Negation and Verb-initial Order in Old English Main Clauses

Abstract

This study investigates two Old English (OE) constructions: “negative inversion” (a negated main clause with a clause-initial verb), and “narrative inversion” (a non-negated main clause with a clause-initial verb). The aim is to determine whether the two patterns may be treated as related “constructions” in Construction Grammar terms, and to identify the factors which promote the use of negative inversion in OE prose. The study shows that in both cases there is a strong interaction between syntax and lexicon: the choice between negative inversion and other patterns in negated main clauses as well as the difference between negative and narrative inversion is to a great extent lexically-based. The analysis also points to other variables underlying this variation such as text type and the use of direct speech. The corpus-based analysis provides a solid empirical basis for the claim that negative inversion and narrative inversion represent two separate constructions, functioning independently in the OE system.

A diachronic explanation for cross-linguistic variation in the use of inverse-scope constructions

“…In Old English, the corpus only contains strategy C, where the negative clitic ne occurs clause-initially immediately before the finite verb (36a). This is the most common word order in standard negation in Old English ( van Kemenade 1997;Cichosz 2020). In Middle English, this pattern becomes increasingly rare until it finally falls out of use (Wallage 2012: 7).…”

Old English V-initial andþa-VS main clauses

“…The query 3 did not allow the theoretically extra-clausal elements such as vocatives, interjections and conjunctions to precede the verb because their presence may affect the clause function and because of the potential impact of conjunctions (Fischer et al 2000: 53) and interjections (Walkden 2013;Cichosz 2018) on OE constituent order. Negated clauses were not included in the query since negation is a well-known factor associated with the V1 order (Mitchell 1985: §3930) and the so-called negative inversion and narrative inversion have been shown to function as two separate constructions in OE (Cichosz 2020). Similarly, þa-VS was defined as a main clause (IP-MAT) containing the adverb þa (in various spelling forms) in the clause-initial position, immediately followed by a finite indicative verb form, with an overt subject later in the clause.…”

An Exploration of English Translation Methods for Long Sentences Combined with Modal Analysis from the Perspective of Translation Purpose

“…The translation of long English sentences has certain cross-cultural communication characteristics, and the level of cross-cultural communication required is relatively high. On the one hand, we all know that translation belongs to a kind of linguistic communication activity, which itself has crosssocial linguistic characteristics and cross-cultural cultural characteristics, and it needs to consider various factors in the process of translation [8][9]. For example, social background, customs, language style, cultural characteristics, religious beliefs, and so on need to be systematically considered in the translation process.…”

“…Jiao Xue. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, 9(1) (2024)[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] …”