OLD ENGLISH ‘HWÆT’ REVISITED: A COGNITIVE APPROACH

Abstract

The objective of our research is to study the interjection function of the OE unit hwæt in its functional paradigm and the context of actualization in the text structure of Beowulf. We consider that in the framework of various linguistic theories the authorі differentiate between (a) morphological functions – pronominal, adjectival and adverbial; (b) communicative functions – attention-getting, connative, interrogative (Walkden, 2013), interpersonal and (c) discourse functions – complementizing, cohesive, pragmatic (Bergs, 2012) that brought to a functional mix which needs a corpus analysis based on the numerous Old English data retrieved from the texts of various genres. In Contemporary English what is used as determiner, pronoun, and exclamation marker: in questions that shows surprise or shock or a strong emotion about something. Besides, we must also note that in fact, OE manuscripts never show punctuation between hwæt and a following clause. And the type of phrase or clause associated with exclamations is called exclamative. Regular renderings of hwæt, in the initial position are rendered into Modern English by what-interrogatives ah! now; why ‘lo;’, ‘hark;’, ‘behold;’, ‘attend.’ (Brington, 1996). We consider that in the framework of various linguistic theories the authors differentiate between (a) morphological functions – pronominal, adjectival and adverbial; (b) communicative functions – attention-getting, connative, interrogativе, interpersonal and (c) discourse functions – complementizing, cohesive and pragmatic.