Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1985, Page 143

Narrative Inversion in Old lcelandic
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finite verb position, the subject position, and the sentence adverbial
position, in that order. It is followed by the content field, which con-
tains positions for the infinite verb(s), the verb complement(s), and
various adverbials. Thus, the sentence kemel has the word order Finite
Verb — Subject. In declarative main clauses, an element from the sen-
tence is usually placed in front of the finite verb, giving us the typical
verb-second order. No element is fronted when we have the VS-pat-
tern. Recent studies of Germanic word order within the Government
and Binding framework (cf. Chomsky (1981), Platzack (1982)) have
further developed this idea: cf. papers by Koster (1975), den Besten
(1983), Holmberg (1983a) and Platzack (1986). According to these
studies, the finite verb is moved from VP to initial position in the sen-
tence for reasons which we do not have to consider here. Thus, at
some stage of its derivation, a Germanic main clause has the word
order Finite Verb — Subject. Since this structure is well formed,
nothing prevents it from being realized as a sentence. The result is
usually interpreted as a direct yes/no question, but narrative inversion
and other uses of the VS-order would be derived in the same way.
Consider Holmberg (1983b). To derive an ordinary declarative main
clause, some phrase must move to a position in front of the finite verb.
Thus, there is a direct link between the VS-order and the verb-
second constraint, both in Diderichsen’s description and in the recent
descriptions within the Govemment and Binding theory. If these de-
scriptions come close to the truth, it should be evident that there is no
reason to be surprised at the occurrence of VS-sentences in a verb-
second language like Old Icelandic.
However, it is not the use of VS-sentences per se, but the use of this
word order in declarative main clauses that has attracted the interest of
several scholars. I.e., the interest has not so much to do with the
grammatical structure of the language as with the use of one of the
structures permitted by the grammar of the language. It is in this regard
that Icelandic seems to differ from the other Germanic languages: the
VS-order not only signals direct questions, but it may, under appro-
priate circumstances, also be used to express statements.
It is in no way exceptional that a structure prototypically used to
express a certain illocutionary act also may be used to express other
illocutionary acts. Consider e.g. the word order Subject — Finite Verb.
This word order is used not only to express declarative statements, but