Old English sentence structure differs from Modern English in key ways. Word order was more flexible, with both SOV and SVO patterns common. Inflections played a crucial role, marking grammatical functions through word endings.

Sentences consisted of subjects, verbs, objects, and adverbials. Case endings indicated roles like subject and object. Verb endings showed person, number, and tense. This system allowed for more flexible word order while maintaining clear meaning.

Old English Sentence Structure

Components of Old English sentences

• Subject
  • Noun or pronoun that performs the action of the verb
  • Determines the person and number of the verb
• Verb
  • Action word or state of being in a sentence
  • Changes form to agree with the subject (person and number)
• Object
  • Receives the action of the verb directly (direct object) or indirectly (indirect object)
  • Can be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase
• Adverbial
  • Describes how, where, when, or to what degree the action occurs
  • Modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (swiftly, there, yesterday, very)

Old vs Modern English structures

• Word order
  • Old English allows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) or Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order
  • Modern English predominantly uses Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order (I love you)
• Inflections
  • Old English heavily relies on word endings to indicate grammatical function
  • Modern English has fewer inflections and depends more on word order for meaning
• Prepositions
  • Old English prepositions often follow their objects (him with)
  • Modern English prepositions usually come before their objects (with him)

Role of inflections in Old English

• Case endings
  • Nominative marks the subject of a sentence (se cyning - the king)
  • Accusative indicates the direct object of a verb (þone eorl - the earl)
  • Genitive shows possession or relation (þæs cynges - the king's)
  • Dative denotes the indirect object or object of certain prepositions (þæm cynge - to/for the king)
• Verb endings
  • Person (first, second, third), number (singular, plural), tense (present, past), mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative)
  • Endings change to match the subject (ic lufige - I love, he lufað - he loves)
• Adjective and adverb endings
  • Agree with the modified noun in case, number, and gender
  • Endings vary based on strong or weak declension (gōd cyning - good king, se gōda cyning - the good king)

Construction of simple Old English sentences

1. Basic declarative sentence: Subject + Verb + Object

   • Se cyning lufode þone eorl. (The king loved the earl.)
   • Þæt cild slæpð. (The child sleeps.)

2. Negative sentence: Subject + Negative particle + Verb + Object

   • Ic ne secge. (I do not say.)
   • He ne sang. (He did not sing.)

3. Interrogative sentence: Interrogative pronoun or adverb + Verb + Subject + Object

   • Hwæt sægest þu? (What do you say?)
   • Hwider gæð he? (Where is he going?)

4. Imperative sentence: Verb + Object

   • Cum her! (Come here!)
   • Sing þa ealdan sang! (Sing the old song!)