The impersonal verb in Old Icelandic
The impersonal verb in Old Icelandic
The impersonal verb in Old Icelandic
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23.<br />
• • eigi hlyddi honum at eta pat ne fu~ekka.(p.23, 1.46)<br />
"Hell is trle real agent..<br />
In Icelanrli cit is a tt.ached to the<br />
<strong>verb</strong> as a dative.<br />
Lib ellu s .;Lslsndormn:<br />
/<br />
· .<br />
ef v~ttum of kvremi via. (p.38, 1.130)<br />
HVatturn" <strong>in</strong> dative form is t.he action focus here, ',']i th the<br />
<strong>verb</strong> ilkvremi H •<br />
Leif's Voyage l!late,Yjarbok):<br />
T1 h' / ·l·t f .'. /<br />
~n re~m var sva m~Kl 'orvltnl a •• • (p.45, 1.155)<br />
Here the focus has been transferred from the persons, v~1ich<br />
it would be <strong>in</strong> Engli sh, to the quality ii curiosi tyt! (forvi tniil) .<br />
• •<br />
/<br />
at fostra hans var skapgott. (p.46, 1.185)<br />
!lF6stra ii here is dative, not nom<strong>in</strong>ative. Its posi tion next<br />
to the possessive lIhans ll<br />
and before llvarlf makes it easily<br />
mistaken as a nom<strong>in</strong>ative.<br />
Hr~l.fnkel s saga ~<br />
/<br />
• • en per mun veraa gott til vista ••• (p.61, 1.69)<br />
Literally this is " • • and to you it vyill become well to (f'or)<br />
service" or lIyou \vill be vv"ell off for worktl.<br />
A better<br />
translation woulcL be "there will be plenty of work for youl!<br />
as this "t-hrows the er.1phasis on the wor};: rather than the<br />
person, which the <strong>Icelandic</strong> does.<br />
Mun ~be'r po' <strong>verb</strong>a betra til vista en peim.(p .. 6l, 1.73)<br />
Of. 1.69 above.<br />
· . m:r. pykkir p6 ill t. • r 6' - 7I"C'<br />
• ,p • ..I.., 1..?j<br />
This is <strong>impersonal</strong> because our usual pattern pyJIkja plus
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