44
Old English Hwæt
Hiltunen ( 2006 ) begins with the assumption that “the use of interjections
is analogous in all periods of English and that interjections constitute a trait
of the spoken language in written English in all periods” (95). Hwæt is one
of fi ve interjections (the only secondary interjection) in the OE section of the
Helsinki corpus that he discusses in detail. He fi nds it to be most common in
Christian verse, perhaps because of the predominance of direct discourse: “As
an interjection, hwæt functions above all as an ‘attention- getter’, and the usage
must be ultimately connected with oral delivery” (104). In general, he fi nds OE
interjections to have an interpersonal function since they “draw the audience’s
attention to the content and its delivery at different states” (110). He sees them
as having various textual functions, such as marking boundaries between di rect
and indirect discourse, turn- taking, and assigning prominence to particular
topics (110– 111).
In a series of articles, Sauer treats the expression of emotion in Old English
(2006) and provides a useful overview of interjections in the history of English
(2008). He notes that hwæt , a secondary OE interjection which survived
into Middle English (ME), was used as an attention- getter (2008: 396, 398,
2009: 176– 177). It is often followed by the “narrator’s indication that he is just
retelling an old story or song which he heard a long time ago, and with which
his audience is also familiar” (2008: 399).
The continued existence of exclamatory what in Middle English has been
noted. Mustanoja ( 1960 : 621) describes it “as an interjection to call attention
to a question or statement.” Taavitsainen ( 1995b : 200, 1997 : 598– 599) fi nds
what (and how ) to be especially common in ME fabliaux, being used to express
surprise and wonder but also contributing to the rapid pace and sudden turns of
the narrative. Interjections in general are crucial in promoting reader involve-
ment and controlling audience reactions ( 1995b : 205). Sauer ( 2008 : 399) fi nds
a wealth of examples of interjections in Chaucer’s “The Miller’s tale,” includ-
ing what , which functions as an attention- getter and creates the impression
of colloquial speech. What (as well as how and why ) continues to function as
an interjection in Early Modern English, but is not included by Taavitsainen
( 1995a ) in her study of interjections of the period since it is a secondary inter-
jection. We will examine below (see Section 2.6 ) the extent to which the func-
tion of what remains constant over these periods.
2.2.1 Counterarguments to Hwæt as an Interjection
Bammesberger ( 2006 ) argues against the prevailing view of hwæt in the open-
ing lines of Beowulf as an interjection, suggesting that it has an adverbial
function and is best translated so , indeed , or truly : “[c] ontextually, hwæt has
adverbial function and should probably not be separated off by any marks of
punctuation” (5).