Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2002, Side 64

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Joan Maling
(53) gefa (hænunum) ‘feed (the chickens(D))’, kenna (börnunum)
‘teach (the children(D))’, segja (engum) ‘tell (nobody(D))’
vatna (,hestum) ‘water (horses(D))’, brynna (skepnum) ‘water
(animals(D))’
For verbs like gefa, kenna and segja one could argue that here the
direct accusative object has been left out, although it is often claimed
that the direct object (the theme argument) of a ditransitive is always
obligatory, whereas the indirect object (the goal argument) tends to be
optional (cf. Hudson 1992). While this generalization is certainly by-
and-large true, the verb gefa in the sense of ‘feed’ works the other
way, as does the verb feed in English (I fed the children/*I fed oat-
meal). For verbs like kenna ‘teach’ and segja ‘tell’ both objects are
optional in Icelandic as well as in English (Don’t tell the children!
Always tell the truthl). Note that in Icelandic, the same lexical item,
the verb gefa ‘give’, is used to mean both ‘give’ and ‘feed’.
The fact that the normally ditransitive verb gefa ‘give’ can be used
as a monotransitive verb meaning ‘feed’ brings to mind a class of
analyses for verbs goveming dative. Kress (1982:215) suggests that
many transitive verbs which govem dative are really covert ditransi-
tives with an implicit accusative cognate object.19 Wegener (1991)
offers a similar analysis for German in support of her claim that (in
German) dative is a structural case predictably assigned to second
(indirect) objects. Heidolph et al. (1984:346) suggest that for the
German verb glauben ‘believe’, the accusative object has been elimi-
nated, leaving the dative behind: Ich glaube dir (das), was du sagst ‘I
believe you(D) (it(A)), what you say.’ It should be clear that this kind
of analysis cannot account for the much wider thematic range of
dative objects that exist in Icelandic.
19 “Die entsprechenden Verben haben ahnliche Bedeutung wie dreipolige
Ausdriicke (N + V + D+ A), deren A-pol ein mit dem V etymologisch verwandtes
Substantiv ist, vgl. Beispeile. Typ N + V+ D:” hjálpa = veita e-m hjálp ‘offer some-
one help’, hlífa = veita e-m hlífð ‘offer someone protection’ §525, granda = gera e-m
grand ‘do someone damage’... §527.