Verbalization of English clauses of concession in Diachrony

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Verbalization of English clauses of concession in Diachrony

О. М. Tuhai



In our research paper the actualization of concessive clauses or subordinate clauses of concession as adverbial clauses with the semantics of universal or general (pure) concession, concession of condition, concession of contrast, and concession of cause in the English language in a diachronic perspective, namely in Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English is characterized. The relevant use of concessive clauses with diverse concessive semantics in the leading periods of the English language development in the initial, medial, and final positions of a complex sentence is testified and proven. The syntactic verbalization of subordination with syndetic subordinate connection is outlined. The functional-semantic paradigm of Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English complex sentences of concession having been introduced by interchangeable polysemantic concessive, conditional, contrastive, causative conjunctions, which demonstrate strong syntactic compatibility, and strong semantic interference and influence in relation to the main clause is defined. The realization of concessiveness in English complex sentences with the imposition of a shade of concessiveness on subordinate clauses of universal, conditional, contrastive, causative action with the implementation of concessive action of a certain shade in the main clause is analyzed. The use of the concessive clause in the functional- communicative aspect is argued with the designation of real / potential / unreal realization (nonrealization) of the concessive action in sentences of concessive universal, conditional, contrastive and causative semantics at the text level.

Keywords: clause of concession / concessive clause, universal / general (pure) concession, concession of condition / contrast / cause, concessive action, concessive conjunction, syndetic connection, diachrony



ВЕРБАЛІЗАЦІЯ КЛАУЗ КОНЦЕСИВНОЇ ДІЇ В ДІАХРОНІЇ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ

Тугай О. М.

У статті схарактеризовано актуалізацію концесивних клауз або підрядних речень поступки як адвербіальних клауз із семантикою універсальної або загальної (чистої), умовної, контрастивної та каузативної концесивності в англійській мові в діахронії, а саме в давньоанглійській, середньоанглійській та ранньоновоанглійській мовах. Засвідчено та доведено доцільність уживання концесивних клауз із різноманітною семантикою концесивності в провідних періодах розвитку англійської мови в ініціальній, медіальній та кінцевій позиціях складного речення. Окреслено синтаксичну вербалізацію підрядності із синдетичним підрядним зв'язком. Визначено функціонально-семантичну парадигму давньоанглійських, середньоанглійських, ранньоновоанглійських складних речень поступки, що вводяться взаємозамінними полісемантичними концесивними, умовними, контрастивними, каузативними кон'юнктами, які демонструють сильну синтаксичну сполучуваність і сильну семантичну інтерференцію та вплив щодо головної клаузи. Проаналізовано реалізацію концесивності в англійських складних реченнях із накладанням відтінку концесивності на додаткові клаузи універсальної, умовної, контрастивної, каузативної дії з імплементацією поступальної дії певного відтінку у головній клаузі. Аргументовано вживання концесивної клаузи у функціонально-комунікативному аспекті з визначенням реальної / потенційної / ірреальної реалізації (ірреалізації) концесивної дії в реченнях концесивної універсальної, умовної, контрастивної та каузативної семантики на текстовому рівні.

Ключові слова: клауза поступки / концесивна клауза, універсальна / загальна (чиста) / умовна / контрастивна / каузативна поступка, концесивна дія, концесивний кон'юнкт, синдетичний зв'язок, діахронія



Introduction

Nowadays, many foreign and Ukrainian scientists pay significant attention to the syntax of complex sentences, as well as to the syntactic-semantic interaction of subordinate and main clauses with the meaning of a universal concessive action and their equivalents, namely subordinate clauses with shades of pure, conditional, contrastive, causative concessive action meaning.

The syntax of the modern English language is characterized by the use of a wide range of research methods and the focus of modern syntactic theories on the interaction with other linguistic approaches, such as structural, semantic, functional, comparative-historical etc. While being combined, the indicated methods of research form a holistic picture of the world or a clear idea about certain syntactic, semantic, and diachronic aspects of a complex sentence on the whole, namely the verbalization of a concessive clause in the historical perspective of the English language in our research, in particular.

The functional approach to the description of any language, considering the focusability of language units and phenomena, was formed in the second half of the 20th century. Its basis constituted the main theoretical works of Ukrainian and foreign structural linguistics' representatives such as A. E. Levitskyi, O. O. Potebnia, O. O. Selivanova, I. O. Baudouin de Courtenay and others [1]. Diachronic analysis aims to reveal the relationship of the evolutionary system elements interdependence and is based 1) on the principles of systematicity, causality and historicism, where the latter includes the concept of time and focuses on what happens between synchronous periods, 2) on the interrelationship of system elements in synchrony and diachrony [9; 1].

In historical Germanic studies, diachronic researches are based on the regrammatization and reinterpretation of language shifts in the linguistic systems of the related native languages in the evolutionary progress of their changes [9]. D. Lightfoot emphasizes the fact that each next generation creates new grammars and language changes that can be radical, and they are interpreted in terms of the system that produces these changes. Therefore, it cannot be expected that the "diachronic universality" of any part of the language in any grammatical aspect is independent from the theory of grammar. There are no formal restrictions on possible historical changes other than those imposed by the theory of grammar. A restrictive theory of grammar imposes strict limits on any possible changes [19: 147-149]. verbalization of English complex sentences

The main findings of our research are focused on identifying, certifying, highlighting the implementation of the use and functioning of concessive clauses with the semantic shades of universal concessive, conditional, contrastive, causative actions in complex sentences of concession in three leading periods - Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English.



Analysis of previous researches

Presently, fundamental studies of concessive constructions take place in typological, positional, semantic, and pragmatic aspects in the discourse of the majority modern languages of the mankind, including English [10; 11; 15; 24; 26]. Morphological and syntactic characteristics of adverbial concessive clauses in various languages of the world are mainly evidenced and analyzed in the domain of synchronic analysis [12; 17; 8].

However, the actualization of concessive clauses as well as the functional and semantic-role paradigm of concessive conjunctions as markers or triggers of subordination in English sentences of concession in diachrony have not received their development in Germanic languages yet, particularly in English, which is a certain lacuna in contemporary historical researches.

The aim and material of the article

The purpose of our paper is to outline the actualization and verbalization of the adverbial concessive clauses with the semantic shades of universal, conditional, contrastive, and causative concession in three leading periods of the English language, namely, in Old-, Middle-, and Early Modern English.

The material of the study served the complex sentences of concession with different semantic shades of the action of concession (universal, conditional, contrastive, causative), selected on the grounds of the appropriate markers of bringing an adverbial subordinate clause into the main clause by the continuous sampling method from the Helsinki corpus and other written works from Old-, Middle-, Early Modern English periods.

Results and Discussion

By R. D. Huddleston, a complex sentence of concession contains in its structure a juxtaposition of two main clauses, where the semantic interaction between them is realized with the help of concessive conjunctions or connectors with the expression of pure (universal) concession and various shades of concessive action in a secondary or subordinate concessive clause [16: 735].

In English studies, adverbial clauses can implement the semantic roles or communicative functions of the verbal actions of concession, condition, contrast, cause, where the general concept of possibility or unpredictability of the relationship between communicative situations in subordinate and matrix clauses is carried out by the subordinators and conjunctions of logical mutual relations of concession, condition, contrast, causation, where the latter ones complement each other and introduce additional shades of their own semantics along with the general concessive meaning in a complex sentence [23: 1088].

Modern English subordinating conjunctions such as although, unless, as if, because, once, as, so, while, since etc., are the particular conjunctions of the subordinate syntactic connection because they introduce a clause exclusively as a verb phrase VP with further formation of an adverbial clause, but not a noun phrase as NP. Accordingly, subordinating conjunctions modify only the matrix verb of the main clause; they cannot modify a noun or any other part of speech apart from the verb [10: 186-187; 18: 276-287].

In traditional Germanic linguistics, the term "conjunction" refers to such copulas that connect matrix and subordinate clauses in complex sentences of concession with the introduction of the dependent clause into the structure of this sentence for its marking at a certain functional level [23: 475; 12: 37].

The term "adverbial" implies that adverbial clauses modify not only a certain matrix verb, but also the whole sentences and even main clauses. Thus, by J. Miller there is a syntactic rule that postulates the following: "if a subordinate clause modifies the main clause, then it belongs to an adverbial clause" [20: 65-67].

In syntactic studios, numerous discussions are held regarding the restriction on the use of concessive clauses and their equivalents. This restriction concerns the syntactic and semantic focusability of concessive clauses: "concessive clauses cannot be focused syntactically, which means that relevant relative clauses are less tightly integrated into the main clauses than other types of adverbial clauses. Besides, this "restriction on focusability" is a sign of greater semantic complexity in relation to other types of adverbial clauses" [17: 82].

There is the peculiar support for the assumption that concessive constructions are of particular complex semantics: for this reason numerous testified linguistic facts from different historical literary works witness and confirm that these structures developed relatively late in the history of the English language and came into force much later than other types of adverbial clauses [17: 82].

In most cases, the actual content of a matrix clause and a clause of concession directly signals about "incompatibility" of actions in these clauses. Such "incompatibility" of two connected clauses is implied in the conclusions and arguments based on the mentioned statements in a complex sentence. Moreover, there is an assumption that all concessive connectors and all types of concessive clauses or their peripheral equivalents are interchangeable: not all concessive constructions license interference, where two propositional affirmative clauses (the main clause and the subordinate clause with a concessive shade) express genuine and faithful facts, and illustrate completely opposite situations [8: 84].

In traditional grammar, concessive clauses are closely related to certain types of conditionals, and they are often derived from similar conditionals. Thus, according to the conditional peculiarity, complex sentences of concession are typologically distinguished as "concessive concessional - clauses of pure concession" and "concessive conditionals - conditional clauses of concession or clauses of conditional concession" [8: 83].

In functional-semantic studies, it is claimed the fact about the overlap or symbiosis of concessive, conditional, contrastive and causative meanings in a complex sentence with the formation of universal, conditional, contrastive, and causative concessive action. There are several linguistic principles or postulates to support the overlap or symbiosis of universal (pure) concessive, conditional, contrastive, causal meanings of actions [22: 703; 23: 1088; 11]:

1. A concessive clause of universal concessive action differs from a causative clause with causative concessive action in that the fact that it asserts the opposite thought or action from the expected result.

2. The meaning of concessiveness or concessive action is detached from the main proposition and is often seen as a blocked or non-operative cause or causation of the action.

3. There is a close interaction between concessive and conditional actions, which lies in the fact that it is realized by the frequency of use of conditional conjunctions in the concessive meaning or use. In both cases, the main proposition in the matrix clause is considered as the conditioned one in relation to the subordinate action. A conditional clause is often the antithesis of a concessive clause, since in a conditional sentence the "truth" of the main clause depends on the truth of the subordinate clause.

4. The contrastive clause does not only reveal the contrast between two situations, but also shows the expectation of the action in the subordinate clause with a concessive character or meaning.

On the basis of the foregoing postulates in terms of the realization of a concessive meaning and a concessive action in a complex sentence, we assume the fact of the overlap or symbiosis between concessive, conditional, contrastive and causative meanings that has been witnessed and analyzed in Old, Middle-, Early Modern English complex sentences of universal or pure, conditional, contrastive, causative concesstive action.

Diachronic changes in language by all means fall out from grammatical description and perceptual constraint, but they indicate a strong marking of multicentric embedded structures [19: 147].

Notably, the formation of structural and functional features of subordinate clauses in Old English falls on the transitional period between parataxis and hypotaxis, which had been characterized by the absence of a stable set of grammaticalized factors of the subordinate clause actualization [3: 9].

In the historical development of languages, concessive markers acquire new and loses old functional, semantic functions, but provided that if they form adjacent or adjoined categories at different semantic levels of the hierarchical organization of a complex sentence [12: 131]. One of the distinctive features of Old English is the use of correlative conjunctions, which turned out to be a very important stylistic technique for those writers and influenced the development and understanding of the use of the concessive clause and concessive action in general in later periods of the English language [21: 68].

Taking into account the structural- systemic and functional-semantic approaches, in our study we distinguish the syntactic functions of adverbial concessive clauses with certain semantic shades of concession in complex concessive sentences (complex sentences of concession) into such types as universal / conditional / contrastive / causative concessive clauses with the shades of general / pure, conditional, contrastive, and causative concessive action, respectively [2; 23; 17].

In our research work, we determine the verbalization of the functional- semantic use of adverbial concessive clauses in complex sentences of concession in English diachronic development of three leading periods - Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English in such a paradigm as:

1. Clauses of universal / general / pure concession: "universal / general concessive clauses - pure / universal concessive action".

2. Clauses of conditional concession: "conditional concessive clauses - conditional concessive action".

3. Clauses of concession of contrast: "contrastive concessive clauses - contrastive concessive action".

4. Clauses of concession of cause: "causative concessive clauses - causative concessive action".

Accordingly, the semantic actualization of concessive conjunctions occurs at the level of copula conjunctions of pure / universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concessive actions in different positional directions of subordinate clause marking. We have proven that in the studied periods of the English language, concessive copula conjunctions introduced semantically different subordinate clauses of concession in the initial, medial, and final positions.

The findings of the study demonstrate that in complex sentences of concession the concessive meaning turns out to become the matrix one with the realization of the shades of "pure / universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concession” in the subordinate or secondary clause, with further communicative extension or development and implementation of the concessive action's result in the main or matrix clause.

Interestingly, the Old English conjunction peah (though), having been the main conjunction introducing subordinating clauses of concession, could be already used in the ancient period of English as an opposing / contrastive conjunction as well. Despite the ambiguity or polysemy of some conjunctions, just the connective copula forms of coordination or subordination were exactly typical in Old English; they developed their semantic and syntactic properties farther in the Middle English and Early Modern English periods [3: 36].

The studied concessive clauses with different shades of concessive action developed gradually, from Old English conjunctions as peah, swa hw>>pere, swapeah, gif, hwilc, ac, hwile, forpan pe, swa etc. through their grammaticalized variants in Middle English as nathelees, al sholder, if, whereas, for etc. to the Early Modern English version of conjunctions as though, although, however, nevertheless, if, whatever, but, while, because, since etc., which are the equivalents of Modern English conjunctions [7; 13].

In the process of the research, we have witnessed that the conjunctions of the copula connection in a concessive clause of universal or pure, conditional, contrastive and causative semantics of concessive action demonstrate strong syntactic compatibility with the main clause in different positions of a complex sentence (initial, medial, final), where subordinate connectors influence or interfere semantically from the secondary clause onto the main clause, as well as reveal strong semantic interference with the matrix clause.

Strong semantic interference of the conjunctions under the study is expressed in the full or comprehensive impact of a certain subordinate clause' concessive type on the main clause, where the corresponding concessive action further unfolds. And, depending on the shade of concession, the deployment of universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concessive action is realized in the main clause.

According to the findings of the research work, the studied semantic types of adverbial concessive clauses with the appropriate conjunctions of the syndetic hypotactic connection are actualized and found their verbal implementation in complex sentences of concession with the shades of general pure concession, condition, contrast and cause, where pure concessive, conditional, contrastive, causative meaning in the adverbial clause is imposed on the general concessive meaning of the whole sentence with the formation of universal or pure, conditional, contrastive, causative concessive action.

Thus, we witnessed and testified the following semantic types of complex sentences with adverbial subordinate clauses of universal or pure, conditional, contrastive, and causative concessive action in Old English (OE), Middle English (ME), and Early Modern English (EModE) as:

1. Universal concessive clauses (clauses of universal / general / pure concession) - realize the general universal meaning of pure concession with the implementation of universal or general pure concessive action with the help of such concessive conjunctions as peah / al sholde (though / even though / although), swapeah / hw>>pere / swa hw>>pere / nathelees / swa / swa swa (however / yet / nevertheless / unless / yet unless) [7; 13]:

(1) OE: "ac hit bid swapeah leohtre on bote on dam lybbendan men, [eah [e he yrsige, and hit eft geha'le, swa swa [is godspell on sfteweardan ssgd, [>>t we magon gegladian [one [e we sr abulgon". - "But it exists nevertheless quick remedy for those hospitable men, although / even if it is your victory, and it again heals, yet / unless this Gospel afterward fails, so that we are able to gladden that one whom we previously offended" (Aelfric "Aelfric's Homilies") [14].

(2) ME: "For I, that god of Loves servaunts serve, Ne dar to Love, for myn unlyklinesse, Preyen for speed, al sholde I therfor sterve, So fer am I fro his help in derknesse". - "For I to serve Love's servants ever try, Yet dare not seek, for my unlikeliness, The aid of Love, although for love I die, So far am I from prospect of success" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book I) [25].

(3) ME: "But nathelees, if this may doon gladnesse To any lover, and his cause avayle, Have he my thank, and myn be this travayle!" - "But yet if this may make the sorrows less Of any lover, or may his cause avail, The thanks be his and mine this toilsome tale" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book I) [25].

(4) EModE: "There is no likelyhood to compound so discordant allegations, unlesse they were together, or that they will agree to whom to referre their differences, and these expostulations in the mean tyme serve to litle pourpose" (Edmondes "Letter (to Sir Robert Cecil)") [14].

2. Conditional concessive clauses (concessive clauses of condition) - realize the meaning of conditional concession with the implementation of conditional concessive action with the help of such conditional conjunctions as gif / peah (if / even if), gif / hwxfer ((no matter) whether), swa ... swa (whether ... or (not)), hwilc / hwxt / hwa / xg-hwa / xg-hwxt (whatever / whoever), hwilc / swa / hwxder (whichever / whosoever), hwxnne / hwonne (whenever), hwxr (wherever) [7; 13]:

(5) OE: "Јu wast - gif hit is swa we so>>lice secgan hyrdon - >>>>t mid Scyldingum sceadona ic nat hwylc, deogol ctedhata, deorcum nihtum eawed >>urh egsan uncudne nid, hyndu ond hrafyl". - "So tell us if what we have heard is true about this threat, whatever it is, this danger abroad in the dark nights, this corpse-maker mongering death in the Shieldings' country" (Anonymous "Beowulf') [14].

(6) ME: "What? not as bisily," quod Pandarus, "As though myn owene lyf lay on this nede?" - "What," said Pandar, "not even if I tried As though it were my own affair and need?" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book I) [25].

(7) ME: Frere (the friar): "He was, if (even if - author's remark) I shal yevcn him his laude, A theef, and eek a Somnour, and a baudc. He hadde eek wenches at his retenue, That, whether that sir Robert or sir Huwe, Or Jakke, or Rauf, or who-so that it were, That lay by hem, they tolde it in his ere". - "He was, if (even if - author's remark) I'm to give him proper laud, a thief, and more, a summoner, and a bawd. He'd even wenches in his retinue, And whether 'twere Sir Robert, or Sir Hugh, Or Jack, or Ralph, or whosoever 'twere That lay with them, they told it in his ear" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The friar's tale", Book I) [25].

(8) EModE: "But ye House of Lords being informed of these proceedings they immediately order their Black Rodde to fetch out ye sayd prisoners wherever they should find them committed" (Aungier "Letter (to Lord Essex)") [14].

3. Contrastive concessive clauses (concessive clauses of contrast) - realize the meaning of contrastive concession with the implementation of contrastive concessive action with the help of such contrastive conjunctions as ac (but), hwil[um] (whereas / when), ponne ... peah (as ... as), swa swa (so as), swa (so (that)), hwil / hwile / da hwile (while / whilst) [7; 13]:

(9) OE: "W>>s se grimma g>>st Grendel haten, m>>re mearcstapa, se |зє moras heold, fen ond festen; fifel-cynnes eard won-s>>li wer weardode hwile, si>>dan (absorb) him scyppend forscrifen h>>fde in Caines cynne, >>one cwealm gewr>>c ece drihten". - "Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; While hero guarded happily native country among banished monsters, the Creator absorbed them to outlaw, condemned to hold in Cain's clan the mortality in high misery" (Anonymous "Beowulf') [14].

(10) ME: "Lord, that I may a while biwaille and wepe, er I go withoute returnyng to the derke lond, covered with the derknesse of deeth, to the lond of mysese and of derknesse, whereas is the shadwe of deeth, whereas ther is noon ordre or ordinaunce but grisly drede that evere shal laste" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The parson's tale") [14].

(11) EModE: "The new Parliament now being furiously about Impeaching those who were obnoxious: as their custome has ever ben going on violently, without reserve or moderation: whilst wise men were of opinion that the most notorious Offenders being named and excepted, an Act of Amnesty were more seasonable, to paciffie the minds of men, in so generall a discontent of the nation, ..." (Evelyn "Diary of John Evelyn") [14].

4. Causative concessive clauses (concessive clauses of cause) - realize the meaning of causative concession with the implementation of causative concessive action with the help of such conjunctions of cause as forp>>mpe / forp>>m pe / for pxm pe; forpan pe / for pan pe (de) / forpon pe; for p>>m / for pam / for pon / for py / for pi; for dy / for dam / for don / fordy / forthy; pe / pa / py / nu / siddan / p>>t / p>>s / ponne (because (of), for, since, as, therefore, due to) [7; 13]:

(12) OE: "f>a me >>>>t gelrdon leode mine, >>a selestan, snotere ceorlas, >>eoden Hrodgar, >>>>t ic >>e sohte, forpan hie m>>genes cr>>ft mine cu >>on: ...". - "So every elder and experienced councilman among my people supported my resolve to come here to you, King Hrothgar, because all knew of my awesome strength ..." (Anonymous "Beowulf' 415-418) [5].

(13) OE: "Worn eall gespr>>c gomol on gehdo ond eowic gretan het, b>>d >>>>t ge geworhton >>fter wines d>>dum in bЈl- stede beorh >>one hean, micelne ond m>>rne, swa he manna w>>s wigend weord-fullost wide geond eordan, >>enden he burh-welan brucan moste". - "He wanted me to greet you and order the building of a barrow that would crown the site of his pyre, serve as his memorial, in a commanding position, since of all men to have lived and thrived and lorded it on earth his worth and due as a warrior were the greatest" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 3094-3100) [5].

(14) ME: "Also certes, god ne made nat womman of the foot of Adam, for she ne sholde nat been holden to lowe; for she can nat paciently suffre: but god made womman of the rib of Adam, for womman sholde be felawe un-to man". - "Also, certainly, God did not make woman of the foot of Adam, because she should not be held in too great contempt; for she cannot patiently endure: but God made woman of the rib of Adam, because woman should be a companion to man" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The parson's tale") [25].

(15) ME: "For if hir wheel stinte anything to torne, Than cessed she Fortune anoon to be: Now, sith hir wheel by no wey may sojorne, What wostow if hir mutabilitee Right as thy-selven list, wol doon by thee, Or that she be not fer fro thyn helpinge? Paraunter, thou hast cause for to singe!" - "Because if Fortune's wheel should cease to turn, Then Fortune she at once no more would be; And since in no fixed place she may sojourn, It may chance, by mere mutability, Such good luck she hath now in store for thee, And such a boon to thee she soon will bring, That for the joy of it, thy heart shall sing" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book I) [25].

(16) EModE: "Bishop of Caerleon , who is to oversee us in spiritual matters. To which Austin thus presaging, some say menacing, replies, since ye refuse to accept of peace with your brethren, ye shall have War from your enemies; and since ye will not with us preach the word of life, to whom ye ought, from their hands ye shall receive death" (Milton "The History of Britain") [14].

(17) EModE: "And this I take to bee a great cause that hath hindered the progression of learning, because these Fundamental knowledges haue bene studied but in passage" (Bacon "The Twoo Bookes of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning") [14].

(18) EModE: "Thy voyce I harde in the garden, but I was afrayd because I was naked, and therfore hyd myselfe" (Tyndale "The Old Testament (Tyndale)") [14].

In syntactic studies, three leading features of a concessive clause are distinguished, such as [16: 734]:

1. The subordinate clause is necessary or entailed (inevitable).

2. The truth of the subordinate clause may lead to the expectation of the fact that the superordinate clause may turn out to be the false truth.

3. The truth of the subordinate clause does not reduce the truth of the superordinate clause.

An adverbial clause of pure or universal concessive action contains such a proposition, in spite of which the "truth" is asserted in the principal clause as well [22: 703]. The difference between the positional arrangements of different types of a concessive clause lies primarily in the primacy of the informational load or organization of clauses in a complex sentence, namely: the presiding informational part of the sentence is licensed more emphasis [16: 734].

In the Old English period, as well as in the subsequent Middle- and Early Modern English, it has been certified a reflection of the mutual relationship of concessive action between the meanings of concession, condition, contrast, cause in the respective types of complex sentences with the formation of concessive semantics in all studied sentence types, which leads to the realization and unfolding of the concessive action in the matrix / main clause.

The polysemantics of the conjunctive structure, which enables express hypotactic relations and the wide use of correlative adverbial-conjunctive

structures already in Old English, determines the implementation of both additional grammatical factors of this type of connection, and the relevant use of the semantic paradigm of the concessive action in adverbial clauses with the shades of universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concession [3: 9].

Hence, the notion of "truth" of concession we regard in terms of "real - unreal realization of concession" with concessive action further deployment in the main clause along with other semantic shades of the adverbial clause.

In the investigated complex sentences of concession from Old-, Middle-, and Early Modern English corpus and written works, we witness and consider the general meaning of concession as the matrix or the main concessive meaning with the realization of pure, conditional, contrastive, causative shades of concession in the communicative paradigm as "real / potentially realized - unreal / potentially unrealized concessive action":

1. Universal concessive clauses.

I. Real / potentially realized universal / pure concessive action:

(19) OE: "ond sifadan witig god on swa hwffifrere hond, halig dryhten, msrdo deme, swa him gemet faince". - "And afterwards may the Divine Lord in His wisdom, however / nevertheless grant the glory of victory to whichever side He sees fit" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 685-687) [5].

(20) OE: "Ne meahte he on eordan, deah he ude wel, on dam frumgare feorh gehealdan, ne d>>s wealdendes wiht oncirran; ...". - “Though well he wished it, in world no more could he barrier life for that leader-of-battles nor baffle the will of all-wielding God" (Anonymous "Beowulf' / "Beowulf and Judith" 28552857) [6; 4].

(21) ME: "But nathelees, whan he had herd him ciye "Awake!" he gan to syke wonder sore, And seyde, "freend, though that I stille lye, I am not deefj now pees, and cry no more; For I have herd thy wordes and thy lore; But suffre me my mischef to biwayle, For thy proverbes may me nought avayle". - "When thus so loudly he heard Pandar cry "Wake up!"; then he began to sigh full sore, And said, "Good friend, although so still I he, I am not deaf! Now peace, and say no more, For I have heard your wisdom and your lore. Leave me in peace my mishap to bewail, For all your proverbs may me naught avail" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book I) [25].

(22) ME: "And prively he caughte hir by the queynte, And seyde, "y-wis, but if ich have my wille, For derne love of thee, lemman, I spille". - "And unperceived he caught her bv the puss, Saving: "Indeed, unless I have my will, For secret love of you, sweetheart, I'll spill" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The miller's tale") [25].

(23) EModE: "Now by my truth sayd the other, it were a shame for him if he should not: for though I say it before your face, though he had little with you, yet you were worthy to bee as good a mans wife as his" (Deloney "Jack of Newbury") [14].

(24) EModE: "But I must needs say, Sir Walter used me a little unkindly, to take the Book away without my Knowledge; nevertheless, I need make no Apology in behalf of my Father, considering how useful and necessary it is for Privy Counsellors, and those in his Place, to intercept and keep such kind of Writings; ..." (Anonymous "The Trial of Sir Walter Raleigh") [14].

2. Conditional concessive clauses.

I. Real / potentially realized conditional concessive action:

(25) OE: "W>>s peaw hyra b>>t hie oft w>>ron an wig gearwe, ge >>t ham ge on herge, ge gehw>>ber bara, efne swylce m>>la swylce hira mandryhtne pearf ges>>lde; w>>s seo beod tilu". - "It was their habit always and everywhere to be ready for action, at home or in the camp, in whatever case and at whatever time the need arose to rally round their lord. They were a right people" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 86-89) [5].

(26) OE: "Hway se donne ne recd hwader he cl>>ne sie, de ne sie, se de >>fter d>>re hreowsunga hine ryhtlice & cl>>nlice nyle gehealdan". - "What, therefore no matter whether he clean the house / building / palace, nor what it is, afterwards repentance / penitence / sorrow he directly and entirely does not want to preserve" (Alfred "Alfred's Cura Pastoralis") [14].

(27) ME: "Among thise children was a widwes sone, A litel clergeon, seven yeer of age, That day by day to scole was his wone, And eek also, wher-as he saugh th'image Of Cristes moder, hadde he in usage, As him was taught, to knele adoun and seye His Ave Marie, as he goth by the weye". - "Among these children was a widow's son, A little choir boy, seven years of age. Who went to school as days passed one by one, And who, whenever saw he the image Of Jesus' Mother, it was his usage, As he'd been taught, to kneel down there and say Ave Maria, ere he went his way" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The prioress's tale") [25]. [Hutchins, 1952].

(28) EModE: "But ye House of Lords

being informed of these proceedings they immediately order their Black Rodde to fetch out ye sayd

prisoners wherever they should find them committed; ..." (Aungier "Letter (to Lord Essex)") [14].

(29) EModE: "Lastly, whatever doth essentially differ from any thing, it cannot be said to be that from which it is understood to differ" (Preston "Boethius") [14].

II. Unreal / potentially unrealized conditional concessive action:

(30) OE: "ac la, hlaford, gif hit bin willa sy, s>>nde man >>rendwrecan to him, & se hine hider gefecce, b>>t we magan ongytan, hwilc his seo circlice strengb sy". - "But oh! A Lord, if he has to do with thine desire, send forth one ambassador to him, and he hence bring you to this place, that we can grasp (seize), whosoever / whichever of it the church strength / force becomes" (Waerferth "Gregory the Great, Dialogues") [14].

(31) OE: "Wes bu mundbora minum magobegnum, hondgesellum, gif mec hild nime; swylce bu da madmas be bu me sealdest, Hrodgar leofa, Higelace onsend". - "If this combat kills me, take care of my young company, my comrades in arms. And be sure also, my beloved Hrothgar, to send Hygelac the treasures I received" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 14801483) [5].

(32) ME: "Suffyceth oon ensample in stories olde, I may not rekne hem alle, thogh I wolde". - "Suffice one instance from old plenitude, I could not tell them all, even if I would' (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The knight's tale") [25].

3. Contrastive concessive clauses.

I. Real / potentially realized contrastive concessive action:

(33) OE: "da wxs hwil dsges sr he pone grundwong ongytan mehte. Sona pst onfunde se de floda begong heorogifre beheold hund missera, grim ond grsdig, pst psr gumena sum slwihta eard ufan cunnode". - "While there were days before he seized that earth power, soon after that having experienced that flow course greedy deer kept / occupied fifty years, horrible and greed where there some monsters seeked land for" (Anonymous "Beowulf') [14].

(34) OE: "Nss hit lengra fyrst, ac ymb ane niht eft gefremede, mord-beala mare ond no mearn fore, fshde ond fyrene; wxs to fsst on pam". - "He was numb with grief, but got no respite for one night later, merciless Grendel struck again with more gruesome murders" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 134-136) [5].

(35) OE: "Ne pst se agl$ ca yldan pohte, ac he gefeng hrade forman side slJpendne rinc". - "Nor did the creature keep him waiting but struck suddenly and started in" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 739-740) [5].

(36) OE: "ac God hi gestilde, swa pst psr swulton on psre sceawunge ane seofon menn stgsdere". - "But God stilled (calmed) it, so that there died (burnt away) on that appearance only seven men at the same time' (Aelfric "Aelfric's Lives of Saints") [14].

(37) ME: "Wherfor of my free wil I wol assente To wedde me, as sone as ever I may. But ther-as ye han profred me today To chese me a wyf, I yow relesse That choys, and prey yow of that profre cesse". - "Wherefore of my free will will I consent To wed a wife, as soon as ever I may. But whereas you have offered here today To choose a wife for me, I you release From that and pray that you thereof will cease" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The clerk's tale") [25].

(38) ME: "But natheles, whyl I have tyme and space, Er that I ferther in this tale pace, Me thinketh it acordaunt to resoun, To telle yow al the condicioun Of ech of hem, so as it semed me, And whiche they weren, and of what degree; And eek in what array that they were inne: And at a knight than wol I first biginne". - "But none the less, whilst I have time and space, Before yet farther in this tale I pace, It seems to me accordant with reason To inform you of the state of every one Of all of these, as it appeared to me, And who they were, and what was their degree, And even how arrayed there at the inn; And with a knight thus will I first begin" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The prologue's tale") [25].

(39) EModE: "Now King Henry, following the opinione of those Divines (as well Catholickes as Protestants) who judged those prohibitiones to bee naturall and morall, and that noe power uppon earth had power to grant a dispensatione against them, put away Queen Katherine, and marryed Queene Anne Bullen, whilest she still remained in life" (Hayward "Annals of the First Four Years of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth") [14].

(40) EModE: Miss Ford: "Wee burne day-light: heere, read, read: perceiue how I might bee knighted, I shall thinke the worse of fat men, as long as I haue an eye to make difference of mens liking: and yet hee would not sweare: ..." (Shakespeare "The Merry Wives of Windsor") [14].

4. Causative concessive clauses.

I. Real / potentially realized causative concessive action:

(41) OE: "pa me pst gelsrdon leode mine pa selestan, snotere ceorlas, peoden Hrodgar, pst ic pe sohte, forpan hie m>>genes crsft minne cupon, ..." - "So my vassals advised me well, brave and wise, the best of men, O sovran Hrothgar, to seek thee here, for my nerve and my might they knew full well ..." (Anonymous "Beowulf' / "Beowulf and Judith" 415-418) [6; 4].

(42) OE: "Ic dss ealles msg, feorh- bennum seoc, gefean habban; fordam me wltan ne dearf Waldend fira mordor- bealo maga, >>onne min sceaced llf of lice". - "All this consoles me, doomed as I am and sickening for death; because of my right ways, the Ruler of mankind need never blame me when the breath leaves my body for murder of kinsmen" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 2739-2743) [5].

(43) OE: "de he usic on herge geceas to dyssum sidfate sylfes willum, onmunde usic m>>rda, ond me bas madmas geaf, be he usic garwigend gode tealde, hwate helmberend, beah de hlaford us bis ellenweorc ana adohte to gefremmanne, folces hyrde, for dam he manna mxst m>>rda gefremede, cteda dollicra". - "Himself who chose us from all his army to aid him now, urged us to glory, and gave these treasures, because he counted us keen with the spear and hardy 'neath helm, though this hero-work our leader hoped unhelped and alone to finish for us, folk-defender who hath got him glory greater than all men for daring deeds!" (Anonymous "Beowulf' / "Beowulf and Judith" 2638-2646) [6; 4].

(44) OE: "Habbad we to b>>m m>>ran micel amende, Deniga frean; ne sceal par dyrne sum wesan, p&s ic wene". - "We have arrived here on a great errand to the lord of the Danes, and I believe therefore there should be nothing hidden or withheld between us" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 270-272) [5].

(45) OE: "H>>bbe ic eac geahsod, b>>t se >>gl>>ca for his won-hydum w>>pna ne recced. Ic b>>t bonne forhicge, swa me Higelac sie, min mon-drihten, modes blide, b>>t ic sweord bere obde sidne scyld, geolo-rand to gube; ac ic mid grape sceal fon wid feonde ond ymb feorh sacan, lad wid labum". - "I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand- is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend" (Anonymous "Beowulf' 433-440) [5].

(46) ME: "And eek bycause I felte wel and say Your grete trouthe, and servyse every day; And that your herte al myn was, sooth to seyne, This droof me for to rewe up-on your peyne". - "Yet still, because I've seen in every way Your faithfulness and service day by day, And that your heart was mine has been so plain, This led me to have pity on your pain" (Chaucer "Troilus and Cressida", Book III) [25].

(47) ME: "And eek, for she was somdel smotcrlich, She was as digne as water in a dich; And ful of hoker and of biscmarc". - "Besides, because she was a dirty bitch, She was as high as water in a ditch; And lull oi scorn and lull of back biting" (Chaucer "The Canterbury tales: The Reeve's tale") [25].

(48) EModE: "Nay truely Gossip I cannot stay quoth she, indeede I must be gone: for I did but euen step in to see how you did" (Deloney "Jack of Newbury") [14].

(49) EModE: "Since he came to have so great a name, and that I knew him for many years, and in a very particular manner, I will dwell a little longer on his character; for it was of a very extraordinary composition" (Burnet "The Reign of Charles the Second") [14].



Conclusions and implications for further research

Therefore, in the long run of our discussion, the findings of our study show that in the diachronic development of English in complex sentences with concessive clauses the concessive action is realized at the semantic level as universal, conditional, contrastive, causative concession, where the concessive clause shows strong syntactic compatibility with the main clause and strong semantic interference with the latter one, and with further development of a concessive action in the main clause while maintaining the status of a matrix or main concessive action in an adverbial subordinate concessive clause.

Verbalization of a concessive clause in three leading periods of English is actualized syndetically by way of introducing polysemantic universal concessive conjunctions (peah / al sholde (though / even though / although), swapeah / hw>>pere / swa hw>>pere / nathelees / swa / swa swa (however / yet / nevertheless / unless / yet unless)), conditional conjunctions (gif / peah (if / even if), gif / hwxper ((no matter) whether), swa ... swa (whether ... or (not)), hwilc / hwxt / hwa / xg-hwa / xg-hw>>t (whatever / whoever), hwilc / swa / hwxder (whichever / whosoever), hwxnne / hwonne (whenever), hwxr (wherever)), contrastive conjunctions (ac (but), hwil[um] (whereas / when), ponne ... peah (as ... as), swa swa (so as), swa (so (that)), hwil / hwile / da hwile (while / whilst)), and causative conjunctions (forpxmpe / forpxm pe / for pxm pe; forpan pe / for pan pe (de) / forpon pe; for pxm / for pam / for pon / for py / for pi; for dy / for dam / for don / fordy / forthy; pe / pa / py / nu / siddan / pxt / pxs / ponne (because (of), for, since, as, therefore, due to)) with their syntactic distribution in the initial, medial, and final positions in a complex sentence of concession.

The development of concessive conjunctions is defined as the gradual one from Old- and Middle English conjunctions such as peah, swa hwxpere, swapeah, gif, hwilc, ac, hwile, forpan pe, swa, nathelees, al sholder, if, whereas, for etc. to Early Modern English conjunctions such as although, although, however, nevertheless, if, whatever, but, while, because, since etc., which received their equivalent expression in the Modern English language.

At the functional-communicative level, the use of the studied semantic types of concessive clauses is determined to be appropriate and relevant with the development of a concessive action in the communicative paradigm as "real / potentially realized - unreal / potentially unrealized concessive action" at the textual level in complex sentences of pure or universal, conditional, contrastive, and causative concession.

Perspectives for further research are considered to be in highlighting the studied semantic types of clauses of concession in other Germanic languages in historical comparison both in synchrony and diachrony at different communicative levels (cognitive, propositional, modal aspects etc.), within some generative grammar postulates, as well as by using the comparative- historical method of the analysis.



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