The first ComSyn meeting will take place on 9 October 2012.
Speaker: Jóhannes Gísli Jónsson (University of Iceland)
Title: Case variation: Formal vs. semantic
Time: 15:15-17:00
Venue: Lipsius/2.35c
Abstract
Variation in case licensing is a robust phenomenon in languages that have a rich case system like Icelandic. The major claim of this talk is that there are two kinds of case variation in such languages. One type is what we can call formal variation, i.e. variation between two semantically equivalent cases. Formal variation is strongly associated with the erosion of idiosyncratic case, as exemplified by the variation between accusative and dative experiencer subjects in Icelandic (so called Dative Substitution). Formal variation can be diagnosed via “mixed” case marking, the possible use of two cases where case agreement is expected to be obligatory. The other type can be labelled semantic variation because it involves a fairly subtle semantic contrast between two case variants, bearing inherent vs. structural case. This type of variation is harder to detect than the first and consequently it is much less studied. Still, I will argue that semantic variation is different from formal variation in some non-trivial ways. Moreover, semantic variation affords a good vantage point to inspect the semantic determinants of argument realization.
Drinks afterwards!