63
2.5 Combinations of Hwæt with Interjectionspronouns and serves to emphasize the content of the following clause, thus
expressing a range of emotions. La is the second most common interjection
(Hiltunen 2006: 102– 105), but is restricted to native prose. It has many of
the same functions as eala , including drawing attention to what is being said,
establishing contact with the addressee, and emphasizing the content, and
occurs in sentence- initial position with scope over the sentence but also sen-
tence medially, where it has scope over the following word. Hiltunen notes
that la may combine with other interjections ( hona , nu , wel , hwæt ), typically
following the other interjection except in the case of hwæt , where it may either
precede (17b) or follow (17a):
(16) a. Eala hwæt. Se awyrgda wraðe geþohte ... (Sa 315)
‘Alas! The devil angrily thought ...’
b. Eala hwæt , þæt is wræclic wrixl in wera life ... (Christ A,B,C 416)
‘Alas, that is a wonderful change in the life of men ...’
c. Eala, hwæt se bið on worulde wis & gesælig þe ðis eal geðenceð oft &
gelome & ðe Godes beboda geornlice gymeð & on Godes mildheortnesse
fullice gehyhteð, (WHom 10c 185– 87)
‘Alas, he is wise in the world and prosperous who thinks about all this often
and frequently and the command of God eagerly obeys and trusts com-
pletely in God’s mercy’
(17) a. Hwæt la. ne gehyre ge hu myrige lofsangas swegað on heofonum? (ÆCHom
II, 6 58.187)
‘What, lo. Don’t you hear how many songs of praise resound in the
heavens?’
b. La hwæt , manna mod syndon earmlice aþystrode and adysgode and
gedwealde, þæt ... (HomU 32 (Nap 40) 62 [cited in Stanley 2000 :
531– 532]))
‘Lo, what, people’s minds are miserably darkened and turned to folly and
error so that ...’
We even fi nd one example of hwæt la hwæt :
(18) Hwæt la hwæt , sint þis nu þa god & þa edlean þe þu ealne weg gehete þam mon-
num þe þe heorsumian woldan? (Bo 3.9.19 [cited in Stanley 2000 : 548])
‘What lo what, are these now the good things and the rewards which you always
promised to those who would obey you?’
It should be noted that la hwæt/ hwæt la (as well as the single example of
hwæt la hwæt ) almost always accompanies questions, and eala hwæt does so
less consistently. In these cases hwæt seems to be linked with the emotive
or expressive meanings denoted by the interjection, which may range from
an almost neutral marker of interrogation to a subjective marker of surprise;
contextual clues do not always permit one to determine the exact nature of the
emotional coloring.