Understanding Anglo-Saxon “politeness”: Directive constructions with ic wille / ic wolde

Kohnen, Thomas

doi:10.1075/jhp.12.1-2.10koh

Article published In: Understanding Historical (Im)Politeness
Edited by Marcel Bax and Dániel Z. Kádár
[Journal of Historical Pragmatics 12:1/2] 2011
► pp. 230–254

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Understanding Anglo-Saxon “politeness”

Directive constructions with ic wille / ic wolde

Thomas Kohnen | University of Cologne

Published online: 7 June 2011

https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.12.1-2.10koh

ic wille ic wolde ic wolde þæt þu me sædest ic wille ic wolde Dictionary of Old English Corpus humilitas

Thus, this paper, on the one hand, confirms the picture of Anglo-Saxon England as a world “beyond politeness” (Kohnen 2008a); on the other hand, it also adds important aspects that may improve our perception of the complexities of Anglo-Saxon social interaction.

Keywords: politeness, directives, Old English, Anglo-Saxon England, Latin

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