The Syntax of Early English - Cryptm.org

The Verb-Second constraint and its loss 115non-root clauses is never preceded by a topic, except in contexts we discussbelow. Another argument is that beside the subject, objects or adverbs canprecede the finite verb:(37) æt he wisdom mæge wi ofermetta æfre gemenganthat he wisdom may with pride ever mingle‘that he may always combine wisdom with pride’ (Met 7.6)(38) æt hi ofer æt ne dorston nohte gretan a halgan stowethat they after that not dared not-at-all attack the holy place‘that they didn’t dare at all attack the holy place after that’ (GD 1(C)4.43.4)This makes it unlikely that (36) is a case of Verb-Second.Let us now turn to the word order of embedded questions. In general, itcan be said that embedded questions do not have verb–subject order. (39)and (40) illustrate some of the regular word orders in embedded constituentquestions:(39) a com god and axode hwi he his bebod tobræcethen came God and asked why he his commandment broke‘then God came and asked why he had broken his commandment’(ÆCHom I, 1.18.12)(40) . . . a a his leorningcnihtas hine axodon for hwæs synnum se manwhen his disciples him asked for whose sins the manwurde swa blind acennedbecame thus blind born‘. . . when his disciples asked him for whose sin the man was thus bornblind’ (ÆCHom I, 31.474.1)Verb–subject order in this context is rare in the original prose, and the examplesfound are often in direct speech; the following example is from the Bibletranslation:(41) And a axodon hine Pharisei & a boceras hwi ne gaand then asked him Pharisees and the learned men why not goine leorningcnihtas æfter ure yldrena gesetnysse. ac besmitenumyour disciples after our forefathers’ law but with defiledhandum hyra hlaf icga?hands their bread eat?‘Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not your disciplesaccording to the tradition of their elders, but eat bread with unwashedhands?’ (Mk (WSCp) 7.5)Since this seems to be a quoted root clause, it can be analysed as a case ofVerb-Second in the absence of a complementizer, as discussed above forModern English and illustrated with (32a).Let us now consider topic-initial sentences. Examples of Verb-Second in thecomplement of a bridge verb, in direct or indirect speech, can be readily found: