Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1980, Page 193

Inversion in Embedded Clauses in Modern Icelandic 191
These problems with respect to adverbs serve to point out that the
distinction between Topicalization and Stylistic Inversion is sometimes
a fuzzy one. In general, Stylistic Inversion is a more local process in-
volving elements of the verbal complex, and often without the emphatic
feel of Topicalization. Fronting of verbal arguments, especially NPs,
ean cross clause boundaries, and is considerably more restricted than
Stylistic Inversion, especially in clauses such as relatives or embedded
questions which already contain a gap. Extraction out of topicalized
sentences generally produces sentences of very low acceptability, as
noted for Icelandic by Zaenen & Maling(1977) and Thráinsson(1979:
472). The definiteness and heaviness of the fronted NP seems to affect
ncceptability, suggesting that only presupposed NPs may be fronted in
embedded clauses.18 Consider the contrasts illustrated below:
(51) a Þetta er hundurinn, sem minkinn drap
b ?*Þetta er hundurinn, sem minka drepur
(52) a Þetta er maðurinn, sem smásöguna skrifaði
b ?*Þetta er maðurinn, sem smásögur skrifar
(53) a Hún benti á trésmiðina, sem húsgögnin höfðu smíðað
b ?*Hún benti á trésmiðina, sem húsgögn höfðu smíðað
c ?*Hún benti á trésmiðina, sem úr eik höfðu smíðað vönduð
en ódýr húsgögn
Verbal complements such as locatives can sometimes be fronted, as
illustrated by the acceptability of (54), whereas predicate nominals
cannot be fronted in relatives, as illustrated in (55) (although they can
be fronted in ad-clauses):
(54) Hann fann stól, sem hér hafði staðið
(55) *Þama er konan, sem forseti íslands var kosin
Whatever the conditions on Topicalization may be, note that all of these
embedded clauses freely allow Stylistic Inversion of the past participle,
if any:
(56) a Þetta er hundurinn, sem drepið hefur fimm minka
b Þetta er maðurinn, sem skrifað hefur margar smásögur
c Hún benti á trésmiðina, sem smíðað höfðu vönduð en ódýr
húsgögn
18 These observations are due to Kristján Árnason.