Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1980, Page 183

Inversion in Embedded Clauses in Modern lcelandic
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questions and relative clauses is unacceptable for many speakers,
whereas Stylistic Inversion is accepted by all speakers in the same en-
vironments (see Section 4.1). Only Topicalization can move a consti-
tuent outside of the clause in which it originates. Finally, there is a
condition on the application of Stylistic Inversion that Topicalization
does not share; this condition is stated in (9).
(9) Stylistic Inversion in an embedded clause is possible
only if there is a subject gap in that clause.
Note the presence of the subject hún in the example of Topicalization
given in (1). What the examples in (5)-(7), on the other hand, share is
that the embedded clauses are all in some sense subjectless. I hypo-
thesize that it is precisely this property which makes Stylistic Inversion
possible. The generalization given in (9) can only be stated, of course,
if the relative particle sem and interrogative pronouns are not them-
selves counted as subjects.
2.2 Evidence for the Subject-Gap Condition
2.2.0
Subject gaps can be created in one of three ways in Icelandic: (i)
extraction of the subject NP by unbounded transformational rules such
as relativization, question formation, comparative clause formation,
topicalization and clefting,8 (ii) through the use of impersonal passives
°r lexically impersonal predicates, and (iii) by indefinite-NP postpos-
lng-6 7 The latter two cases of subject gaps can easily be recognized by
the obligatory occurrence of það in initial position if the sentence is
used as a main clause declarative. Let me emphasize here that my use
°f the term „subject gap“ for these impersonal constructions is not
uieant to attribute subject status to the dummy það.8
In this section data will be given in support of the Subject-Gap
6 See e.g. Baker(1978) for an introduction to the basic properties of these trans-
formations. Some properties of Topicalization and clefting in Icelandic are dis-
cussed in Thráinsson(1979).
7 This is the Icelandic equivalent of TViere-insertion in English. For a discussion
°f suhjectless constructions in Icelandic, see Thráinsson(1979, Ch. 7.2).
For a discussion of the role of dummy þaö in Icelandic syntax, see Andrews
(1976), Maling & Zaenen(1978b) and Thráinsson(1979, Ch. 7.2).