Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2002, Page 75

ÓPERSÓNLIG SAGNORÐ í FØROYSKUM
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verb, which is rare in Faroese.
The verb líka 'to like’ is more frequent
than hugna ‘to like’ and huga ‘to like’. It
cannot take a nominative subject, but may
take an expletive. The following examples
are from the dictionaries I have used and
the classical Bible translation. In (24c) we
find an example with the verb in the plural
líkaðu ‘liked’, not, as expected, líkaði
‘liked’.
(24) a. mær líkar tað ikki
me-dat. likes-3sg. il-acc. not
‘I do not like it’ (FD)
b. set teg niður, hvar tær líkar best
sit you down where you-dat. likes-
3sg. best
‘You sit down where you like to sit’
(Genesis 20,15)
c. Men ikki øllum líkaðu luktin
but not all-dat. liked smell-the-acc,-
sg-
‘But all did not like the smell’
(homepage)
d. *eg líki luktin
I like-lsg. snrell-the-acc.
‘1 like the smell’
e. tað líkar mær væl
it likes-3sg. me well
‘1 like that well’
The verb lítast ‘like’ also takes an exeri-
encer subject in the dative. It is preserved in
the idiom kráku lítst best á unga sín ‘the
crow likes her own chick best’.
Another verb meaning ‘to like’ is skríma
- which is extremely rare. We have the fol-
lowing example from the Faroese Dictio-
nary (1998);
(25) a. mær skrímir einki urn hann
me-dat. likes-3sg. nothing about
him-acc.
‘I do not like him’ (FD)
The verb unna ‘to like, to love’ takes an ex-
periencer subject. Note that the subject is in
nominative case, while the object is pre-
sumably in the accusative.
(26) a. Síðan fór Jákup eisini inn til Raku-
lar; og hann unti Rukul fram um
Leu
Then went J acob also in to Rachel;
and he-nom. loved Rachel-acc. to
Lena-acc.
‘Then Jacob went in to Rachel, and
he preferred her to Lea’
There are other psych-verbs with an experi-
encer subject. The meaning of these verbs
is ‘to grieve, to regret’. The verb gremjast
um ‘grieve, regret’ takes nominative in
modern Faroese. It is also reflexive.
(27) Teir gremjast um ósigurin
they-nom. grieve defeat-the-acc.
‘They grieve the defeat’
Subject is Experiencer, verbs of cognition
and perception
The thematic role of the subject is experi-
encer. These verbs are grouped as verbs of
cognition and perception in Jónsson