Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 2020, Page 151

account, the reason that (75) is bad is that the expletive blocks the D-
feature checking of the pivot by the finite verb in C, i.e. a kind of inter -
vention effect. We will not take a stand here on whether this is a plausible
analysis, but we note that there is no intervention effect in subordinate
sentences where the finite verb is not in C. Interestingly, attested exam-
ples with overt expletives and negated IP-pivots in most cases involve
subordinate clauses. Some of these examples are from older novels, but
they are also found in recent newspapers and in blogs.27
(76) Här talade dräng och husbonde och matmor och piga (Swe.)
here spoke farmhand and farmer and mistress and servant
med varandra, som om det ingen skillnad fanns mellan dem.
with each.other as if expl no difference existed between them
(Lagerlöf 1911:173)
(77) Synd vore om det inga visningar blev. (Swe.)
pity were if expl no showings became
‘It would be a pity if there were no showings.’ (GP1994)
(78) Till det ska också läggas de 2,5 miljoner arbetslösa som slutat
to it shall also add.pass the 2.5 million unemployed that stopped
söka arbete eftersom det inga finns att få.
look work since expl no.pl exist to get
‘To this should be added the 2.5 million unemployed who have stopped
looking for jobs since none are to be had.’ (Blogmix10)
We conclude that there is a hitherto unnoticed difference between main
and subordinate clauses in Swedish with respect to expletive subjects. In
this connection it is appropriate to point to a similarity with Icelandic. As
we have already seen in (7), það is not acceptable in the position immedi-
ately following the finite verb in main clauses. However, in subordinate
clauses, where C is filled by a complementizer, það is possible, as exten-
sively demonstrated by Magnússon (1990) and further discussed by, for
example, Vangsnes (2002:47f.), Thráinsson (2007:51, 327ff.) and
Sigurðsson (2010:182f.). When there is a wh-operator in the Spec,CP
position, það is even preferred, see (79c); the version without það is gram-
matical but somewhat marked.
Thematic constraints on presentational sentences in Icelandic and Swedish 151
27 The examples were found in Språkbanken, the Swedish Language Bank, using the
search interface Korp. GP stands for the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten and Blog -
mix is a collection of informal blog texts.