Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1986, Page 121

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Mörk orðmyndunar og beygingar
Chapter 3 starts (3.1) with a short overview of some relevant factors in classifica-
tion of verb meanings in Icelandic. It goes on (3.2) to specify the place of the most
central meaning of the middle voice, the anti-causative one, within the voice system
of Modern Icelandic. The anti-causative involves elimination of the argument proto-
typically filled by an agent. Then the semantic hues of the anti-causative that it de-
rives from being applied to dynamic verbs with agent alternative (3.3.1), involving
more or less concrete change-of-state or movement, are discussed. It is pointed out
that one often has, instead of change-of-state verbs in anti-causative middle voice,
so-called inchoative na-verbs such as dökkna, with rather idiosyncratic phonological
connection to transitive verbs, as dekkja in this case. Then the anticausative middle
voice of dynamic verbs without agent alternative is discussed (3.3.2), and finally the
rather marginal anti-causative of stative verbs (3.3.3). In 3.3.4 the author treats im-
personal middle voice, which is generally quasi-impersonal, i.e. with an optionally
specifiable object (pseudo-intransitive) or a complement not case-marked by the
verb (sentences, prepositional phrases), though strictly impersonal constructions are
also found. In 3.3.5 the author discusses systematically which verbs cannot take anti-
causative middle voice, namely those that do not have the semantic prerequisites,
and those that have inchoative na-verb counterparts, which can be seen as a marked
inflection class. In the appended 3.3.6, „deponent" anti-causative middle voice is
discussed, verbs that are only found in the anti-causative for semantic reasons (some
are inchoative na-deponents, many others are mostly found in anti-causative middle
or na-verbs).
Chapter 4 treats a kind of modal passive used in infinitive with a modal or in gen-
eral rules. This marginal phenomenon is essentially alien to colloquial speech and
found in bureaucratic and business styles.
In sum (5), although for semantic reasons anti-causative middle voice cannot be as
strictly inflectional as the phenomena where the content side is most favorable, in
view of i. a. the eontrast to the clearly lexical classes of middle voice, it is deemed
justified to class it as inflectional.
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