Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2008, Page 107

LÁNISTICIN OC DANSKT í FØROYSKUM
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Figure 2. The figure shows the result of grammaticality judgment test of impersonal double object
constructions. 1 = the sentence is grammatical. 2 = the sentence is grammatical, but I would not use it
myself. 3 = the sentence is neither grammatical or ungrammatical and 4 = the sentence is totally
ungrammatical.
deepest level of grammar, though more re-
cent directions in linguistics tend to view
phonology, syntax and semantic as three
parallel components of grammar (Cullicover
& Jackendoff 2005:18).
It is nevertheless a fact, however, that
syntactic interference is just as frequent as
phonological interference in language con-
tact situations (Thomason & Kaufman 1988:
118); this is worth keeping in mind when
considering the changes we present below,
as is the fact that whenever changes are
found in one or some of the subsystems,
changes are likely to be found in other sub-
systems as well as the result of contact. Note
also that Faroese and Danish have been in
contact for centuries.
In (3), an Impersonal Passive Construc-
tion, the expletive can either be present or
absent in Faroese.
(3) Bleiv (tað) tosað um Ólav?
was (there) talked-ppp about Ó.-acc.sg.?
'Did people talk about Ólavur?
Faroese is situated between the Mainland
Scandinavian languages, which require the
expletive, and lcelandic, where the expletive
is impossible, in allowing for both possibili-
ties. Contact is therefore an obvious possible
trigger for the overt tað 'there'. It is natural
to explain this as the result of Danish lan-
guage contact, as its influence on other parts
of speech is moderate to rather mixed. The
Faroe Islanders are bilingual with high profi-
ciency in Danish and are exposed daily to