HISTORY OF THE INFINITIVE IN ENGLISH
By
Virginia E. Harper
A Thesis Su bmitted to the Faculty of the
College of Humanities
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
of Master of Arts
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, Florida
December 1974 HISTORY OF THE INFINITIVE IN ENGLISH
By
Virginia E. Harper
This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Jl r. Mary Faraci, Department of English, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:
~ ~ ( Th~ Adv1SOT)
College
d Studies
ii ABSTRACT
Author: Virginia E. Harper
Title: History of the Infinitive in English
Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Degree: Master of Arts
Year: 1974
This thesis is a comparison of Old English infinitives with
present day English infinitive forms. The comparisons in this thesis
provide insight into historical differences and developments involving
the infinitive. One of the most obvious differences between Old English
and present day English is the variety of Old English word orders;
the evidence shows different patterns of interrogative and declarative
subject-verb inversions, as well as adverb, adjective and object
placement when the infinitive without to was used. With the exception
of the interrogatives, the tendency in present day English is to have lhe
modal or verb follow the subject and precede the infinitive. In comparing
the uses of Old English verbs that cannot take the to + infinitive
with those of present day En ~ lish that must, it is evident that the
to + infinitive structure is now much more common in sentences. One
can assume that the present day preference for the to + infinitive after main verbs, with the exception of modal auxiliaries, has grown out of
the Old English use of the inflected infinitive with to.
iii TA BLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT iii
INTRODUCTIO N 1
CHAPTER
I. DEFI NITI ONS AND FUN CTI ON S OF THE INFI NITIVE
II. VARIATI ON S I N STRU CTURE AND mEANI NG OF TH E I NFI NI TIVE 11
III. VARIATIO NS OF THE I NFI NITIVE 24
CONCLUSION 44
LIST OF WORKS CITED 47
iv INTRODUCTION
This thesis has been undertaken to analyze the meanings, the word order, and the uses with to and without to of the infinitive in Old Englis h i n comparison with present day forms and uses. A present da y En glish infinitive construction is often identical to an Old En glis h pattern; whereas, in some instances, present day
English no longe r preserves the Old English construction.
Morgan Callaway's book The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon is a comprehensive study of all the uses of the infinitive in all extant 1 Old English manuscripts. The book is valuable for its complete lists of main verbs and the meanings of the infinitives that follow them. Calla way's work however, does not contain any comparisons of the uses of Old English infinitives with those of Modern English.
Although thorough, his details are not organized enough for an accurate picture of the infinitive in Old English. H~s treatment of the occurrences of to and the inflected infinitive is too diffuse to be useful. Throughout the volume, Calla way mentions that the infinitive form precedes the main verb, but he does not go into any detailed analysis of structural variation. He is not concerned with studying sentence pa tterns like the separation of infinitive forms and main verbs by objects and/or phrases; moreover, he does not discuss infinitive constructions when inversion, interrogatives or negation
1 morgan Cal lawa y, Jr., Th e Infinit ive in Ang lo-Sa xon. Carnegie Institution of washington, o.c., Publica tion No. 1670. (Cambridge, The Unive r sity Pres s, 1913 ). 1 2
occur. The reliability of the work is questionable because in at
least one entry, he has misunderstood the relationship of the infinitive
to the main verb.
Most grammars of Old English give only a brief summary of the
infinitive. Texts outlining the history of Old English grammar
agree on certain forms of the infinitive, but there is no comparison
of the uses of the infinitive forms with or without to in Old English.
Furthermore, there is no study of the effects on Modern English forms.
Their contributions, then, are rather slight. In his discussion of
verbs in Old English Grammar, A. Campbell examines the infinitive
endings. He also mentions the use of the Old English modal auxiliaries
Willan 'will' and sculan 'shall' with the infinitive to show desire and 2 the future. Samuel Moore and Thomas A. Knott's grammar The Elements of
Old English contains a cursory definition of the infinitive as a principal part of each verb class and of the inflected infinitive as a 3 gerund, but no description of the syntax of the infinitive. Charles
Carlton's Descriptive Syntax of the Old English Charters provides a full study of the infinitive and the inflected infinitive or gerund in 4 the syntax of Old English but in the Charters ·only.
2 A. Campbell, Old English Grammar. (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1959), PP• 295, 299, 343-346.
3samuel Moore and Thomas A. Knott, The Elements of Old English rev. James R. Hulbert, lOth ed. (Ann Arbor, Michigan: The George Wahr Publishing Co., 1963) PP• 24-27, 182.
4 charles Carlton, Descriptive Syntax of the Old English Charters, Janua Linguarium Series Practica III (Paris: The Hague Press, 1970) P• 186. Only two works compare particular uses of the infinitive in both
Old English and present day English. The History of English Syntax
by Elizabeth Closs Traugott is useful in describing the meanings of
Old English and present day English modal auxiliaries. Traugott,
however, like the others does not deal with specific uses of the 5 infinitive without to nor with the inflected infinitive with to.
G. L. Brook's A History of the English Language presents information
on a few of the uses of infinitive forms, both in Old English and
present day English. Brook outlines the historical development of
Modern English infinitive forms without inflections. He also points
out the increased use of the infinitive in present day English to
replace a subordinate "that" clause. In addition, Brook has a brief
analysis of the "split infinitive" and the use of to by ellipsis in
present day English. 6
Except for Calla~ay, the aforesaid studies are valuable only for
a general picture of Old English grammar that happens to include the
infinitive. Because all works have ignored the approach most interesting
to present day English speakers, this thesis will analyze the sources
of the present day English infinitive. The evidence will be organized
to clarify the meaning and structure of the Old English forms that
shed light on the present day English infinitive.
5. Elizabeth Closs Traugbtt, A History of English Syntax: A Transfor- mational Approach to the History of En glish Sentence Structures, Transatlantic Series in Linguistics (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, Inc., 197l) . pp. 66-73, 168-172.
6 G. L. Brook, A History of the English Languaoe (New York: W. w. Norton & Co., Inc., 1958) PP• 162-164. 4
The Old English data for this thesis are a representative collection of infinitive structures from the 9th century manuscripts of King Alfred's 7 8 Drosius and King Alfred's Translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis.
These manuscripts are important because they and the Old English
Charters are accepted as the only extant examples of 9th century dialect.
Both contain frequent and different uses of the infinitive.
For the present day English structural comparisons, I have chosen 9 A Gramm a r of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk. For aid in translating Old English, I have used the most recent Anglo-Saxon 10 dictionary: A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by J. R. Clark-Hall.
Although for the most part the translations are mine, I have checked
J. E. Giles translation of Orosius in The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great~ 1 and Sweet's translation of King Alfred's Translation of 12 Cura Pastoralis for the meanings of the more difficult passages.
7 orosius, Paulus, King Alfred's Orosius, ed. Henry Sweet (London: E. 8. Trubner, 1883).
8King Alfred's West-Sa xon Version of Greagory's Pastoral Care, trans. and ed. Henry Sweet, Publications of the Early English Text Society (London: E. B. Trubner & Co., 1871). 9 . Randolph Quirk, et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English (London: Longman Group Limited, 1972).
10 J. R. Clark-Hall, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (Cambridge: The University Press, 1970).
11 J. E. Giles, The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great: An Englis~ Translation of the Anglo-Sa xon Version of the Historian Orosius, Vol, : II (1885~ rpt. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1969).
12 Sweet, Gregory's Pastoral Ca re. 5
The text of the thesis concentrates on the Old English examples.
For comparison, data have been filed by categories relating to
contemporary English usage. Old English passages are immediately followed by contemporary English translation. The Old English infinitive constructions under discussion are underlined. The following Old English letters are normalized to their Modern
English equivalents: pas~~ '£-as~')' -f), andt as l!J.• Examples from Cura Pa s t oralis are denoted by (CP), those from
King Alfred's Orosius as (0). DEFINITION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE INFINITIVE
It is necessary to define the present day English infinitive
forms and analyze their functions before comparing them with their
Old English counterparts. The difference between the infinitive
form and the other verb forms lies in the context. Except for
thitd person present -s inflection and preterite -ed inflection,
the two are identical in form. Inflected verbs have inflected -s
in the thitd person present and have preterite forms. The verb
dance, shown below, is representative of the inflected group.
Present Preterite
I dance I danced You dance You danced He, she, it dances He, she, it danced They dance They danced
The conjugations of to be and do, though irregular verbs, have inflected forms.
The modal auxiliary verbs have a different form in the preterite, but not in the present, third .person singular: shall/should, will/would, can/could, ~might.
Present Preterite
I can I could You can You could He, she, it can He, she, it could They can They could
6 7
Because of so many uninflected forms in the verbs above, the context of the infinitive best distinguishes it from a form like dance in I dance. The most reliable signal for the infinitive is to, but when to is not present, one of the medals or do, dare, or let is the signal. The following sentences illustrate the infinitive's context in English today:
Subject + Verb + to + Infinitive
She wants to learn. She likes to dance.
Subject + Modal + Infinitive
I can dance. I could dance. She may dance. She might dance. I dare dance. I dared dance.
The differences between inflected verbs, medals, and the infinitive with or without to can be further seen in the following comparisons of the surface structures. The trees show sentence components.
Inflected Verbs: The meaning of the inflections is shown in the tree.
She dances. Sentence Subj~~hrase S~e ~ dance Tense inflection
Plesent 8
She danced.
Sentence
Subj~~ Phrase Shl Verb dan~e inflection.
dast
Modal + Infinitive.
She could dance.
Sentence
Sub~ect Verb Phrase S~e Auxili<~ ~erb ca~t"nflection~ritive Pa t d nee
Verbs + to + I nf i ni ti ve.
She learns to dance.
Sentence Subject·------~~hrase s/. /erb Stru~iritive learn ~se ~ . cknce inflection P~elent 9
She learned to dance.
As stated previously, the obvious form of present day infinitives
is signalled by the empty morpheme to. Ronald Langacker asserts that
"syntactic rules insert semantically empty morphemes as trappings ~n
sentences. The to of I want to go, for example, is inserted by a 3 syntactic rule of English; to is apparently devoid of semantic content • .,l
To, therefore, is merely a structure marker with no content significance; consequently, it is not actually a part of the infinitive. Sentences
that support this theory are those that omit to by ellipsis, for example: She wants to dance, skip, and hop. To seems to be merely a structure signal.
Although to never appears after~~ may, shall, will, or their past forms and never after must, do, dare, and let, it is used with the infinitive forms that follow all other verbs. In present day English the infinitive without to is the exception; in Old English, however, the infinitive without to was used regularly and to + infinitive occurred in only a few constructions.
13 Ronald W. Langacker, Language and Its Structure: Some Fundame ntal Linguis tic Concept s ( New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1967) P• 243. 10
The Old English infinitive has two forms: the infinitive without
to and the inflected infinitive with to~ The infinitive without~ is
characterized b y~ or~ endings. The infinitive with to usually occurs
with a da tive ending, enne or anne. All inflections have been lost in
present day English.
The infinitive without to occurred with the modal auxiliaries and
most of the other verbs in Old English. It followed verbs like~~
comm a nd, l et and do. Dare and command now take the to +infinitive.
The verb dare, however, is an exception and can be used with or
without to.
Certain verbs in Old English such as ~~ see, or begin could
be used with either the infinitive without to or the inflected infinitive
with to. Like pres ent day English verbs, a number of the Old English
verbs were followed by a nominal "that" clause.
The inflected infinitive with to was used in Old English to
perform nominal and adverbial syntactic functions that the infinitive without to could not. The present day English to + infinitive has
retained similar functions. VARIATIONS IN STRUCTURE AND MEANING OF THE INFINITIVE
The Modal Auxiliaries + Infinitive
In Modern English the modal auxiliaries can/could, shall/should, . --- may/might, will/would, and must are used with the bare infinitive.
The Old Engli s h medals that correspond to these Modern English forms
are cunnan, sculan, ma ga n, willan, and motan, respectively. The
meanings of the modal auxiliaries in Old English correspond to present 14 day English usage. Can/could is used to show power in the sense of
"to be able to." Old English cunnan is used both in the sense
of "to be able to" and "to know how to." Shall/should in present day
English has a variety of meanings. Shall implies intention, possibility
or permission. Should is used to show obligation, hypothetical
situations and tentative conditions. It is also used after certain
putative expressions. Sculan in Old English is also versatile and can
have meanings of power, possibility, intention, obligation or willingness.
The present day use of ~might connotes possibility or permission, while the Old English magan can mean power, possibility, intention,
or permission. The present day use of will/would usually conveys willingness (volition), intention, or possibility. Willan in Old English
shows willingness (volition), power, permission or intention. One further
use of the medals willan and sometimes sculan in Old English is to show
future tense like the present day English uses. Must derives from
14 Quirk, et al., PP• 97-102.
11 12 the preterite tense form of Old English motan. Must is now limited to use in the sense of obligation or necessity. Motan has some of the properties of the other medals in Old English and can show permission, necessity or power, besides the sense of obligation.
The modal auxiliary and the infinitive appear regularly in both main clause and subo rdinate clause constructions. Calla~ay states that the use of the infinitive after the auxiliaries is to complete the sense of the auxiliary. This complementary infinitive "instead of seeming to be the object of the auxiliary, appears to us as the most 15 significant element of the verb phrase."
Structures of Modals + Infinitives
The most frequent structure is that of Subject + Modal + Infinitive, similar to the present day English pattern.
Subject + Modal + Infinitive
a) and eft hiene selfne ofdune astigende he cuthe gemetgian his hieremonnum (CP 100) 'again by letting himself down he could counsel his disciples'
b) and for ryhtwisness he sceal habban andan to hiere yfele (CP 74) 'and through righteousness he must feel indignation at their evil.'
c) be thaem mon mehte wi tan. (0 14) 'by that one might know.•
d) Ic wille wyrcean min set! on northdael and wille bean gelic thaem hiehstan. (CP 110) 'I will build my house on the north side and will be like the highest.• 15 Callaway, The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon. P• 70. 13
e) aliefde eallum Crecum thaet heora anwaldes moston standan him betweonum (0 118) 'he craftily gave leave to all the Greeks, in order that their mighty might stand among them.•
Apart from normal Subj ect + Modal + Infinitive constructions,
Old English cons tructions, unlike present day English ones, are very
versatile. In present day English, subject-modal inversion may take
place in interrogative sentences. Inversion takes place in Old
English in the interrogative and in certain declarative sentences that
use willan and sculan. The following Old English patterns, except
for the interrogative inversions, are found in both main clauses and
subordinate clause constructions; the interrogative inversions occur
only in main clauses. It should be noted that adverb and object
insertion takes place often and, when it does, it is always placed
before the infinitive, although it can precede or follow the modal.
Interrogative Inve rsions
Like present day English, the subject-verb positions may be inverted in Old English interrogative sentences.
Interroga tive Pronoun + Modal + Subject + Infinitive
a) hwaet can ic sprecan? (CP 48) 'whai can I say?"
b) Hwaet sceal ic thonne buton hlichban? {CP 246-248) 'What shall I then (do) but laugh?'
The preceding example (b) also illustrates the implied infinitive in the first clause and the implied modal in the second.
c) Hwaet wille ge for eowerre fortruwodness and for eowerre a nwilness cwetha n (CP 210) 'What will you say for your presumption and for your ob s tina nce,• 14
In constructions where the pronoun hwa 'who' is the subject, the order is not inverted. In the following example Hwa meahte corresponds to the present day English interrogative who + modal.
d) Hwa meahte ieth monnum raedan butan scylde (CP 32) 'Who could more easily advise them than he (who) created (them)?
Declarative Inversions
In British English especially, declarative inversions of subject- verb are rare, but they do occur occasionally in sentences like
Soon will I speak or Dig we must. Old English made frequent use of declarative inversions using only willan and sculan.
Adverb +Modal+ Subject+ (Direct Obj.) + Infinitive + (Direct Obj.)
a) Nu willa we secgan umb tha ugland. (0 26) 'Now will we talk about the islands.•
b) Nu willa we ymbe Affrica secgan. (0 24) 1 Now will we speak of Africa."
c) Nu willa we secgan be suthan Donua thaere ea ymbe Creca land (hu hit) lith. (0 22) 'Now will we speak about Greece on the south of the river Danube.•
d) Swa sceal se sacerd gitt simla tha do~as beran awritene on his breostum Israhela bearne, (CP 78) 'Thus shall the priest always bear the judgement of the children of Israel written on his breast.• 15
Adverb and Adjective Intrusions
In present day English, an adverb may intrude between the modal
and the infinitive as in She can really dance. As in present day
English, adverb and adjective intrusion takes place regularly between
the modal + Infinitive in Old English constructions.
Sub 'ect + Infinitive
a) se the conn wel straec bean. (CP 112) 'he who can be very strict.•
b) Ac we sculon swithe smealice thissa aegther underthencean. (CP 48) 'But we ought very carefully to consider both of these {cases).'
c) gif he mid hira heortan earum weldon gehiran and geornlice gethencean. (CP 30) 'if they would hear with their hearts and carefully consider.'
The Position of the Direct Object
When there is a direct object or an object clause, the Old English constructions usually follow the present day English order in main clauses. Examples (d) and (e) below are indirect question constructions that have clause objects. Double lines indicate the direct object.
Subject + modal + Infinitive + Direct Object
a) and eft hiene selfne ofdune astigende he cuthe gemetgian his hieremonnum (CP 100) 'again by letting himself down he could counsel his disciples'
b) Se byrdesta sceall gyldan fiftyne mearthes fell. {0 18) 'The richest must pay fifteen skins of the marten.• 16
c) and wolde fleon tha byrthenne (CP 22) 'and (I) wished to flee the burden.'
d) be thaem man mehte witan, tha he and the consulas hie alettan ne meht-;;:;:- -(0 140) 'therefore they mi ght know when he and the consuls may resign. •
e) thaet hie mosten gefandi a n hwe the r hie heora med sel tha ofe r si thon mehte. (0 164)
The IYlo da l + I nf ini ti ve in the Subordinate "that" Clause
The IYl odal + Infinitive appears regularly in subordinate clauses
introduced by the or the subordinating conjunction thaet. The
subordinate clause, like the main clause in Old English, displays
a great deal of structural versatility. The usual pattern, however,
in the subordinate thaet clause was for direct objects to follow the modal and precede the infinitive.
Su bject + Verb + thaet + N + IYlodal + D.O. + Infinitive
a) oththone first, the hie wel cunnen Englisc oewrit araedan (CP 6) 'first they who can read English writing -well.'
b) Forthaem waes swithe ryhtlice beboden Ezechiele thaem witgan thaet he sceolde thane Codes alter habban uppan aholodne. (CP 21 'Therefore Ez ekiel the prophet was very rightly ordered that he should erect the altar of God in a hollow'
c) thaet wind ne meahte tha lac tostencean (CP 218) 'that the wind might not scatter the things' 17
d) Sea haefde gehaten heora gydenne Dianon thaet heo wolds hie r e lif- on faemnhede alibban. (0 108) 'She had vowed to the goddess Diana that she would live her life in virginity.'
e) thaet hie mosten tha deadan bebyrgean. (0 100) 'that they must bury the dead.'
In some subordina te thaet clauses, the object precedes the verb phrase. In all clauses, except the cunnan and motan clauses, the infinitive precede s the modal.
Subject + Ver ~ + tha et + N + D.O. + Infinitive + Modal
a) Nu we untweogenlice witan thaet we~ agen lif forlaetan scelan. (0 80) ------'Now we undoub tedly know that we shall lose our lives.•
b) thaet he thane man eft lufian maege the him abealg (CP 220)
~hat he may love the man who irritated him'
c) Sana swa Atheninse wiston thaet Darius hie mid gefeohte secan wolde. (0 78) 'Soon the Athenians knew that Darius would go out to seek the fight.•
Subject + Verb + thaet + N + D.O. + Modal + Infinitive
a) Forthaem is mice! nieththearf thaet se reccere tha theawas a nd t ha untheawas cunne toscadan. (CP 148) 'Therefore it is very necessary that the priest know how to separate the holy from the unholy.•
b) and him gethafede thaet hit mid onwalde him moste oferrics ian (CP 118) -- 'and permitted him that with power he could rule over him' 18
The modal + Bean
Bean 'to be' and a past participle are used after Old English medals to convey the passive voice just as present day English uses
It might be decided or It should be decided.
a) Tha Darius geseah thaet he oferwunnen ~ wolde (0 128) 'Then Darius saw that he would be defeated'
b) naefre ne moton· him bean ofatogene (CP 170) 'never must he be withdrawn'
Callaway points out that the passive infinitive as the complement of an auxiliary verb is "not nearly as frequent as the active infinitive 16 in the same use." The modal + Bean more often occurs in the active voice followed by a noun, adjective or present participle exactly as in present day English. The positions of the modal + Bean may be reversed.
a) se the conn wel straec bean (CP 112) 'he who can be very strict'
b) . and hie us thy blithran bion maegan (CP 54) 'and that they may be the more happy with us'
c) Thaes biscepes weare sculon bion ofer otherra manna weare (CP 74) 'The bishop's works shall be over other men's works'
d) noldon bean abisgode nanewuht on eorthlicum thingum--ccP 136) '(they) would not be busy with any earthly things'
16 Calla w ~y, The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon. P. 83. 19
There was one example of bean following the verb thurfan 'need'.
Thurfan is a verb that belongs to the Old English class of modal auxiliaries. In present day English, need and to be appear in patterns like (If) he need be informed of the matter or It need not be crucia l.
(he) ne eac ne thyrfe bien to upahaefen (CP 82) 'they also need not be proud'
There are two instances where the Modal + Bean is used with the present participle to convey the progressive sense.
a) gif he spreccende bien wolds (CP 88) 'if he would be speaking'
b) xvr. Hu se lareow ---sceal· --bien eallum monnum efndrowiende and forethencende on hira earfedum. (CP 12) XVI. 'How the teacher shall be sympathizing with and considering all men in their troubles•
(Bean is implied with the second participle, forethencende.)
The Implied Infinitive
In some Old English sentences, an infinitive which normally follows a modal is omitted by implication. The present day English sentences like I would go if I could are not new to the English language.
We magon monnum bemithan ure gothonc and urne willan ac we ne ma gon Go de. (CP 38) 'We may hide our thoughts and our wills from men but we may not (hide) from Gada. •
There are two examples of a modal with~ implied. Such constructions 20 as Let us to the theater disappeared.only recently in the history of
English.
a) hie wiston hu hie to thaem elpendon sceoldon (0 156) 'they knew how they should (go) to their elephants'
b) Theh ic aer saed thaet we to hell sceolden (0 86)
~hough I said before, that we should (go) to another world,'
In the preceding examples, the to is a preposition with elpendon and hell as objects. To is not part of the infinitive.
The Implied Modal
In certain cases, the modal may be followed by two or more infinitives. This is also true in present day English where a series of infinitives act as multiple objects of the main verb and the modal need not be repeated. An example of this is You must either go or stay, but do one or the other. The order of the· Modal + Infinitive varies in Old English implied modal constructions.
a) Eal thaet his manather oththe ettan oththe erian maeg that lith wid tha sae. (0 26) 'All that (is) his property (which he) may either plow or(ma~ plant lies by the sea.•
b) Hie sculon uparisan and weaxan.· (CP 262) 'They shall rise up and (shall) grow.'
c) gif mid hira heortan earum walden gehiran and geornlice gethencian. (0 30) 'if through their hearts {they) would earnestly hear and {would) meditate'
d) thaet hie maegan iernan and fleon (CP 102) 'that they may hasten and {may) flee' 21
The implied infinitive and the implied modal are interesting constructions because they demonstrate that implication and ellipsis have been integral parts of English. Their use in present day English, therefore, should not be attributed to a new kind of economy or laziness.
Whatever the motiva tion, the implied infinitive and the implied modal have an historical basis.
A Note on Negation
When the Modal + Infinitive is negated in Old English, the Old
English negative signal ~ invariably precedes the modal auxiliary.
In present day English all of the medals may have negative contractions.
In Old English, willan is the only Old English auxiliary that has a negative contraction. Old English, unlike present day English, places ne before the modal. Negation does not change basic syntactic patterns of clauses.
Subject + ne + Modal + Infinitive
a) thonne ne magon thider fullice becuman tha staepas thaes weorces thider the he wilnath (CP 64) 'therefore (he) cannot arrive perfectly on that side of the works'
Subject + Infinitive + ne + Modal
b) theah the hie nanewuht ongitan ne cunnon (CP 24-26) 'though they cannot understand (anything of the spiritual'
c) XI. Hwelc se bean sceal se thaerto cuman ne sceal. (CP 12) - XI. 'Whatever he shall be who shall not come there. •
d) ic ne that he ofer tha ea cuman ne mehte. (0 84) 'and that he could not cross over the river' 22
The negative contractions with willan are formed by ~ before all forms of willan to equal a contraction such as: ne + wille = nille.
a) and nyllath thaes thencean hu hie maegan nytwierthuste bion (CP 34) •and will not consider from this how they might be to their neighbors'
b) and theah thaet folc nolde aer Code abugan (D 38) 'and though the people would not bow before God'
The Semi-Modal Dare + Infinitive
The present day English verb dare occurs with the infinitive without~, but more frequently takes the infinitive with to. Quirk points out that dare used with the infinitive without to is restricted to non-assertive contexts, ie., "mainly negative and interrogative 17 contexts."
He dares to go.
He dares not to go. or He dares not 9,0· -·~. Did he dare to go? or Did he dare go?
In his discussion, Quirk also states that dare with the infinitive without to is now "probably rarer in American English than in British 18 English." One might assume that dare may eventually be used only with the to + infinitive.
In Old English, dearr was used only as a modal auxiliary verb without inflected -s form. Like the other Old English medals, infinitives used after dearr are complements. Dearr was used in negative, interrogative
17 Qu'rk,... et al., A G,rammar o f Con t emporary Eng 1·~s h • PP• 82-83.
18 Ibid., P• 83. 23
and assertive examples. In the few examples available the present tense of dearr occurs only in negation and interrogatives, the past tense is in assertive clauses and one negative clause.
Present
a) thaet hira nan ne durre gripan swae orsorglice on thaet rice. (CP 40) 'that any of them dare not seize the power careless! y.'
b) ne durron forthon ryht freolice and unforwandodlice sprecan. (CP 88) '(teachers out of fear) dare not speak freely and boldl~'
c) hu durre we thonne to Gode swelc sprecan? (CP 62) 'how dare we then speak so to God?'
Past
a) he hit for thaem ege dorste forlaetan (CP 264) 'also for fear he dared lose it'
b) thaer he on tweogenlican onbide waes hwaeder he wid Romanum winnan dorste, swa he ongunnan haefde (0 204) 'there he abided in doubt, whether he sould dare to wage ware against the Romans as he had begun.•
c) and naenne man naefdon the thider mid firde dorste gefaran (0 208) 'and they had not any ::1an that dared to go thither with an army'
d) ge thaet hie thaet maeste yfel forberan sceoldon, ge eac thaet hie hit sciran ne dorstan (0 114) 'either that they should bear the greatest evil or that they also dared not free themselves from it • VARIATIONS OF THE INFINITIVE
Aside from the medals and dare, other Old English verbs were
used with the uninflected infinitive without to. In the manuscripts
studied, the Old English verbs hatan •command', laetan •to allow', and
wuton 'to let' (imperative), were followed only by the uninflected
infinitive without to. Hatan, laeran 'to teach' and geseon 'to see'
are followed by nominal "that" clauses as well as uninflected
infinitives in Old English. Both the "that" clauses and infinitives
are complements to the main verbs.
Command + Infinitive
The present day English verb command is complemented by a noun
cl~use introduced by "that" or a to + infinitive clause with the 19 subject in the objective case.
Caesar commands that you fight. Caesar commands you to fight.
In the passive voice present day English command requires a form of
to be. He commanded a house to be built.
In Old English, hatan 'command' occurs with the uninflected infinitive and a thaet complement clause. Variations in the word order of the hatan constructions follow.
19 Quirk et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English, P• 832.
24 25
Subject + hatan + Infinitive +Object
he het ofslean ealle tha Iudeiscan (0 266) 'he ordered all the Jews to be slain'
Hatan + {Subject) + Infinitive + {Object)
Het tha aegther ofslean ge hiene ge his mod. (0 150) 'He orde red either him or his mother to be slain.•
The example from Orosius (266) above occurs in reverse order in
Orosius {242) below.
Object+ Sub ject+ hatan +Infinitive
end ealle tha men Iulius het ofslean (0 242) 'and Julius ordered all the men to be slain'
Subject + hatan + Object + Infinitive
a) the he aer westweard het tha ofermaetan brycge mid stane ofer gewyrcan (0 84) 'before going westward, he ordered a large stone bridge to be built across'
b) He het tha thaet faeste land utan ymbfaran (0 80) 'He ordered those to surround that fast-land'
Sub ject +Object + (Adv.) + hatan + (Adv.) + Infinitive
· e) Cassander hie het thaer besittan. {0 148) 'Cassander ordered them to besiege there'
b) and he hiene siththan het ofslean (0 270) 'he afterwards ordered him to be slain' 26
Subject +Object+ Infinitive+ hatan
a) and him secga n het thaet he georncr wolde sibbe (0 96) 'and ordered him to say that he wished more earnestly for peace'
b) Ac he ealle tha ricestan forslean het. (0 114) 'He ordered the entire kingdom to be slain.•
There was one example where hatan was followed by two infinitives.
This example is similar to the "the implied modal" construction previously discussed. (See page 20~
Tha heton tha consulas Hasterbale thaet heafod of aceorfa n and awe ortha n hit beforan Hannibales wicstowe. (0 198)
'Then the consuls ordered those to cut off the · head of Hasdrubal and to throw it before Hannibal's .camp.'
There was one example in which hatan was followed by a "that" clause.
Hatan + Object + that + Clause
Tha het the Hannibal thaet he wid tha aerendracan spraece. (o 202)
Let + Infinitive
In present day English let is followed by the infinitive without to.
They let him go to the store.
Laetan 'let' in Old English also meant to permit or allow. Laetan like most other Old English verbs may take only the uninflected infinitive as it s o b Jec. t • 20
20 Calla;way, The Infini t ive in An glo-Sa xon, P• 36. 27
Only a few examples of laetan were found in the Old English manuscripts. Two examples follow present day English word order
exactly.
Subject + Verb + Infinitive
a) ne eft he ne laete forweaxan to swithe to unnytte and to unryhte {CP 140) 'nor yet let (them) grow too rankly (so as to be) useless and evil'
b) Thaet hie man maege beran on thaem and laet hie stician thaeron. (CP 170) 1 lhat one may carry them on that (ark) and let them remain fixed there'
(Subject + Modal + Object ) + laetan + Infinitive
~e eft hie ne sceoldon hiera loccas laetan weaxan 'nor afterwards should they let their locks grow'
In two examples the infinitive precedes laetan.
a) thaet folc sum thaer sittan let (0 126) 'that some people were permitted to stay there'
b) the hie hie stondan forletan, (0 212) 'that they let them stand'
An interesting observation in the light of history is that let is now
the only present day English verb that may take the infinitive 21 without~ in the passive voice as in The grass was let grow.
21 Quirk, et.al.., A Grammar of Contemporary English, See P• 841 for discussion. 28
The Imperative Let + Infinitive
In present day English, first person imperatives can be formed by preposing the verb let followed by the infinitive with the subject 22 in the objective case in sentences like Let her gal or Let him do itt
Old English used the verb wuton 'let' to introduce an imperative or 23 ho~tatory clause rather than laetan. In the early West Saxon, only one example was found.
Uton nu brucan thisses undermetes. (0 86) 'Let us now enjoy this morning meal.'
Laeran + Infinitive
Teach in present day English may be complementeo by the to + infinitive or a nominal "that" clause.
I teach him to read. She taught us that everyone is equal.
In the Old English, laeran is followed by the uninflected infinitive without to in one example. Laeran may also take nominal "that" clauses as objects. laeran with infinitive:
ac thonne hi hit heriath thonne laerath hi hit aelcne thara the hit gehierth herian (CP 246) 'When they extol it, then they teach each one who hears to extol it.•
22 Ibid., P• 404.
23 J. R. Clark Hall, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. 426. 29
Laeran with "that" clauses:
Subject + Verb + (That clause)
a) otherne he laerth thaet he onginne sume sconde be tha em othrum oth the sprecan oth (the) don. (CP 224) 'he teaches the one tha t he (should) attempt to say or do something (to anger) the other'
b) otherne he l a erth thaet he (tha) scande forgielde (CP 226)
'he teaches the other that he requite the ~ an g er'
c) Se hiene waes georne laerende thaet he ma hamweard fore (0 82) 'He was carefully teaching that he go nearer to home'
See + Infinitive
The present day English verb see is used either with the infinitive
witho u t~, a gerund, or a nominal "that" clause.
I see her da nce. I see dancing in the ball room. I see that you a re very pretty.
Geseon 'to see' in Old English is followed by the uninflected infinitive without to and often by "that" clauses. In the following constructions the infinitive is used with a subject and is the object of the main verb • In all the examples the infinitive follows the verb.
a) he geseah aer hine claensia n thurh tha colu thaes alters (CP 50) 'he saw him cleansing through the tranquillity of the altars'
b) Se as sa gesea h thane engel .on_geon hine stondan and him thaes faereltes forwierna n. (CP 154) 'The ass saw the angel standing beside him and preventing his progress.• 30
c) mon geseah we a llan blod of eorthan and rinan meblc of heafonum (0 162) 'man sa w the blood bubble from earth and the milk flow from hea ven'
With "that" blauses as - c~mplem en t s:
Subj ect + Verb + ( Tha t clause)
a) Tha his here geseah tha et he mid thy horse a feoll (0 118) 'Then hi s a rmy saw that he fell with his horse'
b) theah hi e geseon thaet tha yfelan hie haebban ongemong him (CP 262) 'though they saw that they have evil among them'
c) thonne he gesith thaet his hieremen agyltath (CP 142) 'then he sees that his subjects sin' VARIATIONS WITH THE INFLECTED INFINITIVE
The inflected infinitive characterized by the anne or~ endings
and preceded by to was used as an ob ject or complement to main verbs
in Old English. It was used as an objective complement, however,
less often tha n the uninflected infinitive. A few verbs were
found with both forms of the Old English infinitive as objects. A
larger group of verbs took only the inflected infinitive. Although
the ~, ~ inflections have been lost, the inflected infinitive
with~ in Old En glish survives as the to+ infinitive. in present day
English and is the preferred form of the infinitive after all main
verbs except the modal auxiliaries and do, ~, and let.
The inflected infinitive with_!£, unlike the uninflected infinitive,
was used as a subject or an adverj . The inflected infinitive continues
to be used in subjective and adverbial functions in present day English.
Infinitives were used as sub jects in "anticipatory it" clauses, as
adverbs in purpose constructions and as both subjects and adverbs in
"If ••• then" sentences.
Three verbs, begin, attempt and think, were followed by both the
uninflected infinitive and the inflected infinitive with to in Old
English. The uninflected infinitive as well as the inflected infinitive
with to were used as ob jects. Begin and attempt are considered among 24 Qu~r • k. s process ver b s and th.~n k ~s . a verb a f men t a 1 percep t.~an.
24 Quirk, et al., A Grammer of Contemporary English, pp. 832-836.
31 32
Think may also be complemented by a "that'' clause in Old English.
Attempt + Infinitive
Attempt is a present day English verb that may take only the
to + infinitive or the gerund.
I attempt to paint . I attempted painting bu t I have no talent.
The Old English verb tilian 'attempt' was followed by both the uninflected infinitive without to and the inflected infinitive with to.
Uninflected:
thaet he tiolodc menn forlaera n (CP 232) 'that he attempted to teach'
In the following example, the inflected infinitive with t6 is the object of the infinitive tilian with the modAl sculan.
He sceal tilian swae to libba nne. (CP 60) 'He shall attempt to live in this way.'
Begin + Infinitive
In present day English, begin is an inflected verb used with the to + infinitive. A gerund often occurs with begin in the past tense.
He begins to work on the project. He began working yesterday.
As in present day English begin, the Old English onginnan was often used "periphrastically with another verb in the infinitive to denote 25 the simple action of the infinitive." Moore and Knott state that
25 J. R. Clark Hall, Anglo Saxon Dictionary, P• 264. 33 onginnan often takes on the sense of do or did when used periphrastically~ 26
Although onginna n may be followed by either an uninflected infinitive or an inflected infinitive, Calleway states that the uninflected
u 27 ~n. f.~n~ . t.~ve occurs more a ft en an d ~s . pro b a bl y th e .. or~g~na. . 1 ~ . d.~om.
With the uninflect ed infinitive, onginnan could precede or follow the infinitive.
Subject + onginna n + (Adj.) +Infinitive
Neinus Assyria kyning, onga n manna aerest ricsian on thyssum middangea rde (0 28) 'Neinus king of Assyria, first among men, began to reign on this mid-earth'
The following example is like the one above except that onginnan precedes the sub ject.
Tha on g~ n he aerest herigean on him thaet thaet the faestraedes wi ste. (CP 212) 'Then he began first to praise in them what he knew of their steadfastness.'
Subject + (O b ject) + onginnan + Infinitive
hie acuron enlifen thusend manna and him ongeon foran (0 78) 'they chose eleven thousand men and began to march a gainst them'
The infinitive may precede onginnan.
Thaet gewinn wearth hwaedre sume hwile gestilled for than Puniei, wid Romane winnan a ngunna n. (0 106) 'That war, however, was stilled for a while because the Carthaginians began to wage war against the Romans.'
26 moore and Knott, The Elements of Old English, p. 322.
27 Callaway, The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon, p. 67. 34
There was one example of onginnan used with to and the inflected
infinitive as its object.
ne anginnath ~ wyrceanne. (CP 422) '(they) did not begin to work'
Think + Infinitive
Think in present day English may be followed by the to + infinitive
but more often than not is followed by a noun phrase or adjective phrase 28 complement.
We thought him to be friendly. We thought him friendly. We think the door is shut. They thought Elizabeth a true queen.
Think may also be followed by a "that" clause.
We thought that you weren't coming to the party. 29 In Old English, infinitives after thencan act as objects. Thencan may be followed by the uninflected infinitive without ~, the inflected
infinitive with to, or a "that" complement clause construction. In the material studied, only one example follows present day English verb order.
Subject + Thencan + Infinitive
and hiene si ththan thohton Sillan agifan. (0 236) •and afterwards (they) thought of giving him up to Sulla.'
The infinitive precedes thencan in the following examples.
28 Quirk, et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English, PP• 839, 850-851.
29 Callaway, The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon, p. 39. 35
a) he eft ha efde fird gegatheroth on Perseum, and thaet wreca n t hohte (0 78) '(Darius) ha d a gain gathered an army among the Persia ns and thought to wreak his vengeance on it.'
b) he hit abreca n thoht e (0 132) 'he thought t o storm it'
c) theh the he hie self l aes t an ne thohte (0 242) 'though he himself did not think to follow it'
When th e~ is followed by the inflected infinitive, the infinitive may not precede the verb. The inflected i nfi ni t ive i s t he o ~ j ect of thenca n.
a) thonne hit the ncth fela godra weorca ~ wyrca nne (CP 10) 'than they thought (of) ma ny good works to do'
b) thohte his s unu t o be sw icanne (0 282) '(he) thought to betra y his son'
Thencan with "tha t" clause s.
a) he the ncth on tha em oferbraedelse his modes thaet he sciele moni g god weare tha eron wyrca n. (CP 54) 'they think (thereupon) outside of their hearts that they sha ll perform many of God's works!
b) he thencth tha et he hit adwaesce (0 182) 'he thinks that he destroys it'
c) hie thohtan thaet hie siththan hiora undertheowas waeren. (0 92) 'they thought that they afterwards were their slaves' 36
The following Old English verbs were found only with the inflected infinitive as an object. There were no examples of the uninflected infinitive complementing these verbs.
Bid + Infinitive
In present day English, the verb bid used in commands is followed by the infinitive without to: They bid him leave. Beodan ' bid' was found with to and the inflected infinitive in one example only.
thonne he for nanre anwielness ne withcuith tham nyttan weorcum the him man beodeth to undo r f onne (CP 46) 'then they wantonly renounced out of ignorance the works that they bade man to undertake.•
Cease + Infinitive 30 Like begin, cease is a process verb. It may be followed by the to + infinitive or a gerund in, 'present day English.
He ceases to talk.
He ceased talking.
In Old English there was one example of wiernan 'cease' with the inflected infinitive with to as object.
Swa eac se the ni wirnth thaes wines his lare mod mid to oferdrincanne (CP 380) 'Likewise he who does not cease to drink in spite of his courage and wisdom'
Dread + Infinitive 31 Quirk places dread in an "emotive .. class of verbs. Dread may
30 auirk, et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English, P• 836.
31 Ibid., P• 836. 37
be followed by the t o + infinitive br a gerund in present day English.
He drea ds working. He dreads t o go to work.
Drea d may al s o occur with a "that" clause in sentences such as
We drea de d t he po ssi bilit y t ha t they mi ght not be alive.
Old En glis h on d r aeda ~ 'dread' wa s found once with the inflected infinitive and wi t h " t hat" cla uses.
thaet he unlaetwierthlice ondread ~ underfonne {CP 48) 'that he undou btedly dreaded to undertake this.'
Ondraeda n followed by "tha t" clauses:
a) he ondraet thaet he ne mote to cuman. {CP 56) 'he dreads that he might not attain it.·'
b) he maeg ondraeda n thaet he for his aegnum scyldum ma r e ierre gewyrce {CP 62) 'he may dread tha t he arouses more anger for his own sins'
c) hie alle from him ondredon thaet hie hie mid gefeogten (0 48) 'they all dread that they (mi ght) fi ght with him'
Do + I nfi niti ve
The pres ent da y English verb do has many uses. It is a primary auxiliary and ha s no individual me a ning, but, according to Quirk,
"serves as a dummy operator" in both past and present, negative and 32 interroga tive.
He do e s wa lk. He doesn't walk. He did walk. Didn't he wa lk?
32 Ibid., See PP• 684-695 for discussion. 38
In Old En glish, don and gedon were used in the sense of make or cause rather than as a dummy. In the following examples, don and gedon were used with subjects in the accusative case and were followed by the inflected infinitive. In both cases the infinitive was witan
'to know.•
a) Genoh swe t llice us gedyde nu ~ witanne. (0 126) 'Obviously enough i t caused us to know immediately.'
A passive sense is expressed by the construction below.
b) Swa hwa swa urum wordum and gewritum hieran hylle, do hit man us to witanne (CP 356)
'Whosoever will not hear our words and writings, makes it known to us.'
Forbid + Infinitive
In present day English, forbid is used with a to +infinitive as in I forbid you to go. Forbid may also be followed by a nominal
"that" clause to replace the infinitive. Although less frequent, a gerund may also follow forbid.
I forbid tha t you go to the party. She forbids pla ying in this room.
Forbeodan 'forbid' was found both with the inflected infinitive with to as object and with a nominal "that" clause in the early West
Saxon. There was only one example for the infinitive.
Godes ac the us forbiet diofulum to offrianne. (CP 368) 'God forbade us to sacrifice to the devil.' 39
Forbeoda n with "that" clauses·:
a) ac we sculon him forbeodan thaet hie huru sua nu don (CP 212) 'but we ought to forbid them that they do so at all'
b) and forbead thaet hiene man god hete (0 254) 'and forbade that one call him a god'
Wish + Infinitive
In present day English, wish is followed by a to + infinitive as in I wish to lea ve, or by a nominal "that" clause as in I wish that you would leave. In the Old English, wilnian 'wish' was complemented by the inflected infinitive and to in two examples.
a) wilniath theah lareowas to beonne (CP 24) 'though (they) wished to be teachers'
b) wilniathe sum aetheling ~ ricsianne Ar gentine (0 54) '(they) wished a nobleman to rule Argentina'
Wilnia n was also followed by "that" clauses:
a) hie wilniath thaet hie man haebb e for tha betstan. (CP 134) 'they wish that they have men for the best position.'
b) and wilnath theah thaet thaes othre menn swugian (CP 144) 'and (he) wishes though that those other men keep silent'
c) he wilnath ma thaet hine man lufige thonne ryhtwisness (CP 144) 'he desires more that man love himself more than righteousness' 40
Adverbial and Subjective Syntactic Functions
The inflected infinitive with to performed adverbial and sub- jective syntactic functions that the infinitive without to could not.
These uses survive in present day English in the following constructions.
Anticipa tory it + Infinitive
One of the most frequent functions of the inflected infinitive in Old English, which has continued to be used in present day English, 33 is the use of the infinitive with_!::£ in .. anticipatory it" constructions .
In prese nt day English these constructions also occur: It is difficult to read the book. To read is actually the true subject. fhis same type of construction was used in Old English with _!:£· and the inflected infinitive. Callaway calls these the "subjective infinitive" where 34 the infinitive is found as the subject of bean. In two examples
"it" is understood, not expressed.
Adj. + bean + to + Infinitive
a) Swa ungeliefedlic is aenigum menn thaet to gesecgenne (0 74) 'How unbelievable (it) is for any man to say that•
b) Eac is to witanne (CP 50) 'Moreover (it) is (important) to know•
c) hit swae earfode is aenegum men to wiota nne (CP 50) 'it is so difficult for any man to know•
. '
33 Ibid., P• 841
3 't::allaway , The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon, P• 97. 41
In the following examples, thaet is used at the beginning of the sentence to stand for the predicate nominative clauses within the sentence. Thaet has the same "anticipatory" sense as it in the preceding constructions. The following examples are more complicated than the it sentences above because the inflected infinitives have their own "that" clauses:
(Adj.) + thaet +bean+ to+ Infinitive
a) Hu micel thaet is to secganne thaette Leonida mid VI c manna VI CM swa genismrade, sum ofslog, sum geliemde (0 82) 'How wonderful it is to say that Leonidas with 610 men brought shame to six hundred thousand by slaying some and putting the others to flight'
b) Ac thaet is to wundrianne thaet tha Egipti swa lytle thoncunge wiston Tosepc thaes the hi hi et hungre ahredde (0 34) 'It is to wonder that the Egyptians felt so little thanks to Joseph for his having rid them of hunger'
To + Infinitive a s Adverb
I~ present day English, the to + infinitive is used as an adverb 35 to show purpose and intent and is attached to main clauses.
We will leave tonight to arrive early. To write well they must practice.
The following sub-categories illustrate adverbial uses of the inflected infinitive with to.
35Quirk, et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English, P• 753. 42
To be + Adjective + to + Infinitive
A present day English sentence like We are eager to pray hum bly
occurred in Old English constructions.
Ond thonne hie haebbath swithe arudlice tha earce up, thonne hie swithe hraedlice bioth gearwe to.· laeronne (CP 172) 'And when the y are ready to hold the ark up, then they are very ready to teach'
Su bject + Verb + (V a rious Structures} + to + Infinitive
9) Be thaem cwaeth Paulus thaet se lareow sceolde bean mihtig to tyhtanne (CP 90) ' Of which Pa ul said tha t the teacher to exhort should be mi ghty'
b) sum his folc sende gind thaet land to baernanne and .!:..£ herqenne. (0 188) 'some of his people (he) sent into that land to burn and pillage.•
c) Tha theah thonne hie nidernastigath to adweanne hiera nihstena scylda (CP 104) 'When they descend to wash the sins of their neighbors'
d) hie weldon aelene man ge wif ge woepned, and hit on mete oththe on drynce 1£ gethieginne gesellan. (0 108) 'They wished injury to every person either female or male, and (wished) to give it (poison) in meat or in drink'
Bean + to + Infinitive to Convey the Passive
To + infinitive in present day English is used with to be to convey the passive voice. This appears in sentences such as 36 I am to be bl amed. This use also occurred in Old English with the
36 I bid., P• 955. 43 inflected infinitive with to.
Subject + bean + to + Infinitive
a) Thaette on othre wisan sint to manianne tha gladan on other tha unrotan. (CP 64) 'That in one way the cheerful are to be admonished, in another the sad.'
b) On othre wisan sint to manianne tha the thisse worlde lotwrenceas cunnon and tha lufiath, on othre tha medwisan. Tha lyt•;Jan sint to manianne thaet hie oferhycgen thaet thaer wiston, tha samwisa n sint to manianne thaet hie wilnien ~ wiota~~ thaet thaet hie nyton. Thaem lytegan is aerest to beleanne hiera selflice (CP 202) 'Those who know and love the wiles of this world are to :J e admonished in one way, in another the simple. The cunning are to be admonished that they despise what they _know, the dull-witted to desire that they know what they are i gnorant of. The conceit of the cunning is first to be blamed.'
If ••• then Clauses.
All of the preceding constructions occurred in Old English
Gif ••• thonne constructions.
a) Gif thonne aegther bith unwis, thonne is to gethencenne (CP 28) 'If, then, either is foolish, then it is to be considered ••• •
b) gif his hwa sie lustful! mare to witanne, sece him thonne self thaet (0 100)-- 'if anyone is desirous to know more of it, he must seek it for himself.'
c) Gif thaer thonne sie gierd mid .to drea ge ann~, sie thaer each staef mid to wrethianne. (CP 126) 'If there is then a rod to beat with, let there be also a staff to support with.' CONCLUSION
Throughout this thesis, I have concentrated on comparisons of
Old English infinitives with present day En glish infinitive forms.
The historical approach analyzes the sources of Enr::J lish forms, but the comparative approach demonstrates the way language changes. The comparisons in this thesis provide insight into historical differences and developments involving the infinitive.
One of the most obvious differences between Old English and present day English is the variety of Old English word orders; the evidence shows different patterns of interrogative and declarative subject-verb inversions, as well as adverb, adjective and object place ment when the infinitive without to was used. With the exception of the interrogatives, the tendency in present day ~n g lish is to have the modal or verb follow the subject and precede the infinitive. This strict pattern did not always have to be adhered to in Old English.
In comparing the uses of Old English verbs that cannot take the to + infinitive with those of present day English that must, it is evident that the to + infinitive structure is now much more common in sentences. The only exceptions are the modal auxiliary verbs which have always required the infinitive without to. The Old En glish verb dearr belonged to the same class as the modals. The present day verb dare can not only be used with the infinitive without to, but also has
44 45
acquired properties of other -s inflected verbs that are followed by the
to+ infinit ive. Hatan 'command', also a mem ber of the modal class of
verbs, was followed only by the infinitive without !£• In present day
English, comm a nd requires the to + infinitive. Except for inverted
structures, the use of let in present day English is a direct descendant of the Old En glish. The verb of sense perception, ~,is used with the infinitive wi t hout t o as it was in Old English. Moreover, the Old
English word order of see and infinitives is the same as present day English since the infinitive always followed the verb. All of the other verbs were followed at least once by the inflected infinitive with to. One can assume that the present day preference for the to + infinit ive has grown out of the Old English use of the inflected infinitive with to.
The infinitive with~ has retained much of the importance it had in Old English sentence pa tterns. The loss of the unstressed inflected ending on the infinitive and the other parts of speech occurred during
Middle English and to has since become the marker of all forms of the infinitive except when they are used with modal auxiliaries. A much debated rule in present day English is the improper use of the so-called
"split infinitive." This occurs when the infinitive form is separated from to by an adverb , subordinate clause or a phrase like the one in
She doesn' t wa nt to ever dance a gain. Although it is apparent that the morpheme~ as a signal should precede the infinitive form, it is not the infinitive itself; therefore, the infinitive cannot actually be considered "split" if anything should occur between to and the verb.
There does not seem to be any historical basis for the semantic importance 46 of to after verbs when the infinitive does not have an adverbial function in present day English. To is merely a structure signal.
A study that would further support the theory that ~ is semantically unimportant is an analysis of the transition from 9th century Old English forms to those of late West Saxon (circa 1000) and into Middle and Modern En glish. It would also show the history of a verb like da re that did not take to before the infinitive until recently.
Likewise, a later comparison of veros that mean "command" would show how command has come to take the infinitive with to, even though it was followed by that clauses as well as the infinitive without to.
An inter8sting study would be one that shows how let~ which used to mean allow, has taken over the function of the Old English adhortative wuton 'let' in sentences like Let us go.
Studying the history of present day English is similar to solving a mystery. One important aspect of studyinJ the history of English is that linguistic detective work adds an interesting dimension to
English grammar. Since the English language is complicated, studying origins of language forms willresolve many confusin•] and inconsistent
Modern English forms. LIST OF WORKS CITED
Brook, G. L. A History of the English Language. New York: w. w. Norton & Co., 1958.
Callaway, Morgan, Jr., The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No . 167 Cambridge : The University Press, 1913 .
Camp bell , A. Old English Grammar. London: Oxford University Press, 1959.
Carlton, Charles. Descriptive Sy ntax of the Old English Charters. Janua Linguarium Series Practica III. Paris: The Hague Press, 1970.
Clark-Hall, J. R. U_?_n_c_ i_~~~_?ax~C~__Q_i_£t_~~ -".9.I_Y._~ Cambridge: The University Press, 1 ~10 .
King Alfred's West- Saxon Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care, Ed. Henry Sweet. Publications of the Early English 1ext S6ciety London: E. 13 . Trubner &: Co., 1871.
Langacker, Ronald W. Language and Its Structure: Some Fundamental Linguistic Concepts. New York: Harcourt, ~ race & World, Inc., 1967.
moore, Samuel and Knott, Thomas A. The Elements of Old Engli s h. lOth ed. Ed. and rev. James R. Hul bert. Ann Arbor, Mi chi ga n~ The George Wah r Publishing Co., 1963.
Drosius, Paulus, King Alfred's Orosius. Ed. Henry Sweet. Publications of the Early English Text Society. London: E. 3 . Trubner & Co., 1883.
Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Ge offrey; and Svartvik, Jan A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longma n Group Limited, 1972.
The Whole Works of Kinq ~ lfr ed the Great: An Enolish Translation of the Anglo-Saxon Version of the Histo rian Orosius. 1885 ; rpt. New York: Ams Press, Inc., 1969 .
Traugott , Elizabeth Closs. A History of English Syntax: A Trans formational Approach to the History of English Sentence Structures. Transatlantic Series in Lin ~ uistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, Inc., 1972.
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