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Article published In: Linguistic Variation
Vol. 19:2 (2019) ► pp.199–231

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Morphology and syntax in the Scandinavian vernaculars of Ovansiljan

 | University of Oslo
Published online: 15 July 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.12016.gar
Abstract
The paper deals with the assumed correlation between morphological and syntactic phenomena, especially the one that has its roots in a parametric approach to syntax since (Chomsky, N. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Its main focus is on testing predictions presented in two works (Bobaljik, J. D. & Thráinsson. 1998. Two heads aren’t always better than one. Syntax 1(1). 37–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and Holmberg, A. 2010a. Parameters in minimalist theory: The case of Scandinavian. Theoretical Linguistics 361. 1–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). These papers connect verbal morphology with a clustering of syntactic phenomena in the Scandinavian languages and maintain that morphological evidence – in the form of ‘rich’ verbal agreement – signifies a positive setting of a parameter that in turn makes certain syntactic patterns possible. In the present paper it is shown how this relation works when tested on a group of Ovansiljan vernaculars (East Scandinavian non-standard varieties). Five of these vernaculars have retained verbal agreement in number and person, whereas two others have not. It turns out that the hypotheses encounter difficulties when faced with the Ovansiljan data.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The vernaculars of Ovansiljan
  • 3.Data collection
  • 4. Bobaljik and Thráinsson (1998): The Split-IP Parameter
    • 4.1Inflectional evidence of Split-IP in the Ovansiljan vernaculars
    • 4.2Syntactic evidence of Split-IP in the Ovansiljan vernaculars
      • 4.2.1V0-to-I0 movement
      • 4.2.2Transitive expletive constructions
      • 4.2.3Higher subject position in expletive constructions (HiPos)
      • 4.2.4Full DP object shift
    • 4.3Syntactic and morphological evidence for Split-IP in Ovansiljan – conclusions
  • 5. Holmberg (2010a): φ-features in T
    • 5.1Stylistic Fronting
    • 5.2Oblique subjects
    • 5.3Heavy subject postposing
    • 5.4Expletive subjects and generic subjects
    • 5.5Transitive expletives
    • 5.6φ-features in T – conclusion
  • 6.Summary and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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