North Germanic Negation - Munin

INTRODUCTION
1.1.1.2 Clause-initial negation
Clause-initial negation as illustrated in (1b) above, is frequent in Swedish. In this position the
negative marker maintains its sentential scope, but the initial position also forces additional
pragmatic readings. This and clause-final negation and Negative Concord will to some extent be
treated in connection with each other in chapter 6.
1.1.1.3 Clause-final negation
Clause-final negation, as illustrated in (1c) above, is also frequent in Swedish. The clause-final
negation lacks independent negative force, and it requires the presence of a negative element with
sentential scope. This results in two negative elements in the clause, and as such it looks like an
instance of Negative Concord.
1.1.1.4 Negative Concord
Negative Concord (henceforth NC), as shown in (1d) above, is considered a rare phenomenon in
North Germanic according to the NC literature. Compared to clause-final negation where the
negative element by hypothesis is situated in the right periphery, the two negative elements in a
Negative Concord structure are both located within the clause proper. In chapter 6 I give a survey of
the dialectological literature on NC, in which I show that some kind of NC is found in several
traditional Danish varieties, Swedish varieties, Finland-Swedish varieties, and contact varieties in
Northern Norwegian.
1.1.1.5 Negative imperatives
In (1e) above, a Norwegian negative imperative is given. The Norwegian negative imperative differs
from the general North Germanic negative imperative in being neg-initial, whereas the common
North Germanic negative imperative is formed by placing the imperative verb in initial position. The
Norwegian type is in one perspective special, because according to the literature such a formative
may be linked to the presence of negative heads, which is not the standard analysis of Norwegian
negation.
In a broader, diachronic perspective, the neg-initial imperative seems to become more common
during the same period as clause-initial negation (cf. section 1.1.1.2) seems to become less common
in Norwegian. Based on these observations, I analyse the structures jointly.
I also investigate the special Trøndelag negative imperative, which is formed by a neg-initial
infinitive clause with an overt infinitival marker, and provide an analysis of it.
1.1.1.6 Negation in finite embedded clauses
In example (1f) above the regular positions for negation in (finite) embedded clauses are shown. I
investigate the relative order of subject and negation in embedded clauses with the prototypical
word order in the Oslo dialect (chapter 4) and in seven Norwegian and Swedish varieties (chapter 5).
In this matter, the Norwegian varieties behave more or less the same, having the negative marker
after the subject, while in the Swedish varieties the negative marker may equally well precede a
pronominal subject.
I also discuss verb movement across negation in the Setesdal dialect and compare it with the
corresponding movement in Övdalian. I suggest that the finite verb is ‘attracted’ to the negative
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