The Syntax of Early English - Cryptm.org

144 The syntax of early EnglishAll of these elements are also readily found to the right of a non-frontedverb: examples can be seen of a nominal indirect object in (27), a nominaldirect object in (28), a PP in (29), a PP and a subject complement in (30) anda bare infinitival complement in (31).(27) æt he hæfde his ing and hine sylfne betæht am halgan werethat he had his things and him self committed the holy manBenedicteBenedict‘that he has committed his property and himself to the holy man Benedict’(ÆCHom II, 11.105.449)(28) æt hi urum godum geoffrian magon ancwure onsægednyssethat they our gods offer may grateful sacrifice‘that they may offer a grateful sacrifice to our gods’ (ÆCHom I, 38.592.31)(29) æt hy syan faran scoldon geond ealne middaneardthat they afterwards go must throughout all world‘that they must afterwards travel throughout the world’ (WHom 7.78)(30) e is genemned on Læden Pastoralis, & on Engliscwhich is called in Latin Pastoralis and in EnglishHierdebocshepherd’s-book‘which in Latin is called Pastoralis and in English Shepherds’ Book’(CPLetWærf 58)(31) æt hi mihton swa bealdlice Godes geleafan bodianthat they could so boldly God’s faith preach‘that they could preach God’s faith so boldly’ (ÆCHom I, 16.232.23)As noted in chapter 4, subjects occupy a high position in the clause, but inpassive and unaccusative constructions they can also be found lower, and evento the right of a non-fronted verb, though this is not very frequent. (32) and(33) illustrate this possibility.(32) onne ne magon ider fullice becumanthen not can there fully arrivea stæpas æs weorces ieder e he wilnathe steps of-the work where that he wants‘then the steps of the work cannot arrive at the desired point’ (CP 11.65.16)(33) urh a wifunge sind getacnode æs lichaman lustasthrough the wife-taking are signified of-the body lusts‘The taking to wife stands for the lusts of the body’ (ÆCHom II, 26.215.72)Finally, clausal objects (that-clauses and infinitives with to) always occur onthe right of the verb. This is a characteristic which all the Germanic languagesshare, and which is often attributed to psycholinguistic factors, in that ‘centreembedding’ is believed to cause severe processing problems.