Variation and Change in the Scandinavian Verb Phrase

The project Variation and Change in the Scandinavian Verb Phrase has investigated how languages vary and change. The aim of the project was to investigate four different but related linguistic phenomena: particle constructions (turn on the light), benefactives (bake me a cake), resultatives (paint the house red) and reflexives (wash oneself) in the different older and present-day varieties of Scandinavian, and how they are related to each other and to other aspects of the grammatical system. During the project, the investigation was extended to include argument placement in general; in this way, we were able to discuss particle placement and reflexive placement in relation to both subject shift (i.e., the order between subjects and sentence adverbs/negation) and object shift (i.e., the order between objects and sentence adverbs/negation). By looking closer at both stable variation and change, the project has gained a better knowledge of the Scandinavian languages both in the earlier modern period and today. In the project, we carried out experimental work to investigate argument placement in all the modern Scandinavian languages. The has been annotated and made available in the Nordic Word Order Database (NWD), which is new infrastructure for investigating variation in the Scandinavian languages; the development of NWD was funded by the University of Oslo. The data are discussed in a thematic issue of the Nordic Atlas of Language Structure (NALS) Journal (2019–2022). We show that there is considerable variation both within and across speakers, and that there are differences between the languages in the factors that determine variation, even when the overall word order possibilities are similar. Moreover, the database has been presented at several national and international workshops and conferences. In the fall of 2022, the project organized a workshop on reflexive placement. The results from this workshop will be presented in 2023 and 2024. The project has investigated prosodic factors involved in word order variation. One paper (Lundquist & Tengesdal 2021) has been published. Another has been submitted for publication; it investigates the prosodic realization of particle constructions in three Norwegian dialects. We show that linear order plays a role for the realization, while surface syntactic structure has little (or nothing) to say. Some of the variation observed in the modern languages appear to be historically stable. In the project, we have carried out several historical studies, focusing on the Mainland Scandinavian languages. Studies of the recent history of Norwegian are now possible for the first time due to new corpora developed in the LIA-project (Language Infrastructure made Accessible, project no. 225941). Our investigations of older Norwegian dialects and older written language show remarkable stability, and the same factors seem to affect argument placement in older stages. This work has so far been presented at several international conferences, in a master thesis (Keihl Olsen 2019), and in one paper by Larsson & Kinn (2021), another paper has been submitted for publication. In addition, changes in the use of benefactive constructions are investigated in older Norwegian dialect recordings; this work has so far been presented at international workshops. In the history of Danish and Swedish, we can note changes in argument placement, but in different ways: in Danish, we can observe general word order change, whereas in Late Modern Swedish, change is restricted to constructions with particles, whereas argument placement has otherwise been stable since the 18th century. In the project, we traced this development in Swedish, and showed that particles have developed new properties, which are not connected to other word order changes; there is for instance no change in object shift in Late Modern Swedish. The results are published in a paper by Roxendal & Larsson (2020). Toivonen (2020) has also published a paper on particles and results. The project has also finalized an anthology (ed. by Larsson & Petzell), published by Language Science Press in 2022. One of the papers (by Larsson & Lundquist) discusses the the historical development of particle placement in Swedish. The volume also includes a paper by Cecilia Falk on passivization of indirect objects, which explains, among other things, why indirect objects but not free benefactives can be promoted to subject in passives. The results from the project will be used and developed in ongoing comparative Germanic work on particle constructions and resultative secondary predicates. Cecilia Falk, who was a member of the project group, passed away in 2021. In collaboration with a group of Swedish researchers, other members of the project group are working to finalize her large volume on historical syntax, including an extensive chapter on the verb phrase.

The project Variation and Change in the Scandinavian Verb Phrase aimed to develop a better understanding of variation and change by investigating four different phenomena in all the Scandinavian languages from the end of the 17th century to the present. At an early stage, the investigation was extended to cover argument placement in general. The project has carried experimental studies of all the present-day Scandinavian language; the results reveal subtle intra- and inter-individual variation discussed in a thematic issue of the Nordic Atlas of Language Structure (NALS) Journal (2019–2022). The data have been made accessible in the Nordic Word Order Database (NWD) which is an important resource for future work. The experimental investigations of the present-day languages have been combined with corpus studies of earlier stages. The combination of historical and synchronic work has led to new insights regarding both variation, stability and change. Investigations of the recent history of Norwegian are now possible for the first time due to new corpora developed in the LIA-project (Language Infrastructure made Accessible, NFR project nr. 225941). Our investigations of older Norwegian show remarkable stability, and the same factors seem to affect argument placement in older stages (Keihl Olsen 2019, Larsson & Kinn 2021, Larsson & Kinn submitted); the studies show that subtle variation can be transmitted across generations (even in societal contexts with limited input). In Danish and Swedish, we can however note changes in argument placement, in different ways: in Danish, we can note general word order change, whereas in Late Modern Swedish, change is restricted to constructions with particles (Larsson & Lundquist 2022b). The results suggest that category of particles is not necessarily historically stable, nor identical across varieties. Altogether, the project has led to 18 published scientific papers or book chapters, one edited volume, and new infrastructure. The project has organized four workshops and presented the results on more than 40 different occasions at national and international conferences and workshops. NWD is available on-line, and the different experiments used in the project can be accessed through the NWD website; this can be used in future work. NWD will be used (and developed further) by the project Experimental approaches to Syntactic Optionality (RNC project nr 302524, PI: Björn Lundquist), which investigates several of the questions that the current project has brought to light. In the study of change in Norwegian, we have collaborated with the project Norwegian Across the Americas (RNC project no. 301114; PI: Kari Kinn). This collaboration will also continue in the future. The results from the project will also be used and developed for instance in ongoing comparative Germanic work on particle constructions and resultative secondary predicates, which will be finalized in 2024.

The Scandinavian languages have a long joint history, and they often show parallel historical developments. However, there are cases where they show divergence, and in interesting ways. Little is known about these diverging developments. The project Variation and Change in the Scandinavian Verb Phrase wants to remedy this by looking at all of the Scandinavian languages from the end of the 17th century to the present. Considerable advances in the knowledge of the modern languages now make the historical study feasible, and important for continued progress. The Scandinavian languages offer an excellent starting point for the more far-reaching study of how linguistic competence is organized and how it can vary, and are therefore of great international interest. Almost like in a laboratory, we can investigate the linguistic categories by keeping certain factors constant, while varying others. Through corpus studies and experiments, the project investigates four different but related linguistic phenomena: particle constructions (turn on the light), benefactives (bake me a cake), resultatives (paint the house red) and reflexives (wash oneself). The constructions all concern how humans construe events (actions) linguistically, and how the participants of events are introduced. Importantly, they also show considerable variation in Scandinavian, historically and today. By looking at variation in related phenomena in one central linguistic domain, the project will gain a better understanding of the categories involved, and how they can vary and change. Thus, the project aims at better knowledge of the Scandinavian languages in the earlier modern period, and at the same time, at a deeper understanding of the principles behind linguistic variation and change.