Old English Verbal-Auxiliary Clusters: Some Notes

Author: Hiyama S.

Source: Neophilologus, Volume 88, Number 1, 200401 , pp. 121-129(9)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

The verbal-auxiliary (V–v) pattern in Old English is noteworthy for its strong tendency to have the two elements consecutively; it is indeed unusual to find this cluster (Vv) with any element except ne intervening (V…v). This paper analyses some possible examples of V…v which I have found in The Vercelli Homilies. Drawing on parallel examples from other Old English texts, I will show that the V…v pattern mostly appears in the texts as a result of Latin influence, and that it may also be used, to a much lesser degree, as a stylistic device to give prominence to the verbal.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Faculty of Foreign Languages, Komazawa University, 1-23-1, Komazawa, Tokyo, 154-8525, Japan, Email: shiyama@komazawa-u.ac.jp

Publication date: 2004-01-01