Part of
Syntactic Variation in Insular ScandinavianEdited by Höskuldur Thráinsson, Caroline Heycock, Hjalmar P. Petersen and Zakaris Svabo Hansen
[Studies in Germanic Linguistics 1] 2017
► pp. 199–232
Edited by Höskuldur Thráinsson, Caroline Heycock, Hjalmar P. Petersen and Zakaris Svabo Hansen
[Studies in Germanic Linguistics 1] 2017
► pp. 199–232
Inverse attraction in Icelandic relative clauses
We introduce “inverse attraction” (IA) (Bianchi 1999: 93) in non-standard Icelandic, a nearly unstudied phenomenon that provides special insight into relative clause formation, specificially regarding the copy deletion that occurs in the “matching analysis” derivation of relatives. Descriptively, IA seems to involve deletion of the higher, rather than the lower copy of the relative head. In order to study this phenomenon in more detail, we conducted a judgment study with 130 Icelandic-speaking participants. The results of our study indicate that the acceptability of IA depends on the matrix and embedded cases involved, on the position of the gap inside the relative clause, and on the position of the whole relativized DP.
Keywords: inverse attraction, matching analysis, relative clauses, judgment data, case, Icelandic
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Overview and background
- 2.1Case attraction and Inverse Attraction
- 2.2Attested examples
- 2.3Variation
- 3.Sketching an analysis
- 4.Survey design
- 5.Results
- 5.1Primary results
- 5.2Further results
- 6.Interpreting the results
- 7.Conclusion and future directions
-
Notes -
References -
Appendix
References
Åfarli, Tor A.
1994 “A Promotion Analysis of Restrictive Relative Clauses.” Linguistic Review 11: 81–100. 
Bhatt, Rajesh
2002 “The Raising Analysis of Relative Clauses: Evidence from Adjectival Modification.” Natural Language Semantics 10: 43–92.
Bianchi, Valentina
1999 Consequences of Antisymmetry. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
2000a “Some Issues in the Syntax of Relative Determiners.” In The Syntax of Relative Clauses, ed. by Artemis Alexiadou, André Meinunger, Paul Law, and Chris Wilder, 53–81. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
2000b “The Raising Analysis of Relative Clauses: A Reply to Borsley.” Linguistic Inquiry 31 (1): 123–140.
Chomsky, Noam
1973 “Conditions on Transformations.” In A Festschrift for Morris Halle, ed. by Stephen R. Anderson and Paul Kiparsky, 232–286. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
1977 “On wh-Movement.” In Formal Syntax, ed. by Peter Culicover, Thomas Wasow, and Adrian Akmajian, 71–132. New York: Academic Press.
Den Dikken, Marcel
2005 “Comparative Correlatives Comparatively.” Linguistic Inquiry 36 (4): 497–532.
Georgi, Doreen, and Martin Salzmann
2014 “Case Attraction and Matching in Resumption: Evidence for Top-Down Derivation.” Paper presented at the 29th Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop, York University.
Hulsey, Sarah, and Uli Sauerland
2006 “Sorting Out Relative Clauses.” Natural Language Semantics 14: 111–137.
Kayne, Richard S.
1994 The Antisymmetry of Syntax. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Keenan, Edward L, and Bernard Comrie
1977 “Noun Phrase Accessibility and Universal Grammar.” Linguistic Inquiry 8 (1): 63–99.
Marantz, Alec
2000 “Case and Licensing.” In Arguments and Case: Explaining Burzio’s Generalization, ed. by Eric Reuland, 11–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Montague, Richard
1974 “English as a Formal Language.” In Formal Philosophy: Selected Papers of Richard Montague, ed. by Richmond H. Thomason, 188–226. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Partee, Barbara H.
1975 “Montague Grammar and Transformational Grammar.” Linguistic Inquiry 6 (2): 203–300.
Pittner, Karin
1995 “The Case of German Relatives.” The Linguistic Review 12: 197–231.
Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur
1993 “Coordination, ATB-Extractions, and the Identification of Pro.” Harvard Working Papers in Linguistics 3: 153–180.
1995 “Setningafræði. 7. kafli: Spurnarfærsla.” [‘Syntax. Chapter 7. wh-movement.’] Unpublished class notes, accessible at [URL].
2005 “Setningafræðilegar breytingar í íslensku.” [‘Syntactic changes in Icelandic.’] In Setningar – Handbók um setningafræði [‘Sentences. A handbook on syntax.’], editor and main author Höskuldur Thráinsson, 602–635. Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið.
Sauerland, Uli
1998 The Meaning of Chains. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Schachter, Paul
1973 “Focus and Relativization.” Language 49: 19–46.
Schütze, Carson T.
1997 INFL in Child and Adult Language: Agreement, Case and Licensing. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Sigurðsson, Halldór Ármann
1989 Verbal Syntax and Case in Icelandic. Doctoral dissertation, University of Lund, Lund. [Reprinted by the Linguistic Institute at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík 1992.]
2012 “Minimalist C/case.” Linguistic Inquiry 43 (2): 191–227.
Srivastav, Veneeta
1991 “The Syntax and Semantics of Correlatives.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 9: 637–686.
Thráinsson, Höskuldur, Thórhallur Eythórsson, Ásta Svavarsdóttir, and Þórunn Blöndal
2015 “Fallmörkun.” [‘Case marking.’]. In Tilbrigði í íslenskri setningagerð II [‘Variation in Icelandic syntax II.’], ed. by Höskuldur Thráinsson, Ásgrímur Angantýsson and Einar Freyr Sigurðsson, 33–76. Reykjavík: Málvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands.
Vergnaud, Jean-Roger
1974 French Relative Clauses. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Yip, Moira, Joan Maling, and Ray Jackendoff
1987 “Case in Tiers.” Language 63 (2): 217–250.
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Czypionka, Anna, Laura Dörre & Josef Bayer
2018. Inverse Case attraction: experimental evidence for a syntactically guided process. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 21:2 ► pp. 135 ff. 
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 june 2019. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.