Inside and outside – Before and after

Icelandic has four (definite) article – adjective – noun patterns. In this paper, I present novel data, and put “old” data in a new perspective. I will argue that weakly inflected adjectives (patterns I – III) are merged inside the DP below the definite article, whereas strongly inflected adjectives (pattern IV) are merged outside DP, at least above the definite article. What distinguishes the weak patterns visibly is whether the adjective/(adjective plus) noun occurs before or after the article. Some researchers surmise that “non-restrictive adjectives are only direct modifiers and restrictive ones only indirect modifiers” (Cinque 2010: 140). Strong pattern (IV) adjectives are never restrictive, whereas certain weak adjectives may be. Against expectations, I will argue that weak adjectives in Icelandic are direct modifiers, whereas strong adjectives are indirect modifiers. I suggest that the criterion ± restrictive as such may not be relevant to properly characterize Icelandic adjectival patterns.