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NOTE 1. I have only once noted swa used in the poetry to mean as soon as, and then an adverb in the main clause removes any doubt as to the time-relation of the two clauses: Psalm1 113.3 Swa heo sæ geseah, he hio sniome fleah.

NOTE 2. In OHG. so sometimes indicates this relation of the clauses to one another, thus: Tatian 81.4 Inti so sie tho gistigun in skef, bilan ther uuint.

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This form is found twice in Wulf. Onan or anan, as it is spelled once, is equivalent in meaning to sona, and these clauses closely resemble the sona swa form.

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They bear out the theory that sona swa arose from the modal sentence; and here, though the temporal clause has the same force that a sona swa clause would have, the modal nature of swa is still felt to some degree. The two examples are practically identical, and therefore I shall quote only one: Wulf. 16. 14 ær ðam timan næs æfre ænig mann on worulde swa mære, þæt he on an ne sceolde to helle, swa he forðfaren Cf. Wulf. 110. 11.

was.

1j. Oærrihte swa.

This connective occurs only once. As in the case of onan ... swa clauses, the dærrihte is equivalent to sona. The purpose of using the adverb seems to be to emphasize the fact that the action of one clause directly follows that of the other, which fact is not connoted by the simple swa. EH. 2. 80. 3 and hi da mid langsumere elcunge heora mede underfengon, þa de we buton elcunge, parrihte swa we of urum lichaman gewitað, underfoð.

2 a. swa (h)rade swa.

This connective is almost peculiar to the works of Elfric, though it also occurs twice in Chron., and

1 Grein's Bibliothek.

once in each of the following: O., Lch., Wulf., and Ap. T.

In origin it doubtless arose from the comparative sentence, unlike sona swa, which seems to have developed from the modal use of swa. This example shows that swa rade swa had not become altogether a closed compound, even in the historical period of OE: O. 166. 6 him þær becom swa færlic yfel þæt þa men wæron swa rade deade, swa hit him an becom. In this example the comparative idea is still plain.

Very often a correlative swa is found at the head of the main clause, thus: EH. 1. 584. 21 and swa hrade swa hi pat mod hreppað, swa gewit se goda willa. In one instance swa hrade is so repeated, thus emphasizing the comparative thought: LS. 1. 18. 126 and swa hraðe swa heo gehyrð þære burga naman þe heo ær cuðe, swa hraðe heo mæg þa burh on hire geþohte gescyppan hwylc heo bið. Once donne is found at the head of the main clause: LS. 2. 178. 169 Ac swa hrade swa hi ge-sawon his scinendan neb-wlite . . ., ponne ledon pa hæðenan heora wæpna adune. This may be due to the fact that the writer forgot that he began with a swa hrade swa clause, and finished the sentence as though it were a donne clause. Still the use of a demonstrative da or donne in such a position is so common that it need excite no surprise. Occasionally a is found so used: LS. 2. 330. 236 ac swa hrade swa he geseah þæs sanctes lichaman, pa awedde he sona; ÆH. 1. 200. 7 and he was halig þærrihte swa hrade swa he mann wæs.

NOTE 1. This connective seems to have persisted into Middle English and it can be found in Brut 2. 640. 10 and he cumen after wolde swa rade swa he mihte; Brut 3. 17. 10 So rathe so hii mihten, vt of sipe hii rehten. But rathe is used only as an adverb in Chaucer and Langland.

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This connective is rare, only seven instances of it having been noted in the prose. In structure it is closely analogous to swa oftost and swa lengost (q. v.).

The verb is always some form of mugan, and the subject is always placed between the two parts of the connective, and nothing else ever is. I quote examples to illustrate: Chron. 94. 1 pa for Eadweard cyning æfter, swa he radost mehte; LS. 1. 536. 794 and ic bidde þinne prymfullan cynescype, þæt þu to us cume swa þu rapost mæge; Wulf. 39. 8 and æfre swa þæt cild radost ænig ding specan mæge, tæce man him sona ealra þinga ærest pater noster and credan.

NOTE 1. So far as I can discover from Grein's Sprachschatz, swa... raðost occurs only once in the poetry: Guth.1 1082 Aras ða earla wynn heard hygesnottor, swa he hraðost meahte.

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NOTE 2. With swa.. radost may be compared the Greek is taxiora, and the Latin quam celerrime.

3. swa ær swa.

I have noted only two examples with this connective. Its meaning is perfectly clear, and it seems to have originated in a comparative force, which, indeed, it never loses. Ær alone never means soon, but is comparative in its very nature. So swa tells how much before, and the second swa is the correlative of the comparison. It is an easy step from this to the meaning as soon as. I quote both examples: BH. 248. 25 him geheht, swa ær swa heo geþungenne mon 7 hades wyrone metan meahton, þæt heo hine woldon to biscope gehalgian 7 hider onsendan; LS. 1. 358. 317 Nytenu ætað swa ær swa hi hit habbað. I have not found parallels either in the poetry or in Middle English.

1 Grein's Bibliothek.

4. don ær de.

The meaning of this connective is not at all clear. Wülfing1 assigns both examples to his sixth class, 'Nebensätze zur Angabe des Nachfolgens nach der Handlung des übergeordneten Satzes'; but the translation as soon as suits the context much better in both

cases.

Bo. 25. 18 Ac ic eow mæge mid feawum wordum gereccan hwæt se hrof is ealra gesælða, wið þas ic wat þu wilt higian þon ær þe ðu hine ongitest. In his glossary, Sedgefield assigns the meaning as soon as ever to don ær de, but in his translation renders the passage thus: 'towards which I know that thou, O Mind, wilt hasten before even thou perceivest it.' Cardale translates for which I know thou wilt strive until thou obtainest it.' In a note on the passage, however, he suggests that don ær de is put for ær don de. Bosworth-Toller give as soon as for the meaning of don ær de, as does Sweet in his Student's Dictionary.

Professor Frank H. Chase, Ph.D., accepts this meaning in his thesis, and proposes the following explanation: don (dative (!) of degree of difference) by how much, so literally the sooner, and, by an easy change, as soon as. The sense required makes as soon as the evident meaning, but Dr. Chase's explanation seems hardly satisfactory, though I am unable to offer a better one. His analysis would suggest rather the meaning before, which he is combating. Don ma de is a close parallel, so far as form goes, and that means any more than.

Any analysis leads us to expect the meaning before, which the context requires us to reject. It may be that in an earlier period of the language this connective was in more frequent use, and had the meaning 2 51. 28. 3 Unpublished, Yale Library.

1 2.116.

before, but for some reason came to mean as soon as, perhaps through the analogy of don ma de, which is frequently used in a negative clause, and means not any more than. If don ær de were employed in a negative sentence, it would mean not any earlier than, and from this the change to as soon as is easy.

The other example follows: CP. 331. 3 Đu cuist nu ðæt wille geswican ðon, ær de du genoh hæbbe. This Sweet translates: 'Thou sayest now, that thou wilt cease, before thou hast enough.' I agree with Dr. Chase in saying that this makes nonsense of the passage; the context clearly demands as soon as, which Sweet gives in his Dictionary, as has been said. The Cotton. MS. has donne, ær þe. This form occurs in Bo., and has been assigned to the class indicating time when. This, however, would bear the translation as soon as, for it seems to me as though the writer had forgot the construction with which he began. In conclusion, then, we must accept as soon as for the meaning, but a satisfactory explanation is still to seek.

NOTE 1. With this construction should be compared OS. than mer the and than langa the. The first is similar to the Latin eo magis quo and OE. don ma đe, and the second equal to the German so lange als. I quote examples: Heliand 1395 than mer the thiu burg ni mag, thiu an berge stad, hoh holm-kliðu, biholan werðan, wrislik giwerk, ni mugun iuwa ward than mer an thesaro middil-gard mannun werðan Heliand 363 Thar was thes mareon stol an er-dagun, aðal-kuninges, Davides thes godon, than langa the he thana druht-skepi thar, erl undar Ebreon, egan mosta, haldan hoh-gisetu.

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5a. swa ricene swa.

I have noted only one example of this connective, which is in structure and meaning similar to swa hraðe 1 p. 51.

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