The Syntax of Icelandic / Höskuldur Thráinsson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Höskuldur Þráinsson, 1946-

Series:

Cambridge books online.

Cambridge Syntax Guides

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Icelandic language--Syntax.

Icelandic language.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (576 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

PDF

Summary:

Icelandic is a syntactically interesting language, with aspects of its word order, clause structure, agreement patterns and case system arousing much theoretical interest and debate in recent years. This is an informative and accessible guide to the structure of Icelandic, focusing in particular on those characteristics that have contributed greatly to syntactic research. Each chapter is divided into two main sections - providing both a descriptive overview and a discussion of the theoretical and comparative issues invoived - and a wide range of topics are covered, including case, agreement, grammatical relations, thematic roles, word order, clause structure, fronting, extraposition, complements, adjuncts, pronouns and inflection. Also explored in detail are the similarities and differences between Icelandic and other related languages. Presupposing only a basic knowledge of syntax and complete with an extensive bibliography, this comprehensive survey will be an important tool for all those working on the structure of Scandinavian and Germanic languages.

Contents:

1.0 Icelandic and its closest relatives 1

1.1 Nominal inflection and agreement 1

1.2 Verbal morphology, agreement and auxiliary constructions 8

2 Word order and clause structure 17

2.1 A descriptive overview 17

2.1.1 The basic clause structure assumed 17

2.1.2 The default order of constituents and some variations 21

2.1.3 Alternative subject positions 26

2.1.4 Positions of finite and non-finite verbs 27

2.1.5 Alternative object positions 31

2.1.6 Positions of adverbs 37

2.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 40

2.2.1 The nature of V2 40

2.2.2 Subject positions and functional categories 45

2.2.3 Verbal morphology and embedded word order 58

2.2.4 Object positions, functional categories and properties of objects 64

2.2.5 Adverbs and syntactic structure 79

3 Order of elements within the phrase 88

3.1 A descriptive overview 88

3.1.1 Order within the (extended) noun phrase 88

3.1.2 Order within the (extended) verb phrase 96

3.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 100

3.2.1 Noun Phrase architecture and the order of constituents 100

3.2.2 Verb Phrase architecture and the order of constituents 127

4 Case, agreement, grammatical relations and thematic roles 146

4.1 A descriptive overview 146

4.1.1 Some structural properties of subjects and objects 146

4.1.2 Case marking of subjects, objects and indirect objects 156

4.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 181

4.2.1 Structural and lexical case 181

4.2.2 Morphological case and abstract case 192

4.2.3 Case, semantic association and thematic roles 198

4.2.4 Some changes-and comparison with the other Scandinavian languages 222

4.2.5 Relationship between case and agreement 232

4.2.6 Some comparative notes 242

5 Passives, middles and unaccusatives 249

5.1 A descriptive overview 249

5.1.1 Regular passivization and thematic roles 250

5.1.2 Passivization of 'impersonal' verbs 257

5.1.3 Prepositional passive, impersonal passive and the expletive passive 262

5.1.4 The New Passive/New Impersonal 273

5.1.5 'Middle verbs' and the passive 283

5.1.6 Unaccusatives 293

5.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 301

5.2.1 Faroese middles, passives and case (non-)preservation 301

5.2.2 Passives and middles in Mainland Scandinavian 306

5.2.3 Impersonal passives in Scandinavian 307

6 Different types of expletive constructions 309

6.1 A descriptive overview 309

6.1.1 Types of expletive constructions in Icelandic 309

6.1.2 The positions available to the overt expletive in Icelandic 312

6.1.3 The positions available to the associate of the expletive in Icelandic 313

6.1.4 The positional requirements of different associates 317

6.1.5 More on real and apparent exceptions to the Indefiteness Requirement 324

6.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 327

6.2.1 Structural position and role of expletive elements 327

6.2.2 Expletive constructions in the other Scandinavian languages 333

6.2.3 The 'associate positions' revisited 337

6.2.4 The differences - and what can be said about them 339

7 Fronting, focusing, extraposition and NP-shift 341

7.1 A descriptive overview 341

7.1.1 Fronting of non-subjects 341

7.1.2 Topicalization and Wh-movement across clause boundaries 349

7.1.3 Stylistic Fronting and the overt expletive 352

7.1.4 Stylistic Fronting and Topicalization 355

7.1.5 Left Dislocation and Contrastive Dislocation 357

7.1.6 Clefts and relatives 359

7.1.7 Extrapositions and rightward movement 361

7.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 368

7.2.1 Stylistic Fronting vs. Topicalization 368

7.2.2 Stylistic Fronting, expletives and subject gaps 375

7.2.3 Some comparative evidence 376

7.2.4 Possible landing sites and some theoretical proposals 385

7.2.5 Syntactic positions, movements, gaps and information structure 390

8 Finite and non-finite complements and adjuncts 394

8.1 A descriptive overview of finite subordinate clauses 394

8.1.1 Complements vs. adjuncts 394

8.1.2 Tense and mood in complement clauses 395

8.1.3 Distribution of a[eth]-clauses and hv-clauses 402

8.1.4 Tense and mood in adjunct clauses 404

8.1.5 Relative clauses and hv-clauses 406

8.1.6 Complementizer deletion 409

8.2 A descriptive overview of infinitive constructions 410

8.2.1 Independent infinitives 416

8.2.2 Complements of control verbs, including prepositional verbs 418

8.2.3 Complements of modal verbs 421

8.2.4 Complements of aspectual verbs 428

8.2.5 On the distribution of a[eth]-infinitives 430

8.2.6 Accusative with infinitive 436

8.2.7 Nominative with infinitive and raising to subject position 440

8.3 Some theoretical and comparative issues 443

8.3.1 Complementizer deletion 443

8.3.2 Extra complementizer elements 448

8.3.3 Some structural properties of control complements 450

8.3.4 AcI, Object Shift, NcI and raising 452

8.3.5 Modal constructions 458

9 Pronouns, reflexives and empty categories 461

9.1 A descriptive overview 461

9.1.1 Basic distribution of reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns in Icelandic 461

9.1.2 Cross-clausal anaphoric dependencies 465

9.1.3 Reflexives inside infinitival complements 473

9.1.4 Empty pronominal elements 475

9.2 Some theoretical and comparative issues 483

9.2.1 The standard Binding Theory 483

9.2.2 Pronouns and reflexives in the Scandinavian languages 484

9.2.3 Is Icelandic a pro-drop language? 501.

Notes:

Title from publishers bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Mar 2012).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9780511619441

9780521591904

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.