Zadilska Н. The Object-Clause in Old English: Structural and Semantic Aspects

This thesis focuses on revealing structural and semantic characteristics of the finite object clauses and their functional and semantic equivalents in Old English. The basic markers of the complex sentence with the object clause is semantic and argument structure of the verb-predicate in the principal clause. The VS-type of word order of the principal clause is determined directly by the text genre. It has been revealed that in Old English prosaic and poetic texts frame structure v…V dominates in the object clauses of prosaic texts. The SOV-word order of the object clause is basic in prosaic and poetic texts. Three main structural types of the complex sentences with the finite object clauses are determined as follows: with identical subjects in the principal and subordinate clauses, with identical objects in the principal clauses and subjects in the subordinate clauses; with different subjects in the principal and subordinate clauses without structural objects in the principal clauses. It is argued that in Old English non-finite forms - the infinitive and the participle with their arguments, and also the infinitive constructions, the incomplete infinitive constructions and the participle constructions, are used in the syntactic function of a complement and can be determined as functional and semantic equivalents of the finite object clauses. Key words: object clause, non-finite form, non-finite construction, equivalent, argument, word order, frame structure.