Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2011, Page 162

i6o Asgrímur Angantýsson
Icel. Far. Övdal. W-Jutl.
Adv-Vfin order that-clauses with A, B and E predicates + +/- +
that-dauses with C and D predicates + + +
Indirect questions - + "/+ +
Adverbial clauses -/+ + + +
Relative clauses +/- + + +
Table 1: A simplified overview ofthe acceptability of verb/adverb placement in different
types of embedded clauses in Icelandic, Faroese, Övdalian and Westem-
Jutlandic
The results are very clear with respect to the Vfin-Adv order in Icelandic (com-
pletely accepted by the vast majority of speakers, in all types of embedded claus-
es) and the Adv-Vfin order in Western-Jutlandic and Faroese (also completely
accepted by most informants in all types of embedded clauses). In Icelandic, the
exceptional Adv-Vfin order receives the highest scores in relative clauses , while
in Western-Jutlandic the exceptional Vfin-Adv order receives the highest score in
complements of predicates A and B and in (some types of) adverbial clauses. In
Faroese, the Vfin-Adv order receives quite positive judgments in complements of
predicates A, B and E while it receives much lower scores in the other clause
types. Övdalian largely exhibits the Mainland Scandinavian pattern with the
exception of indirect questions, where the Vfin-Adv order receives a higher score
than the Adv-Vfin order. For most speakers of Faroese, subject-initial V2 appears
to be a well-behaved root phenomenon in terms of Hooper and Thompson’s
(1.973) theory.
Assuming a common version of phrase structure representation, I argue that
the proper analysis of the Adv-Vfin order in embedded clauses in Icelandic in-
volves exceptional adjunction of the adverb in question to the TP (Tense Phrase)
instead of the usual VP-adjunction of such adverbs. Thus it is maintained that the
Adv-Vfin order in these clauses is not due to exceptional lack of V-movement in
Icelandic but rather to exceptional AdvP-adjunction. In the Mainland Scandi-
navian languages, on the other hand, the subject-initial V3 order in embedded
clauses is argued to be best analyzed as lack of verb movement, as usually as-
sumed. This part of the thesis follows the analysis proposed by Bobaljik and
Thráinsson (1998) in relating this difference between Icelandic and (Mainland)
Scandinavian to the presence vs. absence of a split inflectional phrase (IP).
The situation in Faroese is very different from that in Icelandic, where V2 is
always the default order in subject-initial embedded clauses, but it is also differ-
ent from that in Danish, where V2 is always heavily marked in all types of embed-
ded clauses. Interestingly, there is clearer evidence in my data on Faroese than in
my Danish data that assertion plays a role in the distribution of V2 in subject-ini-