Inverse attraction in Icelandic relative clauses
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Jim Wood
Abstract
We introduce “inverse attraction” (IA) (Bianchi 1999: 93) in non-standard Icelandic, a nearly unstudied phenomenon that provides special insight into relative clause formation, specificially regarding the copy deletion that occurs in the “matching analysis” derivation of relatives. Descriptively, IA seems to involve deletion of the higher, rather than the lower copy of the relative head. In order to study this phenomenon in more detail, we conducted a judgment study with 130 Icelandic-speaking participants. The results of our study indicate that the acceptability of IA depends on the matrix and embedded cases involved, on the position of the gap inside the relative clause, and on the position of the whole relativized DP.
Abstract
We introduce “inverse attraction” (IA) (Bianchi 1999: 93) in non-standard Icelandic, a nearly unstudied phenomenon that provides special insight into relative clause formation, specificially regarding the copy deletion that occurs in the “matching analysis” derivation of relatives. Descriptively, IA seems to involve deletion of the higher, rather than the lower copy of the relative head. In order to study this phenomenon in more detail, we conducted a judgment study with 130 Icelandic-speaking participants. The results of our study indicate that the acceptability of IA depends on the matrix and embedded cases involved, on the position of the gap inside the relative clause, and on the position of the whole relativized DP.
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
