Chapter 20

ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND CONJUNCTIONS.

#Adverbs.#

93. (1) Adverbs are formed by adding -e or #-līce# to the corresponding adjectives: #sōð#, _true_; #sōðe# or #sōðlīce#, _truly_; #earmlīc#, _wretched_; #earmlīce#, _wretchedly_; #wīd#, _wide_; #wīde#, _widely_; #micel#, _great_; #micle# (#micele#), _greatly, much_.

(2) The terminations -e and #-līce# are replaced in some adverbs by #-(l)unga# or #-(l)inga#: #eallunga#, _entirely_; #fǣringa#, _suddenly_; #grundlunga#, _from the ground, completely_.

NOTE 1.--In Mn.E. _headlong_, _darkling_, and _groveling_, originally adverbs, we have survivals of these endings.

(3) The genitive case is frequently used adverbially: #sūðeweardes#, _southwards_; #ealles#, _altogether, entirely_; #dæges#, _by day_; #nihtes#, _by night_; #ðæs#, _from that time, afterwards_. _Cf._ #hys# (= #his#) #weges# in #Ðonne rīdeð ǣlc hys weges#, _Then rides each his way_.

NOTE 2.--The adverbial genitive is abundantly preserved in Mn.E. _Always_, _crossways_, _sideways_, _needs_ (= _necessarily_), _sometimes_, etc., are not plurals, but old genitive singulars. The same construction is seen in _of course_, _of a truth_, _of an evening_, _of old_, _of late_, and similar phrases.

(4) Dative and instrumental plurals may be used as adverbs: #hwīlum#, _at times, sometimes_ [whilom]; #stundum# (#stund# = _period_), _from time to time_; #miclum#, _greatly_. Especially common is the suffix #-mǣlum# (#mǣl# = _time_, #measure# [meal]), preserved adverbially in Mn.E. _piecemeal_: #dropmǣlum#, _drop by drop_; #styccemǣlum# (#stycce# = _piece_), _piecemeal, here and there_.

(5) The suffix -an usually denotes motion from:

hēr, _here_. hider, _hither_. heonan, _hence_. ðǣr, _there_. ðider, _thither_. ðǫnan, _thence_. hwǣr, _where?_ hwider, _whither?_ hwǫnan, _whence?_ norðan, _from the north_. ēastan, _from the east_. hindan, _from behind_. feorran, _from far_. ūtan, _from without_.

(6) The adverb #rihte# (#riht# = _right, straight_) denotes _motion toward_ in #norðrihte#, _northward, due north_; #ēastrihte#, _due east_; #sūðrihte#, _due south_; #westrihte#, _due west_.

#Prepositions.#

94. The nominative is the only case in O.E. that is never governed by a preposition. Of the other cases, the dative and accusative occur most frequently with prepositions.

(1) The prepositions that are most frequently found with the dative are:

æfter, _after_. ǣt, _at_. be (bī), _by, near, about_. betwēonan (betuh), _between_. būtan (būton), _except_. for, _for_. frǫm (fram), _from, by_. mid, _with_. of, _of, from_. tō, _to_. tōforan, _before_. tōweard, _toward_.

(2) The following prepositions require the accusative:

geond, _throughout_ [be-yond]. ofer, _over, upon_. oð, _until, up to_. ðurh, _through_. ymbe, _about, around_ [um-while, ember-days].

(3) The preposition #on# (rarely #in#), meaning _into_, is usually followed by the accusative; but meaning _in_, _on_, or _during_, it takes the dative or instrumental. The preposition #wið#, meaning _toward_, may be followed by the genitive, dative, or accusative; but meaning _against_, and implying _motion_ or _hostility_, the accusative is more common.

(4) The following phrases are used prepositionally with the dative:

be norðan, _north of_. be ēastan, _east of_. be sūðan, _south of._ be westan, _west of_. tō ēacan, _in addition to_. on emnlange (efn-lang = _evenly long_), _along_. tō emnes, _along_.

(5) Prepositions regularly precede the noun or pronoun that they introduce; but by their adverbial nature they are sometimes drawn in front of the verb: #And him wæs mycel męnegu tō gegaderod#, _And there was gathered unto him a great multitude_. In relative clauses introduced by #ðe#, the preceding position is very common: #sēo scīr ... ðe hē on būde#, _the district, ... which he dwelt in_ (= _which he in-habited_); #Hē wæs swȳðe spēdig man on ðǣm ǣhtum ðe hiera spēda on bēoð#, _He was a very rich man in those possessions which their riches consist in_; #nȳhst ðǣm tūne ðe sē dēada man on līð#, _nearest the town that the dead man lies in_.

#Conjunctions.#

95. (1) The most frequently occurring conjunctions are:

#ac, _but_. ǣr, _before, ere_. būtan (būton), _except that, unless_. ēac, _also_ [eke]. for ðǣm, } for ðǣm ðe, } _because_. for ðon, } for ðon ðe, } for ðȳ, _therefore_. gif, _if_. hwæðer, _whether_. ǫnd (and), _and_. oððe, _or_. ðæt, _that, so that_. ðēah, _though, however_.

(2) The correlative conjunctions are:

ǣgðer ge ... ge, _both ...... and_. ǣgðer ...... ōðer } _either .... or_. oððe ....... oððe } nē ......... nē, _neither ... nor_. sam ........ sam, _whether ... or_. swā ........ swā { _the ....... the_. { _as ........ as_. ðā ......... ðā } _when ...... then_. ðonne ...... ðonne }