptical sentences is to be supplied from the context, e.g. syððan ærest wearðfeasceaft funden, he paes frofre ʒebad 'since (he) was first found helpless, he lived to see consolation in this'; aledon pa leofne peoden on beartn scipes '(they)laid then their beloved leader on the ship's bosom'. In the former sentence it is clear that the subject of the subordinate clause is the same as that of the main clause. In the latter sentence it becomes clear from the preceding text that the king's attendants are meant.
2.1.4. Sentences introduced by hit and pær
In OE texts there are sentences introduced by the subject hit and by the adverbial modifier pær, which to some extent lose their own meaning. E.g. ne-wæs hit lenʒse pa ʒen, pæt se ecʒhete aðum-sweorum æfter wæl-niðe wæccan scolde 'it had not yet gone so far that a feud should arise between son-in-law and father-in-law because of mortal enmity'. These are the beginnings of sentences with a "formal subject" it and with the phrase there is.
2.1.5. Uses of Infinitive and Participle
The OE infinitive is used in different syntactical functions. It may be the subject of a sentence, e.g. all pas pinʒ pære peode ʒedafenap cup habban 'all these things it behoves the people to know'. The infinitive often combines with verbs meaning 'begin', 'be able', 'wish', etc. E.g. Hiʒeldc ongan sine ʒ eseldan in sele pam hean fæsre fricʒean 'Hiʒelac duly began to interrogate his attendants in the high hall'; him bebeorʒan ne con 'defend him I cannot'. With verbs of motion the infinitive often expresses the purpose of the action, e.g. he siʒe-hreðiʒ secean com mærne peoden 'he, glorified by victories, came to greet the famous king'.
The tō-infinitive is also used to express purpose: hie comon pæt land to sceawianne 'they came to have a look at the land'.
This form is also used in other functions, e. g. lonʒ is to secʒanne 'it is too long to tell', ʒoddædum, pa hy ær forhoʒdun to donne 'good deeds, which they had failed to perform', ne bip pær epe pin spor to findanne 'it will not be easy there to find your trace'.
Sometimes, more especially in poetic style, an infinitive with a verb of motion denotes rather the way the action is performed, e.g. 3ewat pa neosian hean huses 'he went approaching the high house', pa com of more under mist-hleopum ʒrendel ʒonʒan 'then came from the marsh under mist rocks Grendel (going)'.
The infinitive is also used to express commands in indirect speech: him budon drincan ʒebitrodne win-drenc 'they told him to drink bitter wine'.
Infinitive Phrases
When an infinitive follows a phrase "verb + substantive or pronoun in the accusative" the substantive and the infinitive form a construction which is usually called"accusative and infinitive". In OE this is still used rather seldom.It is mainly found with verbs of perception: seon 'see', hieran 'hear', ʒefriʒnan 'learn', and also with verbs expressing order or permission, such as hatan 'order', lætan 'let', etc. E.g. ʒeseah he in recede rinca maniʒe, swefan sibbe-ʒedriht 'he saw in the hall many warriors, a friendly troop sleeping'; fyr-leoht ʒeseah, bldcne leoman beorhte sciman 'he saw a fire-light, a glittering flach chine brightly'; ne-hyrde ic cymlicor ceol ʒeʒyrwan 'I didnot.hear a more handsome ship constructed'; ic pæt londbuend, leode mine, sele-rædende secʒean hyrde, pæt hie ʒesawon swylce tweʒen micle mearcstapas moras healdan, ellor-ʒæstas 'I heard the inhabitants of the earth, my people, guarding the hall, say that they saw two such great spirits live in the moors, alien sprites'; pa ic wide ʒefræʒn weorc ʒebannan 'I heard that the work was widely proclaimed then'; pone here he let mid pæmscipum ponan wendan 'he told the army to move thence in ships'; let hie syppan faran ham 'he let them afterwards sail home'.
Substantive + Participle or Adjective
Such constructions also form a predicative group, e.g. ʒedep him swa ʒewealdene worolde dælas 'he will make parts of the world so subdued to him', ʒesyhð sorh-ceariʒ on his suna bare winsele westne wind-ʒereste, reote berofene 'he sees, saddened, in his son's house the wine-hall empty, the wind's resting place, bereft of glad noise'.
Occasionallyan absolute participle construction is found in OE, both substantiveand participlebeing in the dative case, e.g. forlætenre pære ceastre, he com 'the camp having been left, he came' (= leaving the camp, he came); he ʒeseah swapendum windum pone leʒahefenne 'he saw the flame rising, with winds blowing'.
Negation
Negative words are freely used in OE, their number in a sentence not being limited. E.g. ne mæʒnan pinʒ his willan wiðstandan 'nothing can withstand his will'; nan man ne bude benorðan him 'no man lived north of him'; nan ne dorste nan pinʒascian 'nobody dared ask anything'. Occasionally the negative pronoun naht, noht (its original meaning being 'nothing', from nā+ wiht) is used: ne con ic noht sinʒan 'I cannot sing (anything)'. Eventually the negative particle ne was dropped, and the negative meaning came to be expressed by noht alone.
2.2. The Composite Sentence
2.2.1. 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 cyninʒʒefeaht 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 ðonne 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 swðie 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 swiðe 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: uncuð, hu lonʒe ðær 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 soðe, sele-rædende, hæleð under heofonum; hwa pæm hlæste onfenʒmen 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: swiðe feawa wæron behionan Humbre, ðe hiora ðeninʒacuðen understondan on enʒlisc 'very few were on this side of the Humber who could understand their service in English'; ða wæs on pa tid AEðelbyrht cyninʒ haten on Centrice and mihtiʒ, se hæfde rice oðʒemæro 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'.