This paper deals with the phonological reconstruction of Old English Palatalization in prefixed words focusing on how morphology interacts with phonology and how the phonological reconstruction can be substantially confirmed. It will be shown that the traditional descriptions of Old English Palatalization tend to oversimplify the contexts for its application and make predictions not consistent with other synchronic phonological phenomena. Once the sound values of the relevant consonants in Old English prefixed words are reconstructed, Middle English orthographic system and the alliterative convention in Old English versification, often used as major sources for the reconstruction of Old English sounds, will be explored in detail in order to evaluate the validity of the proposed phonological reconstruction.

This paper aims to make a textual investigation of weak adjectives manifested in the Old English epic Beowulf and provide the minimalist-based morphosyntactic accounts for their distributions. It furthermore examines how weak adjectives are associated with diachronic changes in nominal definiteness in terms of grammaticalization. The suggestion is made that weak adjective paradigm in Beowulf represents nominal definiteness in early Old English. It frequently constitutes a functional head for definiteness within determinerless NPs but sometimes shows signs of reanalysis into the affix. The coincidence of the weak adjective and the demonstrative is understood as evidence for the adoption of the demonstrative for a definiteness marker through renewal. Then, the new cycle on nominative definiteness begins, with the demonstrative becoming subject to unidirectional progression in the cline of grammaticalization.

This study aims to provide both synchronic and diachronic accounts for NC in OE. Concerning the single negative relation in NC, the hypothesis is proposed that n-words in NC carry the [uNEG] feature which should be matched against the [iNEG] feature of the functional head Neg via the syntactic operation of Agree. Nevertheless, textual investigation reveals that the frequency of NC in OE radically differs depending on the period of authorship: its relative paucity in EOE and predominance in LOE. The emergence of NC in OE is associated with the diachronic reduction of the XP sentential negator into the X0 Neg, since only the X0 Neg takes the [iNEG] feature matching with the [uNEG] feature of n-words. Subsequently, the introduction of n-words can be understood as a solution to reinforce weakened sentential negation. Through the process of grammaticalization, one of those n-words becomes a second negator with the XP status, starting on its way to negative cycle.

This paper attempts to review the validity of metrical evidence for secondary stress in OE (Old English). Initiated by Huguenin (1901), the tradition of reconstructing secondary stress on the basis of meter builds on the isomorphy between language and meter. Even though the prosodic reconstruction from meter has proven to be fairly useful, there are certain properties to be carefully considered in order to argue for the existence of secondary stress in OE. It is argued that verse types, not alliteration, cannot be a reliable source for the reconstruction of secondary stress. Due to the differences with regard to fundamental assumptions on OE meter, the predictions on the placement of secondary stress are not consistent. In addition, most OE metrical systems are not free of inherent circularity between verse types and secondary stress. It is also demonstrated that given the distinct nature of stress assignment, secondary stress in compounds should be distinguished from that in noncompound words. Moreover OE secondary stress cannot be claimed to exist without the precise definition between compounds and noncompound words being properly reflected in the reconstruction process.

Kim Dae-Ik. 1999. The Clause Structure in Old English on Ontological Minimalism. Studies in Modern Grammar 18, 1-20. I will argue that based on ontological minimalism the clause structure of OE is the same as that of modern English except the position of modal verbs and auxiliary verbs and show that the V2 constraint of OE is motivated by T feature of C suggested by Pesetsky & Torrengo (1999) and topicalization to CP Spec. In subordinate clause of OE there is no T-to-C by the presence of a lexical element in C. So it is argued that inflectional verbal morphology shows the combination of an either operation V-to-T or T-to-V in the subordinate clause of OE where the word order seems not to be definable by just observing the position of verbs.