Constituent order in sentences of concession: Old English vs Old High German

Тугай, Олександра Миколаївна (2022) Constituent order in sentences of concession: Old English vs Old High German Науковий журнал Львівського державного університету безпеки життєдіяльності «Львівський філологічний часопис» (12). pp. 146-154. ISSN 2663-340X, 2663-3418

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Abstract

Our paper deals with general leading word order in complex concessive sentences of different semantics (universal, conditional, contrastive and causative concession) in Old Germanic languages, namely in Old English compared to Old High German. It has been specified that the studied languages belonged to the Indo-European group of the Germanic branch of languages, in which the Proto-Germanic language had already belonged to the V-2 type languages, where the main finite verb occupied the second position after any initial element in a sentence. Linguistic shifts in syntax development of ancient Germanic languages from the common V-1 type in Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic languages as primary VSO / VOS types of languages to the V-2 type of Indo-European ancient and modern Germanic languages have been determined. It has been substantiated that Old English and Old High German also belonged to the languages of V-2 type with loss of the V-2 effect in language use already in Middle English and in later periods to modern English, but with preservation of the V-2 rule application in modern German as well as in many other modern West Germanic and Celtic language branches. Positional characteristics of the main as v-finite and the auxiliary as V-non-finite verbs in different positions of matrix and subordinate clauses of the studied languages have been outlined and analyzed. The order of leading constituents in Old English (“Beowulf”) and Old High German (“Song of Hildebrand”, “Life of Christ”) has been witnessed as the one which corresponded to the general SOV / VOS / VSO word order of Old Germanic languages. Common structural features of complex sentences with universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concession semantics with predominance of common syntactic paradigm as SOv / vS / SvO / SOv / VSv / OOv / Ov word order and location of v-finite and V-non-finite verbs in v-1 / v-2 / v-3 / v-4 / v-final / V-1 / V-3 / V-final positions in Old English and Old High German have been established. Syntactic difference of the studied sentences of concession has been evidenced in usage of V-non-finite verbs in the V-4 domain of an Old English sentence and in the V-2 slot of an Old High German sentence. It has been identified that linguistic shifts and changes in the syntactic configuration of Old Germanic sentences with different semantics of concession were caused by the arrangement of subject-object elements in the pre- and post positions of v-finite and V-non-finite verbs and by their mutual combination with each other.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	constituent order; V-1 / V-2 type of sentence; linguistic shifts; syntax of Old Germanic languages; Old English; Old High German
Subjects:	Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у наукометричних базах > Index Copernicus Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у журналах > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions:	Це архівні підрозділи Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Факультет романо-германської філології > Кафедра германської філології
Depositing User:	доцент Олександра Миколаївна Тугай
Date Deposited:	04 Apr 2023 07:53
Last Modified:	04 Apr 2023 07:53
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/44617

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