Old English simile of inequality: structure overview

Figures & data

Table 1. Structural types of Old English simile of inequality.

Structural type	Number
4.1. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection	104
4.1.1. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection whose vehicle is expressed by a word or a noun phrase
4.1.1.1. N/P + Adjcomparative+ þonne + NnomP	90
4.1.1.2. Adjcomparative+ N/P + þonne + NnomP	6
4.1.1.3. N/P + Adjcomparative+ þonne + NnomP + clause	4
4.1.1.4. VP (Advcomparative + V) + NP + þonne + NP	2
4.1.2. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection whose vehicle is expressed by a clause: N/P + Adjcomparative+þonne + clause	2
4.2. Simile of inequality with a prepositional connection	18
4.2.1. N/P + Adjcomparative+ ofer + NnomP	5
4.2.1.1. Adjpositive +NP + ofer + Nnom/NP	2
4.2.1.2. V+NP + ofer + NnomP	4
4.2.1.3. ofer + NP + N/P +V	7
3. Simile of inequality with an asyndetic connection: N/P + NgenP + Adjcomparative	6
Total	128

Table 2. Quantitative characteristics of Old English similes of inequality in terms of the general productivity of the comparison markers used in them.

Type of simile	Number	Ratio
With the þonne component	104 out of 21,312	1:204,9
With the ofer component	18 out of 6676	1:370,9
Total	122 out of 27,988	1:229,4

Table 3. Chronological appearance of Old English similes of inequality.

Century Structural type	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
4.1. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection							104
4.1.1. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection whose vehicle is expressed by a word or a noun phrase
4.1.1.1. N/P + Adjcompar+ þonne + NnomP	1	1	23	57	6	2	90
4.1.1.2. Adjcompar+ N/P + þonne + NnomP			1	5			6
4.1.1.3. N/P + Adjcompar+ þonne + NnomP + clause			2	2			4
4.1.1.4. VP (Advcompar+ V) + NP + þonne + NP				2			2
4.1.2. Simile of inequality with a conjunctional connection whose vehicle is expressed by a clause: N/P + Adjcompar+þonne + clause			2				2
4.2. Simile of inequality with a prepositional connection							18
4.2.1. N/P + Adjcompar+ ofer + NnomP					5		5
4.2.2. Adjpositive +NP + ofer + Nnom/NP					2		2
4.2.3. V+NP + ofer + NnomP					4		4
4.2.4. ofer + NP + N/P +V				1	6		7
4.3. Simile of inequality with an asyndetic connection: N/P + NgenP + Adjcompar				6			6
Total	1	1	28	73	23	2	128