66
Old English Hwæt
both Chaucer (see Oizumi 1991– 1992) and Shakespeare (see Spevack 1969 ),
as exemplifi ed in (21). Note that what is usually followed by a question, though
it may be followed by an exclamation or even a statement:
(21) a. “ What , wenestow make an ydiot of oure dame?” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
D.WB 311)
‘What, do you think to make an idiot of our lady’
b. “ What! Verray fool, thynk wel that love is free,/ And I wol love hire mau-
gree al thy myght!” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Kn. 1606– 07)
‘What! True fool, do you think well that love is free and I will love her in
spite of all your might’
c. “ What , devel of helle, sholde it elles be?” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
G.CY 1238)
‘What, devil of hell, should it be otherwise’
d. And cryde “Awake!” ful wonderlich and sharpe;/ “ Wha t! Slombrestow as in
a litargie?” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, TC I 729– 30)
‘And cried, “Awake!” full wonderfully and sharp; “What! Do you sleep as in
a lethargy” ’
e. “ What! God forbede alwey that ech plesaunce/ In o thyng were and in non
other wight!” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, TC IV 407– 08)
‘What! God forbade always that each pleasure was in one thing and in no
other creature’
f. Luciana: What , are you mad, that you do reason so? (1592– 93 Shakespeare,
Comedy of errors III.ii.53)^31
g. Polonius: What , have you given him any hard words of late? (1600– 01
Shakespeare, Hamlet II.i.108)
h. Marcellus: What , has this thing appeared again tonight? (1600– 01
Shakespeare, Hamlet I.i.19)
i. Helena: What , will you tear/ Impatient answers from my gentle tongue?
(1595– 06 Shakespeare, Midsummer night’s dream III.ii.287– 88)
j. Iago: What , man, there are more ways to recover the general again. (1604–
05 Shakespeare, Othello II.iii.265– 66)
In Shakespeare, what denotes surprise or incredulity, which often turns to con-
tempt or scorn (Blake 1992 ). The ‘surprise’ use of what is still current (see 22).
Quirk et al. ( 1985 : 819) observe that what and why^32 (in American English )
“are used in informal speech as introductory words to express surprise, both
with questions and with statements” and the American heritage dictionary
points out that the interjection can be “used to express surprise, incredulity, or
other strong and sudden excitement” (s.v. what , interj, def. 1; see also James
1972 : 169; Oreström 1983 : 117):
31 All Shakespearean examples are cited following Wells et al. (1986), using the performance
dates provided at http://www.shakespeare- online.com/ keydates/ playchron.html.
32 On the ‘surprise’ sense of why, see OED (s.v. why , adv. (n. and int.), def. IV 7a).