On quantity and quality in syntactic variation studies
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Höskuldur Thráinsson
Abstract
This paper discusses some methodological issues in variation studies, drawing mainly on experience gathered in work on syntactic variation in Insular Scandinavian. First, it demonstrates the importance of having a large number of informants if you want to get a reliable picture of the distribution of certain variants or the ongoing development behind syntactic variation. Second, it is shown that different elicitation methods, e.g. absolute vs. relative judgments, can complement each other since they do not always yield the same kind of information. Third, the paper gives a partial answer to the question whether Faroese is moving towards Mainland Scandinavian.
Abstract
This paper discusses some methodological issues in variation studies, drawing mainly on experience gathered in work on syntactic variation in Insular Scandinavian. First, it demonstrates the importance of having a large number of informants if you want to get a reliable picture of the distribution of certain variants or the ongoing development behind syntactic variation. Second, it is shown that different elicitation methods, e.g. absolute vs. relative judgments, can complement each other since they do not always yield the same kind of information. Third, the paper gives a partial answer to the question whether Faroese is moving towards Mainland Scandinavian.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- On quantity and quality in syntactic variation studies 19
- Variation in oblique subject constructions in Insular Scandinavian 53
- Determining the nature of intra-speaker subject case variation 91
- Variation in dative in Faroese 113
- Avoiding Genitive in Icelandic 141
- Dimensions of Variation 165
- Inverse attraction in Icelandic relative clauses 199
- Variation in copular agreement in Insular Scandinavian 233
- Stylistic fronting and related constructions in the Insular Scandinavian Languages 277
- Stylistic fronting in corpora 307
- Index 339
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- On quantity and quality in syntactic variation studies 19
- Variation in oblique subject constructions in Insular Scandinavian 53
- Determining the nature of intra-speaker subject case variation 91
- Variation in dative in Faroese 113
- Avoiding Genitive in Icelandic 141
- Dimensions of Variation 165
- Inverse attraction in Icelandic relative clauses 199
- Variation in copular agreement in Insular Scandinavian 233
- Stylistic fronting and related constructions in the Insular Scandinavian Languages 277
- Stylistic fronting in corpora 307
- Index 339
