Avoiding Genitive in Icelandic
-
Jóhannes Gísli Jónsson
Abstract
The genitive is a highly idiosyncratic case for arguments in Icelandic. Hence it is sometimes substituted for by other cases, i.e. by structural case of subjects (nominative) and direct objects (accusative) or by the productive lexical dative case in other instances. Genitive objects of adjectives can only be replaced by dative, since dative is the only regular case for objects of adjectives. Genitive can also be replaced by dative in certain contexts of agreement or concord. Dative is a better alternative in such instances than nominative and accusative because dative and genitive share the property of being KPs (Kase Phrases) in the sense of Bayer, Bader and Meng (2001). This analysis is independently supported by facts about noun inflection in Icelandic.
Abstract
The genitive is a highly idiosyncratic case for arguments in Icelandic. Hence it is sometimes substituted for by other cases, i.e. by structural case of subjects (nominative) and direct objects (accusative) or by the productive lexical dative case in other instances. Genitive objects of adjectives can only be replaced by dative, since dative is the only regular case for objects of adjectives. Genitive can also be replaced by dative in certain contexts of agreement or concord. Dative is a better alternative in such instances than nominative and accusative because dative and genitive share the property of being KPs (Kase Phrases) in the sense of Bayer, Bader and Meng (2001). This analysis is independently supported by facts about noun inflection in Icelandic.
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
