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Infinitives in Norwegian

Revision as of 16:43, 26 December 2015 by Lars Hellan (Talk | contribs)

Structurally close to the types of subordinate clauses now described - which may all be called finite subordinate clauses - are infinitival clauses: these are introduced by the infinitival marker å, they have no subject, and their first verb is in infinitive. They otherwise have the same internal build-up as finite subordinate clauses, and can serve as constituent or part of constituent in a clause, as in the following example, where the infinitival clause serves as part of the Oblique constrituent om å måtte bli skjenket et sverd:

(18) Infinitival clause exhibiting clausal structure:

Jeg snakker om å måtte bli skjenket et sverd.
“I talk about having to be given a sword”
Jeg
jeg
1SG
PN
snakker
snakker
talkPRES
V
om
om
about
PREP
å
å
toINF
COMP
måtte
måtte
mustINF
AUX
bli
bli
beINF
AUX
skjenket
skjenket
givePRFPTCP
V
et
et
aINDEFNEUTSG
ART
sverd
sverd
sword
N
                                  Inf-mark  Modal      Passive   Vmain                 DirectObject
Subject Vmain            Oblique

Given this parallellism, one may subsume finite and infinitival subordinate clauses alike under the notion subordinate clauses. (Other languages also display subordinate structures built around participial forms, those built around present participles often called gerunds, and those built around past participles as absolutives; since these types only to a very limited extent can be used in Norwegian, we don't include them in this enumeration.)

Not all occurences of infinitives count as clauses: the occurrences of infinitival forms following modals (see above) are not counted as constituting separate clauses.

Infinitival forms following modals are also not preceded by å. Further types of occurrence of infinitives without å are seen in constructions like the following.

In (19), the 'omission' of å may be seen as connected to the governing verb be ('ask'), contrasting for instance with the otherwise parallel verb befale ('order'), which requires å, as in Jeg befaler deg å komme ('I order you to come').

(19)

Jeg ber henne komme
“I ask her to come”
Jeg
jeg
1sg
PN
ber
ber
askPRES
V
henne
henne
3sg.FemOBJACC
PN
komme
komme
comeINF
V


The pattern in (20) is used by a small group of verbs like se ('see'), høre ('hear'), føle ('feel'), kjenne ('sense'):

(20)

Jeg ser henne komme
“I see her coming”
Jeg
jeg
1sg
PN
ser
ser
seePRES
V
henne
henne
3sg.FemOBJACC
PN
komme
komme
comeINF
V


In both cases, what follows the main verb has a clausal content, that is, 'I ask her that she comes ' in (19) and 'I see that she comes ' in (20). Although infinitive clauses with clausal content generally use the å-marker, there are thus some verb-dependent cases where this is not so.

The infinitive marker å, corresponding to English to, is pronounced in the same way as the coordination marker og, corresponding to English and. They cannot be used one for the other. (See also Coordination marking in Norwegian.)