Now that you have made yourself familiar with the partsof speech and the way different types of words function in a sentence tomake meaning, we are ready to move on to Old English itself.
Modern English is what is called an analyticlanguage. For the most part, it uses the order of words in a sentence toindicate grammatical and logical relationships.
Thus
The dog ate the cat
means something very different from
The cat ate the dog.
Both sentences are made up of the same words, but theymean totally different things. Why? Because we have used the arrangementof words in the sentence to specify which word is the subjectand which is the direct object.
In the first example, we know that "dog" is thesubject of the sentence because it comes before the verb. Likewise, we knowthat "cat" is the object of the sentence (it receives the action)because it comes after the verb ("ate").
Things didn't work exactly this way in Old English.
Old English (like Latin, Greek, Russian and many otherlanguages) is an inflected language. Instead of relyingon word order to indicate relationships, Old English attaches endings toeach word to indicate relationships.
Different endings mark words as subjects (the thing performing an action),direct objects(things directly receiving the action), indirectobjects (things indirectly receiving the action andobjects of prepositions), objects ofprepositions, and genitives (things possessed by other things).
(If you aren't sure you completely understand these differentword functions, go back to the previous chapter of GrammarReview and look over the explanations. If you haven't already, you cando some practice exercises).
Because word endings indicate grammatical relationships,word order is not nearly as important in Old English as it is in ModernEnglish. Therefore words in a sentence can be arranged in various ways withoutchanging the meaning of a sentence (there are of course some limits in thisflexibility. The study of these rules and regularities is the field of OldEnglish syntax. In general, syntax in poetry is more flexible than syntaxin prose).
Thus, in Old English
Dog+(subject ending)ate cat+(object ending).
means exactly the same thing as:
Cat+(object ending)ate dog+(subject ending).
and also the same thing as:
Ate dog+(subject ending) cat+(object ending).
and also the same as:
cat+(object ending)dog+(subject ending)ate.
On the other hand,
Dog+(object ending)ate cat+(subject ending)
means something entirely different.
You need not panic at this point: we do in fact use endingsin Modern English to indicate grammatical function (think of "-ing","-tion", "-ly", "-y" and others).
To understand Old English, you do not need to learn (verymuch) about word order. You do, however, need to learn your endings andtheir grammatical functions.
Endings for nouns, pronouns and adjectives in Old Englishare divided into five categories of grammatical function called cases. Alist and brief description is given below. Click on each case for furtherinformation.
Nominative: The naming case; used for subjects.
Genitive: The possession case; used to indicate ownership.
Accusative: The direct object case; used to indicate direct receivers of an action.
Dative / Instrumental: The indirect object and prepositional case; used to indicate indirect receivers of action and objects of prepositions. Also used to indicate things that are being used ("instruments").
A list of all the possible endings for a word is calleda declension. In Old English, nouns, pronouns and adjectivesare all declined; that is, they change their endings based upontheir grammatical function (or the grammatical function of the words theymodify) in the sentence.
(words in the Nominative are marked in navy blue)
The Nominative is the namingcase, used for the subject of the sentence.
Nominative nouns canbe singular:
Alfred is my name.
"Alfred" is the subject of thesentence, so "Alfred" would be in the nominative.
or plural:
The brothers divided the kingdom.
"Brothers" is the subject ofthe sentence, so "brothers" would be in the nominative case.
In Old English, nouns, pronouns and adjectivescan all take the nominative case.
If the main noun is in the nominative,the pronouns and adjectives grammatically related to that noun will alsobe in the nominative. (This principle is called "Case Agreement"among nouns, demonstratives and adjectives. We will discuss it in more detailbelow.)
That great king ruledthe kingdom.
"King" is the subject of the sentence,so it is in the nominative. "That"and "great" describe "king",so they are also in the nominative.
Having "that" and "great" in the nominative as well as "king" is an example of case agreement among adjectives, pronouns and nouns.
Important Note: When you look up a word in the dictionary it will be in the nominative case.
(words that would be in the genitive case in Old English are marked ingreen)
The Genitive is the possession case, usedto indicate that one thing is owned by, controlled by, or connected to another.
In Modern English we indicate genitives by using apostrophe-s('s) or the preposition "of".
Alfred's kingdom wasfamous.
This sentence can also be phrased:
The kingdom of Alfred was famous.
The kingdom is the subject of the sentence and is in thenominative case.
Because the kingdom belongs to Alfred, "Alfred"is in the genitive case.
Genitives can be singular (as above) or plural:
The swords of themen were sharp.
This sentence can also be phrased:
Themen's swords were sharp.
In Old English, adjectivesand pronouns can also take thegenitive case:
His sword was sharp.
(or, The sword of him was sharp.)
The power of thatlarge kingdom was great.
"Sword" and "power" are the subjectsof the sentences, so they are in the nominative case.
"His" is a genitive pronoun referring to thesword.
"Of his large kingdom" is a a phrase composedof a demonstrative pronoun ("that") an adjective ("large")and a noun in the genitive ("kingdom") all of which refer to theword "power".
Case Agreement
In Old English, adjectivesand demonstrative pronouns mustbe the same case as the nouns theymodify.
In the sentence "Alfred was the king of that largekingdom," "that," "large," and "kingdom"would all be in the same case (which, for this sentence, is the genitvecase).
Having "that" and "large" in the genitiveas well as "kingdom" is an example of case agreeementamong adjectives, pronouns and nouns.
(words in the accusative are marked in red)
The Accusative is the direct object case, used to indicatethe receiver of an action.
Alfred praised Wulfstan.
The accusative can be singular (as above) or plural:
Alfred rewarded the warriors.
Alfred is the subject of the sentences because he is performingthe action.
"Wulfstan" and "the warriors" are thedirect objects of the sentences because they are receiving the action.
In Old English, adjectives and pronouns can also take theaccusative case:
Alfred rewarded thosebrave warriors.
Alfred is the subject of the sentence because he is performingthe action.
The warriors are the direct object of the sentence becausethey are receiving the action (the reward).
"Those" is a demonstrative pronoun the refersto the warriors, so it is in the accusative case.
"Brave" is an adjective that, because it refersto the warriors (who are receiving the action) is also in the accusativecase.
Having "those" and "brave" in the accusativeas well as "warriors" is an example of caseagreement among adjectives, pronouns and nouns.
The accusative case can also be used to indicate "motion towards" something.
The Viking ships came into the harbor. .
The Viking ships are moving towards the harbor, so "into the harbor" is in the accusative case.
Note:If the ships were staying in the harbor, the phrase "in the harbor" would be in the dative case (see below).
(words in the dative and instrumental are marked in purple)
The Dative Case
The dative case can be used for both Indirect Objects andObjects of Prepositions.
Dative for Indirect Objects
The Dative is the indirect object case, used to indicatethe secondary receiver of an action.
Alfred praised Wulfstan to Edward.
The dative can be singular (as above) or plural:
Alfred praised Wulfstan to the warriors.
Alfred is the subject of the sentences because he is performingthe action.
"Wulfstan" is the direct objectof the sentence because he is receiving the action.
"Edward" and "the warriors" are theindirect objects because they secondarily receive the action.
In Old English, adjectives,and pronouns can also take thedative case:
Alfred praised Wulfstan to those brave warriors.
Alfred is the subject of the sentence because he is performingthe action.
"Wulfstan" is the direct objectof the sentence because he is receiving the action.
"Wulfstan"would be in the accusativecase.
"Warriors" are the indirectobjects because they secondarily receive the action.
"Those warriors" would be in the dative case.
"Those" is a demonstrative pronoun that refersto the warriors, so it is also in the dative case.
"Brave" is an adjective that, because it refersto the warriors (who are secondarily receiving the action), is also in thedative case.
Having "those" and "brave" in the dativeas well as "warriors" is an example of caseagreement among adjectives, pronouns and nouns.
Dativewith Prepositions
In Old English the objects of most prepositions ("of",which takes the genitive, and "to", which can take the accusative,are the more common exceptions) take the Dative Case.
Alfred struggled with illness.
Alfred hid in Æthelny.
Alfred prayed for victory.
"Alfred" is the subject of each sentence because he is performingthe actions.
"Illness," "Æthelny," and "victory"are the objects of the prepositions "with", "by", and"for", so they are in the dative case.
In old English, adjectivesand pronouns also can take thedative case if they are linked to the object of a preposition.
Alfred struggled with thathorrible illness.
Alfred is the subject of the sentence because he is performingthe action.
"Illness"is the object of the preposition "with,"so it is in the dative case.
"That" is a demonstrativepronoun that refers to "illness," so it is in dative case.
"Horrible" is an adjectivethat refers to "illness," so it is in the dative case.
Having "that" and "horrible" in thedative case as well as "illness" is an example ofcase agreement among adjectives, nouns, and pronouns.
Even though many books of Old English grammar separatethe dative and instrumental cases, it is easier to think of the instrumentalas just another use of the dative (the endings are the same for nouns; thereare some pronouns that have different instrumental forms).
An instrumental noun is one that is used to accomplishsomething (as the instrument of the action).
In Old English instrumentals can be recognized as nounsin the dative case that are not indirect objects and are not preceeded bya preposition.
Alfred killed a Viking with a sword.
"Sword" is in the instrumental case because itis the instrument Alfred used to kill the Viking.
However, it is just as easy to think of "sword"being the object of "with," and thus in the dative.
Old English gives a writer the option of leaving out "with"and simply saying
Alfred killed a Viking sword(+dativeending). (<== note that "sword"is in the dative / instrumental case)
You could translate this sentence as: Alfred killed a Vikingby means of a sword.
In Old English, adjectives and pronouns also can take the Instrumental Case if they are linked to an instrumental noun (or, if they are stand-alone pronouns, if they are being used as an instrument).
Alfred killed the Viking with that trusty sword
"Alfred" is the subject of the sentence because he is performing the action.
"Sword" is the means by which the action was accomplished, so it is in the instrumental case.
"that" is a demonstrative pronoun the refersto the sword, so it is in the instrumental case.
"Trusty" is an adjective that, because it refersto the sword (which is the means by which the action is accomplished) is also in the instrumentalcase.
Having "that" and "trusty" in the instrumental caseas well as "sword" is an example of caseagreement among adjectives, pronouns and nouns.
Review: the endings on a wordindicate which case it belongs to. In turn, the case indicateswhat function the word is performing in the sentence, whether it is thesubject (nominative), the direct object (accusative), the indirect objector object of a preposition (dative), or if it is a possessive (genitive)form.
Click here for some exercises to practice recognizing cases.
