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.
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Cited by 5 other publications
Harðarson, Gísli Rúnar
2016. Peeling away the layers of the onion: on layers, inflection and domains in Icelandic compounds. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 19:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Pfaff, Alexander
2019. Reunited after 1000 years. The development of definite articles in Icelandic. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 42:02 ► pp. 165 ff.
Roehrs, Dorian
2015. Inflections on pre-nominal adjectives in Germanic: Main types, subtypes, and subset relations. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 18:3 ► pp. 213 ff.
Stroh-Wollin, Ulla
2020. Hinnandhinn: Early Icelandic as the clue to the history and etymology of two Old Scandinavian words. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 43:2 ► pp. 205 ff.
Wood, Jim
2015. Introduction. In Icelandic Morphosyntax and Argument Structure [Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 90], ► pp. 1 ff.
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