Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2008, Page 116

114
THE BORROWING SCALE AND DANISH IN FAROESE
Thus, there are examples of changes that
can be observed in different subsystems. As
this is the case, language contact-induced
changes are very likely to occur in other sub-
systems as well, for example in the syntax, al-
though this is generally not accepted by
many linguists who view syntax as the most
fundamental level of grammar.
Evidence from language contact shows
that internal factors such as markedness and
drift can easily be overridden when social
factors push in another direction (Thoma-
son & Kaufman 1988:4). There is no reason
for the syntactic changes above not to be re-
garded as potential results of language con-
tact. The Neg. + Verb string in Faroese, for ex-
ample, shows a typical replication pattern in
which the structure of the model language is
not purely copied. That is, Faroese allows
both the ISc. and MSc. structures. This is also
the case in the Impersonal Passive Construc-
tion, which allows both for the expletive and
also for sentences with no expletives.
The change in the ditransitive verbs to
PP + NP is also regarded as a contact phe-
nomenon, though it might be assisted by
drift.
Notes
1 I would like to thank A.MacDougall for proof-
reading the article.
2 Danish influence is also in mjólk-f. ergott-n. 'milk is
good'. If lcelandic is used as a point of compara-
sion, neuter in the predicate is not possible there.
I only became aware of these differences after
finshing the article. Hence this note.
3 Or as it issaid in Dahl (2001:1469) "In other words,
while the chance that a certain morpheme or con-
struction in a language will undergo a particular
kind of grammaticalization is on the whole rather
small, the probability increases dramatically if a
neighbouring language undergoes the process in
question”. The 'neighbouring’ langauge here being
Danish.
1 When Faroe Islanders speak Danish, the so-called
Gøtudanskt or Dano-Faroese, the influence from
the Faroese phonologicla system is huge, expecially
by the older generation(s). Here we find unvoiced
/ and n in front of preaspirated p, t, k as in alt 'all',
preaspiration in general, Faroese vowel values, etc.
In the morpho-syntax in Gøtudanskt, we find
convergence, inter- and intra-sentential code-
switches, nonce-borrowings, pronominal gender,
etc. (Petersen and Adams 2008).