42
Old English Hwæt
given. After reviewing discussions of hwæt as an interjection ( Section 2.2 ),
the chapter examines the contexts of occurrence of exclamatory hwæt in OE
verse ( Section 2.3.1 ) and, based on its pragmatic uses in these context, argues
that hwæt seems to be closest in function to PDE you know as a marker of
shared knowledge ( Section 2.3.2 ). The chapter then focuses on the pragmatic
functions of exclamatory hwæt þa in OE prose, arguing that it functions as a
marker of result or inference, much like the pragmatic marker so in Present-
day English ( Section 2.4.3 ). Combinations of hwæt with other interjections
are then examined ( Section 2.5 ). The fate of the OE forms in the later history
of English is then presented ( Section 2.6 ), before presenting a scenario for the
development of what in Section 2.7.
2.2 Hwæt as an Interjection
As is obvious from the dictionary defi nitions just cited, the traditional view of
exclamatory hwæt is that it functions as an “interjection” (see Wülfi ng 1901 ;
Mustanoja 1960 : 631; Mitchell 1985 , I: 528; Cassidy 1996 ; Stanley 2000 ;
Hiltunen 2006 ; Sauer 2006 , 2008 , 2009; Lenker 2012 : 334). While interjection
is a problematic category (see Gehweiler 2010 for an overview), we may adopt
the following defi nition:
A conventional lexical form which (commonly and) conventionally constitutes an utter-
ance on its own, (typically) does not enter into construction with other word classes,
is (usually) monomorphemic, and (generally) does not host infl ectional or derivational
morphemes. (Wilkins 1992 : 124)
Exclamatory hwæt appears to share the structural and behavioral character-
istics identifi ed by Wilkins : It is invariable and monomorphemic, and most
importantly, it appears to be syntactically independent from the sentence that
follows, or extra- syntactic (Cassidy 1996 : 45).^2 Following Ameka ( 1992 : 113–
114), we can assume three functions for interjections: an expressive function
(symptomatic of the speaker’s mental state, either emotive and cognitive, such
as yuk! or aha! ), a conative function (directed at an auditor, either seeking to
get attention or demanding an action, such as sh! or eh? ), and a phatic function
(used to establish and maintain the communicative context, such as uh- huh ).
Also useful is the traditional distinction between primary interjections (forms
existing only as interjections, often onomatopoeic, such as oh! ), and second-
ary interjections (forms existing [originally] as other parts of speech, such as
mercy! ).
2 Whether hwæt constitutes an utterance on its own, i.e., is holophrastic, depends on its function
(see below, Section 2.3.2.2 ).