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ede, oỡ dat we afeollon, swa we sculon nu forberan dæt aliefede, oððæt we arisen. In the first oð dætclause we have the indicative, because of the fact in past time, in the second the optative is used, because of the uncertainty attached to the future. These clauses partake somewhat of the nature of the purpose-clause, for an event which is still in the future may be the object aimed at, and so require the optative1.

Other examples of od dat with the optative follow: BH. 268. 7 Is pæt hwelc wundor, þeah de he pone dæg his deaðes oõpe ma þone Drihtnes dæg bliðe gesege, pone he symle sorgende bad, oð pæt he cwome? Bo. 51. 20 ac ic sceal he sumre byse sume anlicnesse þære wisan de fetæcan oỡ de þæt þing cuðre sie.

NOTE 1. Those of the writers on the syntax of the poetry, who have spoken of the optative in clauses with oð dæt agree in saying that the indicative 'drückt das Faktum aus: ... der konjunktiv die Erwartung.' Prollius 3 says: 'Der conjunctiv steht, wenn der nebensatz unter dem einflusse eines im hauptsatze ausgedrückten wunsches steht oder wenn sein inhalt der unsicheren zukunft angehört, was durch ein im hauptsatze stehendes gebidan angedeutet wird.'

NOTE 2. Dr. Baldwin says concerning the subjunctive in temporal clauses in Malory: a present subjunctive, corresponding to the present subjunctive in anticipatory and ideal conditions, stands regularly in temporal clauses looking toward the future and involving the idea of condition, doubt or contingency. Examples: 195. 6 we shalle neuer departe tyl the one of us be dede; 206. 5 I shalle abyde tyl God send you here ageyne.'

NOTE 3. In Modern English the optative is occasionally 1 Cf. Hotz, The Subjunctive mood in Anglo-Saxon, p. 37.

2 Schürmann, Syntactischen Gebrauch des Conjunctivs in Elene, &c. 389. Reussner, Syntax Andreas, p. 20.

Syntactischen Gebrauch des Conjunctivs in Elene, Juliana, Crist. P. 28.
Inflection and Syntax of the Morte d'Arthur, p. 65.

found after conjunctions meaning until. Doubtless the same cause leads to this occasional use that more frequently produced the optative in OE. Some examples follow: Irving, Sketch Book At the fall of the leaf, when his tail falleth, he will mourn and hide himself in corners, till his tail come again as it was; Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship, A Man's acts are slavish, not true but specious, his very thoughts are false, he thinks too as a slave and coward, till he have got Fear under his feet.

NOTE 4. The rule in Gothic for the mode in clauses introduced by unte, seems to be the same as prevails in OE. I quote an example with the optative: 1 Korinth 11. 26 swa ufta auk swe matjaiþ þana hlaif jaþ þana stikl drigkaiþ, dauþau fraujins gakannjaiþ, unte qimai. I do not find that unz in OHG. ever has the optative because the event lies in the future. Erdmann' notes the optative after an imperative, 'and nach conjunctivischem Absichtsatze.'

2. The so-called Modal Auxiliaries.

We pass now to the auxiliaries mugan, sculan, motan, and willan. The first point to be noted is the relative infrequency of occurrence in temporal clauses. Dr. Shearin' found about 480 clauses with these auxiliaries in the 3000 purpose-clauses which he examined, while I have noted only about 450 in the eight thousand or more that I have studied.

In the purpose clause, willan occurs least often, but in the temporal clause mugan occurs most frequently. In regard to the meaning of these auxiliaries, and that is the point about which most of the discussion of them has centered, little need be said here. Every writer on OE. syntax has thought it necessary to treat them, so that whatever I might say, based on the study of the comparatively few examples which have occurred to me in the course of my work, would 1 Syntax der Sprache Otfrids, p. 123.

2 The Expression of Purpose in OE. Prose, p. 100.

add nothing to our knowledge of their meaning, now indeed pretty well understood.

Mugan, then, in the temporal clause is always equivalent to Latin possum, and the ability may be either in respect to physical or psychological circumstances.

Sculan denothes either obligation or necessity, most often perhaps the latter. Motan denotes opportunity, and is equivalent to the Latin mihi licuit, though occasionally it seems to border on the meaning of mugan, and to denote ability. Willan was originally an optative in all the Germanic languages, and in the temporal clause in OE. always has its primary meaning of desire.

These are, then, in general the root-meanings, so to speak, of which the shades that may be distinguished are mere variations, and these are almost as numerous as the examples and the investigators dealing with them.

None of these auxiliaries is ever used in temporal clauses as mere substitutes for the optative. They preserve their primary meaning, and themselves take the optative under the same circumstances that lead to its use in the case of any other verb. In a few instances both sculan and willan seem to tend toward their Modern English use as tense-auxiliaries, but this never becomes so pronounced as to involve any loss of their usual meaning.

I quote examples to illustrate some of the more interesting uses of these auxiliaries. In this example mugan approaches nearest to being modal of all the instances in which it occurs in temporal clauses: LS. 1. 196. 30 Stanas magon hnexian and þæt starce isen on leades gelicnysse ærðan þe se geleafa mæge of agathes breoste beon æfre adwæsced.

That willan was felt as a tense-auxiliary even in

OE., is clear from these examples taken from Elfric's Grammar. He translates the Latin sentence: Uideo te docturum esse, ic geseo, þæt du wylt tæcan1. So, again docturus sum cras pueros, ic wylle tæcan to merigen þam cildum 2. This example will illustrate the use of sculan as a tense-auxiliary: LS. 2. 28. 406 pa ic sceolde in on pa dura gangen, þa ongunnan hi butan ælcere lættinge ingangan.

The meaning of motan, and its difference from mugan, is very well seen in examples of this kind, which are frequently met with, especially in BIH. and Wulf.: BIH. 95. 25 Forpon we sceolon nu geþencean, þa hwile pe we magon & motan, ure saula þearfe, þe læs we foryldon þas alyfdon tid, & ponne willon ponne we ne magon; Wulf. 27. 5 ac do nu manna gehwylc, swa him mycel þearf is, geswice yfeles and bete his misdæda þa hwile, pe he mage and mote; ÆH. 1. 268. 31 gif he ær geswican nolde, pape he mihte and moste. Once we find the conjunction omitted, probably a mere error of the scribe, and the auxiliaries stand together: BIH. 115. 20 Uton we þonne þæs geþencean, þa hwile pe we magon moton, þæt we us georne to gode þydon.

By way of summary, then, the prevailing mode in the OE. temporal clause is the indicative, save in clauses with connectives rendered by Modern English before.

When we find the optative in clauses other than these, it is due to an imperative in the main clause, or to its being in an indirect question or in an objectclause, or more rarely to the general indefinite character of the sentence. The indicative with connectives of the ar-class occurs only in clauses of fact in past time, and is due to this circumstance. The

1 150. 18.

2 152. 10.

auxiliaries mugan, sculan, motan, and willan in temporal clauses, almost without exception, have their full independent meaning, though in the case of willan and sculan there is already a noticeable tendency toward the later use as tense-auxiliaries.

CHAPTER III.

POSITION OF THE CLAUSE AND WORD
ORDER.

The position of the temporal clause in OE. is very free. Indeed it may occupy any one of the three possible positions: that is to say, it may precede the main clause; it may follow it; or the temporal clause may stand between different members of the main clause.

This interposition of the temporal clause is met with less frequently than either of the other positions, and a clause so placed is likely to be of a parenthetical nature. This is true of all the clauses except those with oỡ (dat), which always follow their main clause.

1

I have nothing to add, of a general nature, in regard to the order of words to the results set forth by Dr. C. A. Smith, but I have noticed that in all the clauses introduced by swa followed by a superlative, hraðost, oftost, lengest, the subject, and nothing else, is always placed between swa and the superlative.

My study has led me to believe that this principle, laid down in Bosworth-Toller, is much more freely violated than is usually supposed: 'When the word 1 Order of Words in Anglo-Saxon Prose.

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