Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 2020, Page 144

The picture that emerges is that agentive properties that are fine with
ordinary raised subjects are not found with VP-pivots in Swedish. We
have shown this with unergative verbs, but it also applies to the verbs of
motion discussed in section 3.5.
Turning now to Icelandic, we recall that it is possible to merge an Agent
pivot in Spec,vP since the expletive is merged elsewhere. Never theless
agentive pivots of transitive verbs have to be raised to IP, see (13a), (51) and
(54c). With unergative verbs, there is a clear preference for IP-pivots when
the agentivity is emphasized through an adverb or a modifier.
(59)a. Það hefur unnið margt fólk hér. (Ice.)
expl has worked a.lot.of people here
‘Many people have worked here.’
b. Það hefur margt fólk unnið hér gegn vilja sínum.
expl has a.lot.of people worked here against will their.refl
‘Many people have worked here reluctantly.’
c. ?Það hefur unnið margt fólk hér gegn vilja sínum.
expl has worked a.lot.of people here against will their.refl
(60)a. Það hefur margt fólk unnið mikið hér. (Ice.)
expl has a.lot.of people worked a.lot here
‘Many people have worked a lot here.’
b. ?Það hefur unnið margt fólk mikið hér.
expl has worked a.lot.of people a.lot here
(61)a. Það hafa margir verkamenn unnið sig þreytta hér. (Ice.)
expl have many workers worked refl tired.pl here
‘Many workers have worked so that they got tired here.’
b. *Það hafa unnið margir verkamenn sig þreytta hér.
expl have worked many workers refl tired.pl here
Although it is possible to merge an agentive pivot in Spec,vP in Icelandic,
it cannot stay there if there is an overt Theme, in which case it has to raise
to IP. Arguments of unergative verbs and verbs of motion are also prefer-
ably realized as IP-pivots when subject-oriented adverbs or modifiers are
added.
As we have seen, the way unergative verbs are used in presentational
sentences in the two languages is very similar, despite the different struc-
tural options. In Swedish, a pivot of an unergative verb cannot be merged
in Spec,vP — the position where Agents are merged — but it can be
merged as a Performer who carries out the action. In Icelandic, a pivot of
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