ScanDiaSyn-bloggen i oktober 2006

þriðjudagur 31. oktober

Overlooking the inner part of Øyfjorden: Janne, Peter, Christine, Mari, Piotr (Photo: Øystein A. Vangsnes)

One clear pattern that has emerged in my data is the following: many speakers have a (non-agreeing) perfect participle which is distinct from a (non-agreeing) passive participle. For example, E har skotte en bjørn "I have shot a bear" vs. Bjørnen bei skotten "The bear was shot" but also Dyre/Dyran bei skotten "The.animal/The.animals was shot"; this is different from the E. Norwegian/Danish/English pattern which does not distinguish the two, and from the Icelandic pattern in which the perfect is identical to the neuter singular form of the passive, and from the Swedish in which the perfect is distinct from the passive, but the passive shows agreeing forms.

- Peter Svenonius



Where is the pattern? There is NO pattern! Only chaos!!!

- Gunnar Hrafn



I'd like to point out that it wasn't just a lot of coffee that was consumed in Botnhamn. Upon arrival we were offered amounts of cakes and cookies, and after a while there was also a pretty decent lunch buffet. The informants in Botnhamn were some of the most positive and patient I've come across ever. Tarald and Merete had great difficulties finding anyone who would accept postadjectival indefinite articles when asked, but Janne claims they occur in the spontaneous data that she and Mari recorded. It's too early to give a detailed report from the wh-elicitation experiment that Marit and I had set up, but I'm quite confident that some juicy details are emerging.

Some other phrases of the day:

"Æ fikk endeli skorre skolten a han" (‘I finally managed to cut the head off of him’)
"Ka slags elskar e han?" (‘What kind of lover is he?’)
"Kor mange ha du hatt på si?" (‘How many have you had on the side?’)

There has furthermore been continued media coverage. A reporter from NRK visited us while we were in Botnhamn, a call which resulted in both radio and television reports this afternoon.

And the lutefisk was not only a well-deserved closure of a hard day of work – it was excellent!

- Øystein



This morning a flock of 15 linguists woke up way too early to take the bus to Botnhamn. The roads of Senja are steep and the tunnels narrow but this didn't prevent the bus driver from driving like a maniac.

The scenery was absolutely magnificent.

Merete and Tarald interviewing a Botnhamn informant, Helge observing (Photo: Øystein A. Vangsnes)

In Botnhamn (where we drank a lot of coffee), we met 16 enthusiastic informants. The elicitation went well although the poor informants had to wait a lot since there are so many of us linguists.

We departed Botnhamn at 15 and drove back to Mefjordvær, with a detour to Husøya. Husøya is a small island, where practically every square meter is covered with buildings.

The landscape was even more dramatic on the way back.

In Mefjordvær, a flock of friendly ladies (and some more coffee) awaited us. Male informants don't seem to grow on each straw here.

Now it's almost time for lutefisk.

The phrase of the day: Ja, sånn b(l)i æ å sei. (‘Yes, so become I to say.’)

- Gunnar Hrafn

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