Open AccessImpersonal passives in icelandic
Author(s) -
Toshiko Yamaguchi
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
linguistica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.134
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2350-420X
pISSN - 0024-3922
DOI - 10.4312/linguistica.40.1.151-169
Subject(s) - icelandic , adverbial , property (philosophy) , linguistics , history , communication , psychology , epistemology , philosophy
This paper argues that /celandic impersonal passives have a constructional property that expresses generic events. After having demonstrated their basic characteristics, it is shown that the notion of 'activity' is inadequate for the explanation of why the construction is licensed. The behaviour of the adverbial ser moovitandi is diagnosed to show indefiniteness tied up with the construction.