Old English verbs of depriving: the semantics and syntax of possession transfer

ABSTRACT

This article aims at providing an inventory of Old English verbs of depriving that is motivated not only by the shared meaning components but also by grammatical behaviour. The theoretical basis of this work combines the framework of verb classes and alternations and Role and Reference Grammar. The main conclusion is that the verbs āniman, bedǣlan, beniman, berēafian, berȳpan, bescierian and (ge)rēafian are the best candidates for class membership, considering the constructions and the morpho-syntactic alternations on which they are found.

KEWORDS:

• Old English
• verbs of depriving
• constructions
• alternations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ An anonymous reviewer rightly points out that example (19a) PsGlB 83.13 has a variant in PsGlI ascyraþ [priuabit], which should be referred to (17a) and (20a), where bedælan is chosen.

² An anonymous reviewer remarks that (22b) has variants in PsGlI bescyredest & bepæhtest [fraudasti] and PsGlJ þrute (from þreotan ‘to vex’).

Additional information

Funding

This paper is part of the research project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [FFI2017-83360P].