THÀT
THÀT, THAT and THET are used as (neuter-singular) article, demonstrative, conjunction or relative pronoun. They equate with English that and the, Dutch dat and het and German daß/dass[1] and das. (THET sometimes seems to rather equate to the less common THIT, which is like the demonstrative this; Dutch/German dit/dies).
Example:
- IK WÉT ~ THÀT.ER[2] THÀT HUS [VRJET] ~ THÀT.ER BUWAD HETH.
- I wit ~ that(1) he [forgets] that(2) house ~ that(3) he has built.
- Ik weet ~ dat(1) hij dat(2) huis [vergeet] ~ dat(3) hij heeft gebouwd.
- Ich weiß ~ daß/dass(1) er das(2)[3] Haus [vergisst] ~ das(3) er gebaut hat.
| English | Dutch | German |
|---|---|---|
| (1) conjunction | voegwoord | Konjunktion |
| (2) demonstrative (pronoun) | aanwijzend voornaamwoord | Demonstrativum |
| (3) relative pronoun | betrekkelijk voornaamwoord | Relativpronomen |
Spelling variety
Whereas THET can easily be distinguished in the manuscript from THAT/THÀT, it's often hard to tell whether the copyist intended to write A or À. Therefore, the following distribution of frequency of use is an estimation (total n=955):
THÀT 53% ( n=505), THAT 37% (n=349), THET 11% (n=101).[4]
From other word studies it is known that À and E are often used interchangeably, which suggests that pronunciation will have been similar.
To gauge whether a certain spelling may have been preferred in particular combinations (of sounds?), a sample of common two-word combinations was made. Note that THET is used relatively often in the expression THET FORMA (at first)[5]: 6 times versus 8 times THÀT, and the unaccented THAT seems to be more common in the combination THAT WI (that we): 17 times versus 11 times THÀT WI.
Consistency
Before one preferred spelling is chosen (perhaps differentiated by use as conjunction, demonstrative or relative pronoun), further research is desirable.
In certain texts that look like they were copied with care, different spellings may have been used for different uses of the word, for example:
- Page [001] THET BOK THÉRA ADELA.FOLSTAR followed by 13x THÀT incl. as article.
- Page [014] THET HETH FÀSTA SÉID with 10x THÀT and 1x THAT, the latter probably being a sloppily drawn letter. THET, here being used as a demonstrative, is equivalent to THIT (used 38 times).
notes
- ↑ daß is traditional, dass more modern spelling
- ↑ Or: THÀT HI.
- ↑ In German, demonstrative is the same as the article. To stress it in written language, da can be added: "Das Haus da." (In spoken language, one would change intonation or point a finger.)
- ↑ Figures include compounds like THATSTE, NÉITHAT. The unedited varieties were counted. The figure for THET includes 5x HETH and 2x THETH that were edited to THET.
- ↑ also in THET TWÉDE (secondly) and THET THREDDE (thirdly).