---
title: "Old English ditransitive adjectives — paper by Sintes (2005)"
description: "For each class he describes the semantic roles and the ways they are realized syntactically, compares synonyms and related… 26 references."
authors: ["Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes"]
year: 2005
venue: "SELIM 13"
source: "https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/SELIM/article/view/13427"
doi: "10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46"
licence: "CC BY-NC-ND (journal licence per DOAJ; SELIM)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/sintes-2019-old-english-ditransitive-adjectives/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/sintes-2019-old-english-ditransitive-adjectives/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2005](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2005/) / Old English ditransitive adjectives

# Old English ditransitive adjectives

**Authors:** Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes · **Year:** 2005 · **Venue:** [SELIM 13](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/selim-journal-of-the-spanish-society-for-medieval-english-language-and/) ([SELIM Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature 2005](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/selim-journal-of-the-spanish-society-for-medieval-english-language-and/2005/)) · **Publisher:** [University of Oviedo](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/university-of-oviedo/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-ND (journal licence per DOAJ; SELIM)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46) · [PDF](https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/SELIM/article/download/13427/12159) · [DOI 10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46](https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W6944296193)

**Citations:** 0 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
The paper by Alejandro Alcaraz-Sintes (University of Jaén) looks at a small, little-studied group of Old English adjectives. These adjectives behave like three-place predicates. One argument is always the nominative subject. The other two can appear as case-marked noun phrases, prepositional phrases or clauses. Drawing on examples from the DOEC, the author tries to list every such adjective. He sorts them into meaning classes: gratitude, generosity/abundance, forgiveness, obedience, guilt/responsibility, deserving, agreement and similarity. For each class he describes the semantic roles and the ways they are realized syntactically, compares synonyms and related adjectives, and gives a sample entry for a planned dictionary of adjectival complementation.

The central definitional move is to call an adjective ditransitive because its meaning has two complement slots. Both complements do not have to appear in the text. This choice lets attested and unattested patterns be organized in one consistent way. It matters because existing dictionaries (DOE, Bosworth & Toller, OED) record valency only partly and unevenly.

## Key points
- Ditransitive adjectives are treated as trivalent: a nominative subject plus two complements, either of which may be overt or left implicit. For example, a bare "be thankful" still counts as ditransitive.
- There are few such adjectives, both in Old English and in Present-Day English. All examples come from the DOEC.
- The proposed lexicon arranges each entry on several levels:
  - syntactic function (attributive, postpositive, predicative),
  - sense,
  - semantic frame,
  - syntactic structure.
- Each entry also lists synonyms, quasi-synonyms and antonyms, and gives definitions as paraphrases, e.g. cystig as "willing to give and share things."
- The author partly rejects Comesaña-Rincón's "pseudo-transitive" category. He argues that a dative pronoun after "acceptable" is an EXPERIENCER argument. He also argues that an infinitive after "difficult/easy" is a SCOPE complement of the adjective.
- The corpus decides whether a role must surface. georn "ready and willing" always takes its THEME, while ofergytol "forgetful" appears with or without one.

## Interesting ideas
- Defining valency by the meaning's argument slots rather than by surface counts keeps one frame per sense, even when the text realizes none, one or both complements.
- Each argument is marked as obligatory or optional per lexeme, based on whether the corpus ever shows the word without it.
- Material that looks like a complement (an infinitive after "difficult", a dative after "acceptable") is reanalysed as a real role of the adjective (SCOPE, EXPERIENCER).
- When a pattern is unattested, it is posited by analogy with close semantic relatives, which keeps a whole class uniform.
- Paraphrase-style definitions are kept separate from lists of translation equivalents.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (frames): Adjective frames such as thankful/guilty/generous could carry implicit slots (to whom, for what) that the frame layer fills from context or leaves as recoverable gaps.
- **I2** (world): The compiled adjective valency lexicon could store an obligatoriness flag per role, so missing obligatory roles trigger a search for an antecedent instead of being ignored.
- **I3** (tree): The parser and UD conversion could attach such infinitives and obliques directly to the adjective head, so that the frame stage can assign these roles reliably.
- **I4** (learn): Self-induced repair rules could propagate a frame observed for one adjective to its semantic class members, then check the result against silver data before accepting it.
- **I5** (back): Generation and the compressor could use paraphrase definitions to rephrase rare adjectives explicitly, with synonyms held in a separate field.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

📚 Shelves (3): [🎭 Arts and Humanities](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · 9,296 works · [🗣️ Language and Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · 9,206 works · [🎭 Classics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/classics/) · 67 works

🧭 Topics (2): [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) · 1,373 works · [⏳ Historical linguistics & language change](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/language-change/) · 159 works

## Cite

Cite as: Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes. 2005. Old English ditransitive adjectives. SELIM 13.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{sintes2005old,
  title = {{Old English ditransitive adjectives}},
  author = {Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes},
  booktitle = {SELIM 13},
  year = {2005},
  doi = {10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.13.2005.9-46}
}
```

- [← previous Is the title of the Old English poem The Descent into Hell suitable?](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/olm-2019-title-old-english-poem-descent/)
- [next → Old English punctuation revisited: the case of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/aguado-2019-old-english-punctuation-revisited-case/)
- [↑ back to papers of 2005](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2005/)

## References

26 references, 1 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Alcaraz-Sintes, Alejandro 2006a: Proposal for a Dictionary of Syntactic and Semantic Complementation of Old English Adjectives. Selected Proceedings of the 2005 Symposium on New Approaches in English Historical Lexis (HEL-LEX). McConchie R. W. & al. eds. 34–40. Somerville (Ma.): Cascadilla Proceedings Project. 14/04/2006. www.lingref.com, document #1344 [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alcaraz%2DSintes%2C+Alejandro+2006a%3A+Proposal+for+a+Dictionary+of+Syntactic+and+Semantic+Complementation+of+Old+English+Adjectives%2E+Selected+Proceedings+of+the+2005+Symposium+on+New+Approaches+in+English+)
2. Alcaraz-Sintes, Alejandro 2006b: La complementación del adjetivo en inglés antiguo. Jaén: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Jaén. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alcaraz%2DSintes%2C+Alejandro+2006b%3A+La+complementaci%C3%B3n+del+adjetivo+en+ingl%C3%A9s+antiguo%2E+Ja%C3%A9n%3A+Servicio+de+Publicaciones+de+la+Universidad+de+Ja%C3%A9n%2E)
3. Alcaraz-Sintes, Alejandro 2006c: Old English Ditransitive Adjectives. Paper delivered at the 18th SELIM Conference, University of Málaga. Alcaraz-Sintes, Alejandro In progress: A Dictionary of Adjective Semantic and Syntactic Complementation. A. Alcaraz-Sintes University of Jaén Alejandro Alcaraz-Sintes Biber, Douglas, Susan Conrad and Geoffrey Leech 2002: Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow, Essex: Longman, Pearson Education Limited. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alcaraz%2DSintes%2C+Alejandro+2006c%3A+Old+English+Ditransitive+Adjectives%2E+Paper+delivered+at+the+18th+SELIM+Conference%2C+University+of+M%C3%A1laga%2E+Alcaraz%2DSintes%2C+Alejandro+In+progress%3A+A+Dictionary+of+Adjecti)
4. Bolinger, Dwight L. 1961: Syntactic Blends and Other Matters. Language 37. 366–381. [↗](https://doi.org/10.2307/411078)
5. Bolinger, Dwight L. & A. Donald Sears 1981[1968]: Aspects of Language. Third edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bolinger%2C+Dwight+L%2E+%26+A%2E+Donald+Sears+1981%5B1968%5D%3A+Aspects+of+Language%2E+Third+edition%2E+New+York%3A+Harcourt+Brace+Jovanovich%2E)
6. Bosworth, Joseph and T. Northcote Toller 1921[1898]: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Based on the Manuscript Collections of the Late Joseph Bosworth. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bosworth%2C+Joseph+and+T%2E+Northcote+Toller+1921%5B1898%5D%3A+An+Anglo%2DSaxon+Dictionary%2E+Based+on+the+Manuscript+Collections+of+the+Late+Joseph+Bosworth%2E+Oxford%3A+Clarendon+Press%2E)
7. Comesaña-Rincón, Joaquín 1986: La complementación adjetiva en inglés contemporáneo. PhD Thesis. Universidad de Sevilla. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Comesa%C3%B1a%2DRinc%C3%B3n%2C+Joaqu%C3%ADn+1986%3A+La+complementaci%C3%B3n+adjetiva+en+ingl%C3%A9s+contempor%C3%A1neo%2E+PhD+Thesis%2E+Universidad+de+Sevilla%2E)
8. Comesaña-Rincón, Joaquín 1992: La modificación adjetiva de sustantivos deverbales en inglés: hacia una tipología transitiva de los adjetivos. Actas del IX Congreso de AESLA. Congreso Nacional de la Asociacion Española de Linguistica Aplicada. Valladolid. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Comesa%C3%B1a%2DRinc%C3%B3n%2C+Joaqu%C3%ADn+1992%3A+La+modificaci%C3%B3n+adjetiva+de+sustantivos+deverbales+en+ingl%C3%A9s%3A+hacia+una+tipolog%C3%ADa+transitiva+de+los+adjetivos%2E+Actas+del+IX+Congreso+de+AESLA%2E+Congreso+Nacional+de+la+As)
9. Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco. 1992. 179–189. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Servicio+Editorial+de+la+Universidad+del+Pa%C3%ADs+Vasco%2E+1992%2E+179%E2%80%93189%2E)
10. Comesaña-Rincón, Joaquín 1998: La transitividad adjetiva: hacia una tipología completiva del adjetivo inglés. Transitivity Revisited. Montserrat Martínez Vázquez. Ed. 187–199. Huelva: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Huelva. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Comesa%C3%B1a%2DRinc%C3%B3n%2C+Joaqu%C3%ADn+1998%3A+La+transitividad+adjetiva%3A+hacia+una+tipolog%C3%ADa+completiva+del+adjetivo+ingl%C3%A9s%2E+Transitivity+Revisited%2E+Montserrat+Mart%C3%ADnez+V%C3%A1zquez%2E+Ed%2E+187%E2%80%93199%2E+Huelva%3A+Servicio+de+Publ)
11. Comesaña-Rincón, Joaquín 2001a: Decoding and Encoding Grammatical Information in Adjectival Entries: The Basics. Atlantis, XXIII 1, 27– 40. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Comesa%C3%B1a%2DRinc%C3%B3n%2C+Joaqu%C3%ADn+2001a%3A+Decoding+and+Encoding+Grammatical+Information+in+Adjectival+Entries%3A+The+Basics%2E+Atlantis%2C+XXIII+1%2C+27%E2%80%93+40%2E)
12. Comesaña-Rincón, Joaquín 2001b: Decoding and Encoding Grammatical Information in Adjectival Entries: Processes and Cases. Atlantis, XXIII 2, 31–48. Old English ditransitive adjectives Cook, Walter A. S. J. 1998: Case Grammar Applied. Publications in Linguistics 127. Dallas (Texas): The Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Comesa%C3%B1a%2DRinc%C3%B3n%2C+Joaqu%C3%ADn+2001b%3A+Decoding+and+Encoding+Grammatical+Information+in+Adjectival+Entries%3A+Processes+and+Cases%2E+Atlantis%2C+XXIII+2%2C+31%E2%80%9348%2E+Old+English+ditransitive+adjectives+Cook%2C+Walter+A%2E+)
13. Denison, David 1993: English Historical Syntax. London and New York: Longman. DOE. The Dictionary of Old English – A to F. Antonette diPaolo Healey. Ed. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Denison%2C+David+1993%3A+English+Historical+Syntax%2E+London+and+New+York%3A+Longman%2E+DOE%2E+The+Dictionary+of+Old+English+%E2%80%93+A+to+F%2E+Antonette+diPaolo+Healey%2E+Ed%2E+Toronto%3A+Pontifical+Institute+of+Mediaeval+Stud)
14. DOEC. The Dictionary of Old English Corpus in Electronic Form. 2004. diPaolo Healey, Antonette, Dorothy Holland, Joan Haines, David McDougall, Ian McDougall & Xin Xiang. Toronto: DOE Project. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=DOEC%2E+The+Dictionary+of+Old+English+Corpus+in+Electronic+Form%2E+2004%2E+diPaolo+Healey%2C+Antonette%2C+Dorothy+Holland%2C+Joan+Haines%2C+David+McDougall%2C+Ian+McDougall+%26+Xin+Xiang%2E+Toronto%3A+DOE+Project%2E)
15. Fillmore, Charles J. 1968: The Case for Case. Universals in Linguistic Theory. Emmon Bach and Robert Harms. Eds. 1–88. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. [↗](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5809981)
16. Fischer, Olga & Wim Van der Wurff. 2006: Syntax. Hogg, Richard & David Denison. Eds. 109-198. A History of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Fischer%2C+Olga+%26+Wim+Van+der+Wurff%2E+2006%3A+Syntax%2E+Hogg%2C+Richard+%26+David+Denison%2E+Eds%2E+109%2D198%2E+A+History+of+the+English+Language%2E+Cambridge%3A+Cambridge+University+Press%2E)
17. Herbst, Thomas 2004: A Valency Dictionary of English: a Corpus-Based Analysis of the Complementation Patterns of English Verbs, Nouns and Adjectives. Topics in English Linguistics 40. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Herbst%2C+Thomas+2004%3A+A+Valency+Dictionary+of+English%3A+a+Corpus%2DBased+Analysis+of+the+Complementation+Patterns+of+English+Verbs%2C+Nouns+and+Adjectives%2E+Topics+in+English+Linguistics+40%2E+Berlin%3A+Mouton+d)
18. Huddleston, Rodney & Geoffrey K. Pullum 2002: [The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/huddleston-2002-cambridge-grammar-english-language/). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316423530)
19. Lees, Robert B. 1960: A Multiply Ambiguous Adjectival Construction in English. Language 36. 207–221. [↗](https://doi.org/10.2307/410986)
20. Maling, Joan 1983: Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis. Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles. Frank Heny and B. Richards. Eds. 253–289. Dordrecht: Foris. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6989-6_8)
21. Mitchell, Bruce 1985: Old English Syntax. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Alejandro Alcaraz-Sintes OED. The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on Compact Disk. Version 3.0. 2002[1989]. Simpson, Joseph & Edmund Weiner. Eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198119357.001.0001)
22. Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech & Jan Svartvik 1985: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London and New York: Longman. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Quirk%2C+Randolph%2C+Sidney+Greenbaum%2C+Geoffrey+Leech+%26+Jan+Svartvik+1985%3A+A+Comprehensive+Grammar+of+the+English+Language%2E+London+and+New+York%3A+Longman%2E)
23. Trask, R. Larry 1993: A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. London and New York: Routledge. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Trask%2C+R%2E+Larry+1993%3A+A+Dictionary+of+Grammatical+Terms+in+Linguistics%2E+London+and+New+York%3A+Routledge%2E)
24. Tucker, Gordon H. 1998: The Lexicogrammar of Adjectives. A Systemic Functional Approach to Lexis. London and New York: Cassell. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Tucker%2C+Gordon+H%2E+1998%3A+The+Lexicogrammar+of+Adjectives%2E+A+Systemic+Functional+Approach+to+Lexis%2E+London+and+New+York%3A+Cassell%2E)
25. Visser, Frederic Th. 1963–1973: An Historical Syntax of the English Language. Leiden: E. J. Brill. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Visser%2C+Frederic+Th%2E+1963%E2%80%931973%3A+An+Historical+Syntax+of+the+English+Language%2E+Leiden%3A+E%2E+J%2E+Brill%2E)
26. Wülfing, J. Ernst 1894–1901: Die Syntax in den Werken Alfreds des Grossen. Bonn: B. Hanstein’s. * † * [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=W%C3%BClfing%2C+J%2E+Ernst+1894%E2%80%931901%3A+Die+Syntax+in+den+Werken+Alfreds+des+Grossen%2E+Bonn%3A+B%2E+Hanstein%E2%80%99s%2E+%2A+%E2%80%A0+%2A)

*Updated 24 October 2026*