Re: Nouns, Verbs and Sentences 1 98-348: Lecture 4
Change of plans • Throwing all of nouns, verbs and grammar at you doesn’t work • We’ll look at some new nouns, some new verbs and some new sentence structures every lecture
Usage of cases • John gave his books to Mary. Subject Possessor Object Indirect object Nominative Genitive Accusative Dative • Oversimplification!!!
N(oun) V(erb) N(oun) • The last noun could be… • in the accusative draug- ∅ -inn. Konung-r-inn vegr king-NOM-the slays ghost- ACC -the ‘The king slays the ghost.’ • in the nominative! What kind of verb would be followed by a nominative object? • in the dative! • in the genitive!
Verb + Nominative object
Verb + Genitive object • hefna “avenge” • Hann hefndi dráp-s Þorgrím-s he[NOM] avenged killing-GEN Thorgrim-GEN ‘He avenged the killing of Thorgrim ’
Verb + Dative object, or instrumentality • Hann kastar bein-um smá-m he[NOM] throws bone-DAT;PL small-DAT;PL ‘He throws small bones’ • We speak of throwing something • In OI people are conceived as throwing with something • Instrumentality • Expressed by dative case on its own, or with preposition með ‘with’ + dative case.
English verbs that don’t take accusative objects • English pronouns have two cases: “nominative” and “accusative” • Nom: I we you they he she it ... • Acc: me us you them him her it … • Usually, verbs take accusative objects • He slapped her in the face. * He slapped she in the face. • What about … • (Phone call) Who’s this? – It’s me, Michael. – * It’s I, Michael. – ? It is I, Michael… • You do you. I do I or I do me ???
P(reposition) N(oun) • We could say that the noun is the object of the preposition . • In English, it’s always the accusative case: • He turned to me and said hi. * He turned to I and said hi. • Not necessarily so in OI…
Preposition + Genitive object • til “to” • Hann bar hann til vatn-s nökkur-s he[NOM] bore him[ACC] to water-GEN some-GEN ’ He carried him to a certain lake’
Preposition + Dative object • í “in” • Þeir drukku þar of dag-a í skál-a they[NOM] drank there during day-ACC;PL in hall-DAT;SG ‘They drank there by day in a hall’
Preposition + Accusative object • of “during” • Þeir drukku þar of dag-a í skál-a they[NOM] drank there during day-ACC;PL in hall-DAT;SG ‘They drank there by day in a hall’ • í “into” • Lát þér þat ekki í aug-u vaxa let you[DAT] that[ACC] not into eye-ACC;PL grow lit. ‘do not let that grow into eyes to you’ ‘Don’t make a mountain of it’
Summary • Objects of verbs take a variety of cases • Objects of prepositions take a variety of cases • When you are confused why a noun is in the case it is in, look up a verb or preposition nearby in the dictionary!
Verbs! • What do English verbs inflect for?
English verbs inflect for… • Person + number I am / you are / he is busy. I think … She thinks … • Tense (present / past) + aspect (simple / progressive / perfect) Mark eats .Mark is eating . Mark has eaten up all the food. Mark ate . Mark was eating . Mark had eaten up all the food. • Mood (indicative / subjunctive) He tried to run away. If I were him, I would have given up. • Voice (active / passive) He took the bag. The bag was taken .
OI verbs inflect for… • Person + number • Tense (present / past) + aspect (imperfect / perfect) • Mood (indicative / imperative / subjunctive) • Voice (active / passive / middle) • For now, we only care about person, number and tense
Strong vs. weak verbs • Weak verbs change less than strong verbs as they inflect • Most notably, in the past tense: • Weak verbs add a dental, i.e. t or d dreyma ‘dream’ → dreym d a ‘dreamed’ • Strong verbs change their stem vowel syngja ‘sing’ → s ö ng ‘sang’, s u nginn ‘sung’ • Does this remind you of how verbs work in English?
Weak verb endings (pretty simple) Present singular: what vowel? Past: what dental? ∅ , a or i ? ð , d or t ?
Practice: what is the person and number? • boðar • spyrjum • kallaðir • glödduð • dugðu • fylgdi • vaka
Vowels in pres sg endings
How do you find out which vowel it is? • Look it up on the dictionary • Sometimes you’ll be lucky • Sometimes not (most use cases are in the past tense)
Practice! • svara “answer” has vowel a • sœkja “seek” has vowel i • Watch out on this one! • berja “strike” has no vowel
Pronouns • They stand in place of nouns • The man over there took the purse • He took it • What are some examples of pronouns in English?
English pronouns • Personal pronouns • I, you, we, she, he, they, it, y’all, … • Demonstrative pronouns • this, that, these, those • These are yours. • Quantifier pronouns • some, none, every, all, most, more, few, several, plenty, … • Some were good, some were bad. • Interrogative pronouns • what, which, who, …
We’ll just learn: I and you !
Practice: translate! • I call. • Dvergr selr mér baug. kalla “call”, vowel = a selja “give” • You ask. • Faðir nefnar mik Sigurðr. spyrja “ask”, no vowel nefna “name” • A king says… • Dóttir berjar svein. segja “say”, vowel = i berja “strike” • Wolves love knives. elska “love”, vowel = a
Practice: simple strong masculine nouns • konungr “king” • armr “arm” • skógr “forest” • gen sg - s or - ar • hirðir “herdsman” • j -insertion! • söngr “song” • v -insertion!
Practice: simple strong feminine nouns • rún “rune” npl, apl – ar • för “journey” npl, apl – ar • kerling “old woman” • Dat sg – u • ör “arrow” npl, apl – ar • v -insertion! • jörð “earth” npl, apl – ir • Dat sg – u
Practice: simple strong neuter nouns • skip “ship” • land “land” • kyn “kin” • j -insertion! • högg “blow” • v -insertion! • kvæði “poem”
Practice: translate more sentences! • Speak! • The king wants an arm and a shoulder. • Actually you’d have to say vilja hafa “want to have”, but whatever • I make ships at a harbor. • í “in”, takes a dative object • Old women are seeking for earth. • You said you have a poem.
Practice: translate more sentences! • Dvergar hafa örvar. • Gestr leitar eptir þér. • leita eptir + dat “seek for” • Ek em í för með elgjum. • em “am”, 1sg form of vera “be” • í för með + dat “be in company with one”
Go to lec02-new slide 24 • or something else
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