Perspectivas para el estudio del orden de palabras en inglés antiguo

Abstract

This article is an attempt to search for a general principle which could account for the apparently irregular and anomalous character of Anglosaxon word-order. The approach, based, in general terms, on the Praguian linguistic principles of FSP (Functional Sentence Perspecti¬ ve), leads us to think that word-order in Old English relies on an underlying pragmatic and textual principle, as opposed to the senten¬ tial and syntactic one which governs Modern English linear setting of linguistic elements. This is in accordance to the general structure and the distribution of the remaining syntactic and semantic resources of the language we know as Anglosaxon. The study means to be just a preliminary step into the subject, lacking much further research, but as it is proves fruitful.