Difference between revisions of "Verb Complementation - Norwegian"

Latest revision as of 10:38, 6 January 2017

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Types of argument constituents in Norwegian

Grammar traditions often classify sentence constituents according to whether they are 'required', or 'valence bound', by the main verb; those that are, are often called arguments, and those that are not, adjuncts. (This is not always easy to decide.) In one use of the word complement, adopted here, this is any type of argument apart from the subject. The constituent types listed below are commonly considered as arguments relative to the main verb, and are all found in Norwegian:

subject
object  ('direct object')
indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
the 'presented' NP in a presentational construction
secondary predicate
complement of a predicational or identifying Copula
'adverbial complement', i.e., a PP, Adv or AdvP serving as argument
'particle', an adverb with aspectual or less tangible impact

For a detailed survey of construction types instantiating these functions and combinations of them, see

• Verb - Preposition expressions in Norwegian
• Verbconstructions Norwegian - all types,
• Verbconstructions Norwegian - intrans,
• Verbconstructions Norwegian - transitive,
• Verbconstructions Norwegian - ditransitive and copular.

For a related online multilingual valence lexicon, see Multilingual Verb Valence Lexicon.

The examples (1)-(14) below illustrate the placement of some of the argument types; the first two also show an adjunct, called adverbial, at the end of the clause. The examples at the same type illustrate the rather strict order of constituents in Norwegian: The subject precedes the verb, objects immediately follow the verb and precede any oblique arguments or adverbials. When there are two objects, the indirect object is the one occurring closest to the main verb. (On restrictions concerning clause internal adverbials, subject-verb inversion, and sequencing of auxiliary and main verbs, see the relevant pages listed below.)

Special topics

Obligatory subject and verb

Subject and Main Verb are generally necessary for making a grammatically wellformed clause. Thus, a subject cannot be omitted even if it is clear from the context, and copula verbs cannot be omitted.

Case in Norwegian

Case is marked only on some personal pronouns, with a subject – non-subject distinction. (See Personal pronouns in Norwegian.)

Infinitival complements, and homophony of coordinating conjunction and infinitival marker

By 'infinitival complements' we mean infinitival expressions serving as subject, object or oblique relative to a verb (called the 'matrix verb'). These expressions are built up exactly in the same way as subordinate finite clauses, except for lacking a subject, and having the first verb in infinitival form. They are usually initiated by the infinitival marker å. (See Infinitives in Norwegian.)

This marker is homophonous to the coordinationg conjunction og. The simplest practical way of deciding whether to use å or og in a given construction is by comparison with English: where you would use and in English, use og, and where you would use to in English, use å.

Predicatives following copulas, and adjective agreement

The Norwegian copula verbs are være and bli. They can not be omitted. The predicative following them can be formally of any type: AP, NP, PP. Adjectives occurring as predicative are in the strong form (cf. theinflection patterns described in The Noun Phrase - Norwegian), and agree in number and gender with the subject.

Obligatorily transitive verbs

An example in English of this category is devour: as opposed to eat, it requires that its logical object always be expressed. The Norwegian counterpart to devour is fortære. Notice that no matter how salient from context the object may be, it has to be expressed (as opposed to many languages which can drop an object when contextually given).

Reflexive verbs (See also Reflexives - Norwegian)

Reflexive verbs are verbs which are necessarily followed by a reflexive pronoun, a form of seg (see The Noun Phrase - Norwegian under Reflexives). Examples are skamme seg and liste seg, and the former takes the paradigm:

jeg skammer meg  ('I am ashamed')
du skammer deg  ('you are ashamed')
han skammer seg  ('he is ashamed')
hun skammer seg  ('she is ashamed')
den skammer seg  ('it [referred to by a masculine or feminine noun] is ashamed')
det skammer seg  ('it [referred to by a neuter noun] is ashamed')
vi skammer oss  ('we are ashamed')
dere skammer dere  ('you [plural] are ashamed')
de skammer seg  ('they are ashamed')

(1) Jeg skjenker deg et sverd før slaget.

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain IndirectObject DirectObject Adverbial ]:

Subject     Vmain           Indir.Obj.   DirectObject               Adverbial

(2) Jeg snakket om henne etter slaget

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain Oblique Adverbial ]:

Subject     Vmain             Oblique                  Adverbial

(3) Det ruller en ball hit

Example with the pattern [ ExpletiveSubject Vmain DirectObject DirectionalAdvbl ]:

Subject        Vmain        DirectObject              DirectionalAdvbl

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(4) Det venter ham en ulykke

Example with the pattern [ ExpletiveSubject Vmain IndirectObject DirectObject ]:

Subject        Vmain           Indir.Obj.       DirectObject       

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(5) Regnet varer ved

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain AspectualAdvbl ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJ	ind- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(6) At han sover hender

Example with the pattern [ SententialSubject Vmain ]:

         Subject          Vmain             
Subject                                    Vmain

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(7) Ola leer på seg

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain AspectualAdvbl ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJ	ind- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(8) Jeg fryser på ryggen

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain Oblique-for-bodypart ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(9) De snakker om at det er for sent

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain Oblique-with-sentential-governee ]:

                                                       ExplSubject    Vmain    SecPred.
Subject         Vmain            Oblique

(10) Huset står tomt

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain SecondaryPredicate (SC) ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(11) Gutten virker syk

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain SecondaryPredicate (SC) ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(12) Han synes å komme

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain SecondaryPredicate (SC) ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(13) Kjelen koker i stykker

Example with the pattern [ Subject Vmain SecondaryPredicate (SC) ]:

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJ	ind- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

(14) det hender at han kommer

Example with the pattern [ ExpletiveSubject Vmain SententialComplement ('extraposed' ]:

                                          Subject          Vmain 
Subject       Vmain              SententialComplement 

Abbreviations in blue script:
SBJ	- subject
EXPL    - 'expletive', in the sense 'empty of meaning'
DECL    - declarative
OBJ	- object  ('direct object')
OBJind	- indirect object (used in combination with 'direct object')
COMP	- sentential complement (when not being classified as object)
OBL	- oblique, i.e., a PP where the governed NP has a role defined relative to the head
SC      - secondary predicate

Related pages

Sentence syntax - Norwegian

Subject-Verb Inversion in Norwegian

Sentence adverbials in Norwegian

Infinitives in Norwegian

Past and Perfective patterns in Norwegian

Personal pronouns in Norwegian

Reflexives - Norwegian

The Noun Phrase - Norwegian

Agreement in Norwegian noun phrases

Definite determiners in Norwegian

Possessive constructions in Norwegian

Gender in Norwegian nouns

Coordination marking in Norwegian

Reflexive verbs in Norwegian

Verb - Preposition expressions in Norwegian

--Lars Hellan (talk) 12:08, 29 December 2015 (CET)