Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2002, Side 70

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QUIRKY CASE IN FAROESE
these verbs belong to (Jónsson, 1997/1998;
Levin, 1993), and to what extent they may
take nominative in Faroese or have changed
their case to Dative. It shows also the the-
matic role of the subject.
The data will be summarizeđ in detail in
Fig. 2.
Accusative a n d Dative Subject
Some verbs that take accusative subjects in
Icelandic, may take either accusative or da-
tive subject in Faroese. These verbs are list-
ed below. The role of the subject is experi-
encer, and they are all psych-verbs.
The verb jysa ‘to want’ does not allow a
nominative subject (lOa), while it might
take the pronoun tað ‘it’ (lOc).
(10) a. meg/mær fýsir at vita
me-acc./me-dat. likes-3sg. to know
(FD)
b. *eg fýsi at vita
‘I would like to know’
‘I want to know’
c. Tað fýsir mær einki
That likes-3sg. me-dat not
T do not like that’ (FD)
An example from the Bible translation is
shown in (11)
(11) »Meg fýsir ikki at hava hana«
Me-acc. likes-3sg. not to have her-
acc.
‘I do not want to have her’
(5 Gen 25,8)
The verb hugbíta (Lit.: mind-bite) ‘to want,
to like’ - a verb that I have not found in Ice-
landic - has the same thematic role and is
also a psych-verb.
(12) meg/mær hugbítur tað el. eftir tí
me-acc./me-dat. wants-3sg. it-acc.
or after it-dat.
‘I want it’ (FD)
We see the same pattern in (13) with the
verb lysta ‘to want, to like’.
(13) a. meg/mær lystir
me-acc./me-dat. likes-3sg. (FD)
b. meg lystir at vita
me-acc. likes-3sg. to know
‘I would like to know’
‘I want to know’ (DD)
c. men tey kunnu seta hana so høga,
teimum lystir
but they-nom. can set her-acc. as
high [as] them-dat. likes-3sg.
‘They may set it [the quota] as high
as they like’ (Diml.)
d. ikki bara sleingja út við tí, einum
lystir
not just throw oul with what-dat.
one-dat. likes-3sg.
‘Not to say just what one wants’
‘Not just to blurt out whateveer one
likes (homepage)
Changefrom Accusative to Dative
The verb vanta Tack’ takes accusative in
Icelandic and an experiencer subject, (Jóns-
son, 1997/98). In Faroese vanta ‘to lack’ re-