The Syntax of Norwegian Passive Constructions

The Syntax of Norwegian Passive Constructions
Author: Tor A. Åfarli
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 190
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027227276

This book provides an analysis of the passive phenomenon in general and of Norwegian passive constructions in particular. Related topics such as English passive constructions and Norwegian ergative constructions are also examined. The analysis is carried out within a Government and Binding framework. Chapter 1 contains a very brief introduction to GB syntax and a description of the passive phenomenon and its manifestation in Norwegian. The "orthodox analysis" of the passive as proposed in Chomsky's Lectures on Government and Binding is contrasted with the "new analysis," which claims that "the passive morpheme" is an argument of the verb. The book sets out to show that a version of this "new analysis" successfully explains the basic properties of Norwegian passives. Chapters 2 and 3 examine properties of Norwegian passives, notably properties related to Theta-role assignment and Case assignment. Chapter 4 compares the Norwegian with the English passive and proposes a unified analysis of the two. Chapter 5 discusses various cases of passivization failure in Norwegian, while Chapter 6 focuses on the scope of movement in passive and ergative constructions in Norwegian and proposes a syntactic level "beneath" D-structure.

Norwegian Discourse Ellipsis

Norwegian Discourse Ellipsis
Author: Mari Nygård
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2018-04-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027264376

This book develops a grammar model which accounts for discourse ellipses in spoken Norwegian. This is a previously unexplored area, which has also been sparsely investigated internationally. The model takes an exoskeletal view, where lexical items are inserted late and where syntactic structure is generated independently of lexical items. Two major questions are addressed. Firstly, is there active syntactic structure in the ellipsis site? Secondly, how are discourse ellipses licensed? It is argued that both structural and semantic restrictions are required to account for the empirical patterns. Discourse ellipses can be seen as a contextual adaptation. Ellipsis is only possible in certain contexts. The existence of ellipsis may lead to the impression that syntax is partly destroyed. However, the analysis shows that narrow syntax is not affected. The underlying structure stays intact, as the licensing restrictions concern only phonological realization. Hence, the grammar of discourse ellipses is best characterized as an interface phenomenon.

Cross-Linguistic Perspectives on Verb Constructions

Cross-Linguistic Perspectives on Verb Constructions
Author: Signe Oksefjell Ebeling
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2015-09-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1443882305

This volume sheds new light on verb constructions by exposing them to cross-linguistic analysis based on multilingual corpora. It is composed of nine studies which provide insights into various aspects of cross-linguistic diversity, including showing that seemingly equivalent verb constructions may differ in their semantics, and that similar meanings may be expressed by different types of constructions. In other words, this book shows that different languages have different ways of lexicalising verb-based meanings, most notably by means of other, divergent verb constructions. A range of lexicogrammatical aspects of verb constructions are explored throughout the book, including time reference; modality; voice; light verb constructions; non-finite complementation of lexical verbs; posture-verb constructions; semiperiphrastic constructions; and the construction and semantic composition of verbs of putting. All of the contributions consider English in comparison with at least one of the following languages: Czech, German, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. As such, this volume offers a truly multilingual perspective on verb constructions. The diversity of comparisons also highlights the multi-faceted nature of the verb phrase, which seems to have virtually limitless potential for exploration in the fields of tense, aspect, modality, lexical semantics, syntax, and phraseology.