Structure of Old English Simile of Equality with the Gelice/Onlice/Anlice Component.

Abstract

This article intends to characterise Old English simile of equality with the comparison marker gelice / onlice / anlice. It is a part of a large-scale systemic investigation of Anglo-Saxon similes, being done for the first time. This study is the attempt to systematise Anglo-Saxon poetic comparisons with the attributive / adverbial marker of comparison in positive degree, which are the predecessors of modern English simile with like. The empirical material of the investigation is the corpus of Old English manuscripts of University of Toronto. The criteria of the structural classification of the figurative comparisons under consideration are described in the paper. The scope of the analysed units is organised into two major groups, depending on the case of a noun that expresses the vehicle: Dative or Nominative. Eight structural models are distinguished, depending on the positioning and grammatical expression of the structure components (tenor, vehicle, ground and the comparison marker of the simile), with the further analysis of their statistics and chronological features. It has been estimated that the most productive structure of the similes in question is the combination of two nouns (the second one being the vehicle in Dative case) with the postpositional marker of comparison. The article deals with all existing Old English similes with the component gelice / onlice / anlice, harvested from surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts belonging to various text genres: riddles, poetry, Christian canonical texts. The research results contribute to the discussion of the date of composition of Christ and Satan, being an additional argument in favour of the version of a later period – the ninth century, during the reign of king Alfred.