LS. 1. = Ælfric's Lives of Saints, ed. Skeat. 2 vols. (EETS. 76, 82, 94, London, 1881-1900. 114.) M. . . . The Synoptic Edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew, ed. Skeat. Cambridge, 1887. Mart. Mk. = An OE. Martyrology, ed. Herzfeld. Lon- The Synoptic Edition of the Gospel of Neot... Ein AS. Leben des Neot, ed. Wülker. Nic. = The OE. Version of the Gospel of Nicodemus, ed. Hulme. Publications of the Modern Language Assoc. of America 13. Num... Ælfric's Translation of Numbers. (Grein's Bibliothek der AS. Prosa 1.) O. OET. = King Ælfred's Orosius OE. Text and Latin original, ed. Sweet. London, 1883. (EETS. 79.) . The Oldest English Texts: ed. Sweet. London, 1885. (EETS. 83.) PPs. = Libri Psalmorum Versio Antiqua Saxonica, ed. Thorpe. Oxford, 1835. (The first fifty psalms are in prose.) = = Supplement to Elfric's Homilies in Biblical Legends of the Holy Rood, ed. Morris. = A Dialogue between Saturn and Solomon. Sol....= King Alfred's Version of St. Augustine's Hargrove. New York, 1902. (Yale Studies in English (3.) Wulf.. = Wulfstan's Homilies, ed. Napier. Berlin, 1883. All quotations from the following works, unless otherwise specified, are from the editions given below: A. Old English Poetry. Other Poems: Grein's Bibliothek der Angel- B. Middle English. Piers Plowman, The Vision of William concerning Piers The Plowman, ed. Skeat. 2 vols. Oxford, 1886. C. Gothic. Ulfilas, ed. Heyne. Achte Auflage. Paderborn und Münster, 1885. D. Old Saxon. Heliand, ed. Heyne. Dritte Auflage. Paderborn, 1883. E. Old High German. Otfrids Evangelienbuch, ed. Erdmann. Halle a. S., 1882. Tatian, ed. Sievers. Paderborn, 1892. References to Wülfing are to vol. 2 of the Syntax Elfreds. Bonn, 1901. CHAPTER I THE CONNECTIVES OF THE TEMPORAL CLAUSE The temporal clause in OE. is always joined to the main clause by an introductory word or formula. This partakes both of the nature of an adverbial conjunction and of a relative. That this is true is made evident by the great number of connectives of which the relative de forms a part, and by the fact that often, in the case of clauses introduced by a phrase composed of a preposition + object (noun of time) + de, it is difficult to decide whether the function of the particular example is adjectival or adverbial. In OE. this connective is never omitted, at least in colloquial speech, as its counterpart sometimes is in Modern English. The connectives introducing the temporal clause have been grouped into six divisions, according to the nature of the temporal relations indicated. Therefore we treat here the connectives introducing: A. Clauses indicating time when. B. Clauses denoting immediate sequence. C. Clauses denoting duration. D. Clauses determining the time of an action by reference to a preceding action. E. Clauses determining the time of an action by reference to a subsequent action. F. Clauses indicating the time of the termination of the action of the main clause. This is the most common of temporal connectives in OE. We find cognates in OF. tha, OS. tho, thuo, OHG. do, and ON. Ja. The primary use of this conjunction is to introduce a clause denoting time when. Wülfing1 classes this particle with those which introduce 'Nebensätze zur Angabe des Zeitpunktes, wann etwas geschieht'. There are many cases in which đa might be translated while or after, just as the modern English when is often used to introduce clauses which logically bear such relations to the main clause; but whatever may be the different meanings which might be assigned to the particle, they certainly have no influence on its syntax. This will be apparent from what follows, and I therefore leave such discussion to the lexicographer. Yet there are questions of meaning which do call for some consideration. Da introduces a clause used to determine time when, as has been said, but an act which preceds another is frequently its cause. So sometimes we have a combination of the causal and temporal notions. In modern English when often has this double force, as in the sentence: 'When the books of a year and of a library were counted by hundreds or thousands, learned men could really know what was best to be known'2. In the following sentence the temporal force has almost disappeared: L. 14. 29 Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him. So da in the following sentence has a strong causal coloring: M. 1. 19 Soðlice iosep hyre wer, da he was rihtwis and nolde hi gewidmærsian, Syntax Ælfreds 2. 103. 2 Frederic Harrison, The Choice of Books. he wolde hi dihlice forlætan. Here the Vulgate reads: Joseph autem vir ejus cum esset justus, et nollet eam traducere. Another illustration of da in its approach to the causal meaning: ÆH. 2. 448. 11 Micele wæron pises mannes geearnunga, pa se Ælmihtiga he him cwæð, þæt his gelica nære on eorðan. The ease with which the da-clause brings two acts into the field of view is so great that da occasionally seems to have a concessive force, as in these examples: John 12.37 Đa he swa mycele tacn dyde beforan him, hi ne gelyfdon on hyne; BH. 36. 33 J wende þæt he mid swinglan sceolde pa beldu 7 þa anrednesse his heortan anescian, đa he mid wordum ne mihte. A conditional use is much less clear to me, yet Bosworth-Toller recognize it, and quote this as an illustration: ÆH. 1. 478. 11 ac hit was swa gewunelic on dam timan þæt rice menn sceopon heora bearnum naman be him sylfum, þæt hit wære geðuht þæs de mare gemynd þæs fæder, da da se sunu, his yrfenuma, was geciged pæs fæder naman. Neither Wülfing nor Mather admits such a use of da, however. The Latin cum-clause shows parallel development. It was probably purely temporal in origin, but by emphasizing the causal or concessive connotation, the causal or concessive idea became most prominent in the mind of the speaker. In these clauses this went so far that all idea of time was lost, and we have cum purely causal, or purely concessive, as well as cum with its original temporal signification. Still, as in the OE. sentences referred to, we find cum-clauses which may be considered either as temporal, or causal, or both. I believe that in OE. the causal or concessive or conditional notion never became so strong as to exclude that of time. |