Variation in oblique subject constructions in Insular Scandinavian
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Thórhallur Eythórsson
Abstract
This chapter reviews the division of morphological case into structural case and lexical case and the latter in turn into regular (thematic) and idiosyncratic case (Yip, Maling and Jackendoff 1987). The Case Directionality Hypothesis (Eythórsson 2002, 2015b) states that historical development of case is predictable if one assumes this division: structural case replaces lexical case and idiosyncratic lexical case will yield to regular (thematic) lexical case. This hypothesis is tested on data which were collected in projects on variation in subject case in Icelandic and Faroese. It is concluded that the development of subject case in Icelandic and Faroese is to a significant degree in accordance with the predictions of the CDH, but interesting exceptions are also described and discussed.
Abstract
This chapter reviews the division of morphological case into structural case and lexical case and the latter in turn into regular (thematic) and idiosyncratic case (Yip, Maling and Jackendoff 1987). The Case Directionality Hypothesis (Eythórsson 2002, 2015b) states that historical development of case is predictable if one assumes this division: structural case replaces lexical case and idiosyncratic lexical case will yield to regular (thematic) lexical case. This hypothesis is tested on data which were collected in projects on variation in subject case in Icelandic and Faroese. It is concluded that the development of subject case in Icelandic and Faroese is to a significant degree in accordance with the predictions of the CDH, but interesting exceptions are also described and discussed.
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
