Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2002, Page 92

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Joan Maling
4.9.2 Verbs expressing dominance
Verbs meaning ‘govem, manage, obey, serve’, etc. are referred to as
“verbs which express dominance” by Heidolph et al. (1984). These
typically govem dative in Icelandic:
(116) gegna, hlíta, hlýða e-m ‘obey, listen to’; stjórna e-u ‘govem,
mn’; stýra e-u ‘steer, direct’; (f)orka e-u, valda e-u ‘manage’;
þjóna ‘serve’
Note that the corresponding Russian verbs govem instmmental case.
4.9.3 Verbs of organizing
Verbs meaning ‘organize, arrange’ tend to take dative objects (cf. HH,
p. 53):
(117) a. fylkja öllu liðinu ‘organize, muster the whole force(D)’
b. haga þessu þannig ‘arrange this(D) that way’
c. stilla e-u íhóf‘keep sth(D) within limits’
d. Þeir stilltu lítt drykkjunni.
‘They didn’t temper their drinking(D).’
Note that in the sense ‘adjust’, stilla govems accusative: Hann stillti
Ijósin ‘He adjusted the lights.’
4.9.4 Verbs of postponing and finishing
Verbs meaning ‘postpone, refuse, stop, finish’ usually take dative
objects :
(118) fresta e-u ‘postpone’, hafna e-u ‘refuse’, hœtta e-u ‘stop’, létta
e-u ‘stop’, Ijúka e-u ‘finish’, fskirra vandrœðum ‘prevent
trouble(D)’
Note, however, that létta in the sense of ‘lighten’ govems accusative:
‘give’ and in 01 it was only used about women being married (i.e. ‘given away’) to
men. In modem Icelandic it is the default verb for ‘marry’ whereas kvœnast is some-
times used in more formal speech in its original meaning.