Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation
Extraction from relative clauses is generally taken to be unacceptable in Icelandic, unlike in the Mainland Scandinavian languages. Recent studies on Mainland Scandinavian show that the type of dependency as well as the embedding predicate matters for the acceptability of such extractions, and the s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Languages |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/163 |
| _version_ | 1797485821743333376 |
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| author | Filippa Lindahl |
| author_facet | Filippa Lindahl |
| author_sort | Filippa Lindahl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Extraction from relative clauses is generally taken to be unacceptable in Icelandic, unlike in the Mainland Scandinavian languages. Recent studies on Mainland Scandinavian show that the type of dependency as well as the embedding predicate matters for the acceptability of such extractions, and the study of spontaneously produced examples has improved our ability to create felicitous extraction contexts. The studies of Icelandic extraction predate these findings, and there is to date no study which systematically compares parallel sentences in Icelandic and Mainland Scandinavian. This article presents such a study, using two acceptability judgment experiments, one in Icelandic and one in Swedish, drawing on newly gained insights about fronting conditions in the two languages to create plausible contexts. The Icelandic participants rated extraction from relative clauses as unnatural, with a very large acceptability cost compared to in situ versions and good fillers. Extraction from <i>að</i>-clauses received mixed ratings, and local fronting was rated on a par with the in situ versions. In Swedish, extraction from relative clauses was rated as natural a majority of the time. There was no extraction cost in local fronting, extraction from <i>att</i>-clauses, or extraction from relative clauses in existential sentences, while extraction with other embedding predicates incurred some cost. No differences relating to the embedding predicate were seen in Icelandic. The study corroborates the view that extraction from relative clauses is unacceptable in Icelandic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-565359330c124a278b90b352c475356e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-565359330c124a278b90b352c475356e2023-11-23T17:20:12ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2022-06-017316310.3390/languages7030163Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel InvestigationFilippa Lindahl0Division of Educational Science and Languages, University West, 46186 Trollhättan, SwedenExtraction from relative clauses is generally taken to be unacceptable in Icelandic, unlike in the Mainland Scandinavian languages. Recent studies on Mainland Scandinavian show that the type of dependency as well as the embedding predicate matters for the acceptability of such extractions, and the study of spontaneously produced examples has improved our ability to create felicitous extraction contexts. The studies of Icelandic extraction predate these findings, and there is to date no study which systematically compares parallel sentences in Icelandic and Mainland Scandinavian. This article presents such a study, using two acceptability judgment experiments, one in Icelandic and one in Swedish, drawing on newly gained insights about fronting conditions in the two languages to create plausible contexts. The Icelandic participants rated extraction from relative clauses as unnatural, with a very large acceptability cost compared to in situ versions and good fillers. Extraction from <i>að</i>-clauses received mixed ratings, and local fronting was rated on a par with the in situ versions. In Swedish, extraction from relative clauses was rated as natural a majority of the time. There was no extraction cost in local fronting, extraction from <i>att</i>-clauses, or extraction from relative clauses in existential sentences, while extraction with other embedding predicates incurred some cost. No differences relating to the embedding predicate were seen in Icelandic. The study corroborates the view that extraction from relative clauses is unacceptable in Icelandic.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/163A-bar movementextractionIcelandicisland phenomenarelative clausesScandinavian |
| spellingShingle | Filippa Lindahl Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation Languages A-bar movement extraction Icelandic island phenomena relative clauses Scandinavian |
| title | Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation |
| title_full | Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation |
| title_fullStr | Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation |
| title_short | Extraction from Relative Clauses in Icelandic and Swedish: A Parallel Investigation |
| title_sort | extraction from relative clauses in icelandic and swedish a parallel investigation |
| topic | A-bar movement extraction Icelandic island phenomena relative clauses Scandinavian |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/163 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT filippalindahl extractionfromrelativeclausesinicelandicandswedishaparallelinvestigation |