Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang

4 Peter Petré & Hubert Cuyckens
ent subconstructions within these networks is not always equally strong. In this
respect, the link between APs and participles deserves special attention, as it is
particularly strong in the case of weorðan in comparison to the other copulas (this
strength is indicated in Figure 3 by a dotted line).
i. In general, (D) and (G) are very similar syntactically, because, in OE, the past
participle in (G) still behaves to a large extent as an adjective (denoting the resulting
quality of the subject after the event has taken place). More specifically, participles
still show number and case agreement with the subjects they are predicated
of. This feature is shared by all copulas.
( 7) His deoflu:nom.m.pl mid him wurdon aworpene:nom.m.pl on hellegrund.
(c970. LS 20 [AssumptMor[BlHom 3]]: 59.378)
“His devils, together with him, were thrown on the bottom of hell.”
ii. In the constructions marked by weorðan, however, this link seems to have
been stronger than it was in those marked by other copulas. Syntactically as well as
semantically, the strong link between adjectives and participles is evidenced in the
occasional occurrence of the co-ordination of adjectives and participles following
a single occurrence of weorðan.
( 8) Þanon eorþe wearð eall mid blode mane gemenged:pple, misdædum fah.adj.
(c970. PPs: 05.28)
“Thence the earth got wholly mixed with blood-guilt, filthy with evil deeds.”
( 9) And hys flæsc wearð eall gesett:pple and hal.adj geworden.
(c 075. VSal [Cross]:9. )
“And his flesh had become entirely set and sound.”
(20) & ward swa wrað.adj & swa awed:pple; þt he al o wodschipe demde hire to deaþe.
(c 225. St. Margaret:87)
“And [he] became so angry and so angered, that he wholly out of anger judged
her to death.”
Moreover, a look at the distribution of complement types of weorðan (see Figure 4)
in the sample used reveals that the constructional profile of weorðan is dominated
precisely by such adjectival and participial complements, which makes a high degree
of cognitive association between the two all the more likely (the juxtaposition of adjectival
and participial complements, as illustrated in ( 8)–(20), occurs twelve times
and is classified under (D); n gives the raw frequencies on which Figure 4 is based).
iii. Finally, the drift towards the disappearance of weorðan in all these constructions
points towards the homogeneous status of the network associated with
weorðan. This homogeneous status, or the existence of strong links between all
of the constructions marked by weorðan, is corroborated by the gradual loss