Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli
In Modern Icelandic the verb líka ‘like’ occurs with a subject in the dative case and an object in the nominative case. It has been argued that this was also the case in Old Icelandic. In this paper we argue that in contrast to Modern Icelandic, the nominative argument of líka could also constitute...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Orð og Tunga |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ordogtunga.arnastofnun.is/index.php/ord-og-tunga/article/view/66 |
| _version_ | 1819066761545252864 |
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| author | Einar Freyr Sigurðsson Heimir van der Feest Viðarsson |
| author_facet | Einar Freyr Sigurðsson Heimir van der Feest Viðarsson |
| author_sort | Einar Freyr Sigurðsson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Modern Icelandic the verb líka ‘like’ occurs with a subject in the dative case and an object in the nominative case. It has been argued that this was also the case in Old Icelandic. In this paper we argue that in contrast to Modern Icelandic, the nominative argument of líka could also constitute the subject during the Old Icelandic period and the dative argument the object. More specifically, we maintain that the verb líka was an alternating (or symmetric) verb where the nominative and the dative argument could raise to the subject position, whereas in Modern Icelandic only the dative is able to raise to the subject position. In other words, we argue that a change in the argument structure of the verb has taken place such that líka has changed from being an alternating (symmetric) verb to an asymmetric oblique subject verb. The main argument that is used to substantiate this claim comes from control infinitives in Old Icelandic, taking on the form in (i):
(i) girntiz meirr at líka einum guði en mönnum
desired.mid more to PRO.nom like.inf alone.dat god.dat than men.dat
‘(He) desired more to please God alone than men.’ (Æv 150.15)
Based on a generative analysis of syntactic structure, we present evidence that reveals that the dative argument functions syntactically as the object, in addition to discussing other potential evidence based on word order. When the nominative argument is the subject, the meaning of 'líka' is sometimes closer to that of English 'please' than 'like'. We also discuss how this might be accounted for. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:07:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5aed21ab4eda4acfbb0137d203c1dd28 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1022-4610 2547-7218 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T16:07:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Orð og Tunga |
| spelling | doaj.art-5aed21ab4eda4acfbb0137d203c1dd282022-12-21T18:57:51ZengÁrni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic StudiesOrð og Tunga1022-46102547-72182020-06-01223968https://doi.org/10.33112/ordogtunga.22.4Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máliEinar Freyr Sigurðsson0Heimir van der Feest Viðarsson1Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic StudiesUniversiteit GentIn Modern Icelandic the verb líka ‘like’ occurs with a subject in the dative case and an object in the nominative case. It has been argued that this was also the case in Old Icelandic. In this paper we argue that in contrast to Modern Icelandic, the nominative argument of líka could also constitute the subject during the Old Icelandic period and the dative argument the object. More specifically, we maintain that the verb líka was an alternating (or symmetric) verb where the nominative and the dative argument could raise to the subject position, whereas in Modern Icelandic only the dative is able to raise to the subject position. In other words, we argue that a change in the argument structure of the verb has taken place such that líka has changed from being an alternating (symmetric) verb to an asymmetric oblique subject verb. The main argument that is used to substantiate this claim comes from control infinitives in Old Icelandic, taking on the form in (i): (i) girntiz meirr at líka einum guði en mönnum desired.mid more to PRO.nom like.inf alone.dat god.dat than men.dat ‘(He) desired more to please God alone than men.’ (Æv 150.15) Based on a generative analysis of syntactic structure, we present evidence that reveals that the dative argument functions syntactically as the object, in addition to discussing other potential evidence based on word order. When the nominative argument is the subject, the meaning of 'líka' is sometimes closer to that of English 'please' than 'like'. We also discuss how this might be accounted for.https://ordogtunga.arnastofnun.is/index.php/ord-og-tunga/article/view/66alternating verbs(a)symmetric verbsvariationcase markingargument structure |
| spellingShingle | Einar Freyr Sigurðsson Heimir van der Feest Viðarsson Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli Orð og Tunga alternating verbs (a)symmetric verbs variation case marking argument structure |
| title | Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli |
| title_full | Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli |
| title_fullStr | Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli |
| title_short | Frá skiptisögn til ósamhverfrar aukafallssagnar. Um 'líka' í fornu máli |
| title_sort | fra skiptisogn til osamhverfrar aukafallssagnar um lika i fornu mali |
| topic | alternating verbs (a)symmetric verbs variation case marking argument structure |
| url | https://ordogtunga.arnastofnun.is/index.php/ord-og-tunga/article/view/66 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT einarfreyrsigurðsson fraskiptisogntilosamhverfraraukafallssagnarumlikaifornumali AT heimirvanderfeestviðarsson fraskiptisogntilosamhverfraraukafallssagnarumlikaifornumali |