Abstract
Vocabular Clarity is a proposed restriction on the behaviour of inflectional classes and affixes grounded in the idea of synonymy avoidance. The proponents of Vocabular Clarity claim that it holds true for Icelandic and Faroese nominal inflections. In this article, data from these languages is examined and difficulties which have not been previously addressed are pointed out. It is argued that the Vocabular Clarity approach is somewhat vaguely specified. In particular, it needs a clear operational method for distinguishing affixes and stem allomorphy. Without this, it remains uncertain whether it makes any testable predictions. The paper shows that while the theory is intuitively appealing, it is – even under fairly generous assumptions – difficult to reconcile with the insular Scandinavian data.
References
Andreasen, Paulivar & Árni Dahl. 1997. Mállæra [Grammar]. Tórshavn: Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur.Search in Google Scholar
Andreassen, Paulivar, Árni Dahl & Óli Jákup Jackobsen. 2000. Skrivligt føroyskt: 10. skúlaár [Written Faroese: Tenth grade]. Tórshavn: Føroya skúlabókagrunnur.Search in Google Scholar
Baerman, Matthew. 2012. Paradigmatic chaos in Nuer. Language 88. 467–494.10.1353/lan.2012.0065Search in Google Scholar
Cameron-Faulkner, Thea & Carstairs-McCarthy. Andrew. 2000. Stem alternants as morphological signata: Evidence from blur avoidance in Polish nouns. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 18. 813–835.10.1023/A:1006496821412Search in Google Scholar
Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew. 1994. Inflection class, gender and the principle of contrast. Language 70. 737–788.10.2307/416326Search in Google Scholar
Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew. 2010. The evolution of morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199541119.013.0047Search in Google Scholar
Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew. 2014. Affixes and stem alternants in Latvian nouns: Implications for inflectional theory. Baltic Linguistics 5. 59–80.10.32798/bl.403Search in Google Scholar
Clark, Eve E. 1993. The lexicon in acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511554377Search in Google Scholar
Davidsen, Kári & Jonhard Mikkelsen. 1993. Ein ferð inn í føroyskt [A journey into Faroese]. Tórshavn: Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur.Search in Google Scholar
Enger, Hans-Olav. 2013. Vocabular Clarity meets Faroese noun declensions. Folia Linguistica 47. 345–373.10.1515/flin.2013.014Search in Google Scholar
Friðriksson, Finnur. 2011. Modern Icelandic: Stable or in a state of flux? Scripta Islandica 62. 19–50.Search in Google Scholar
Hagström, Björn. 1967. Ändelsevokalerna i färöiskan: En fonetisk-fonologisk studie [The final vowels of Faroese: A phonetic-phonological study]. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.Search in Google Scholar
Hagström, Björn. 2005. Written language and forms of speech in Faroese in the twentieth century. In Oskar Bandle, Kurt Braunmüller, Ernst Håkon Jahr, Allan Karker, Hans-Peter Naumann & Ulf Teleman (eds.), The Nordic languages: An international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages, 1750–1758. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Search in Google Scholar
Hammershaimb, V. U. 1891. Færøsk anthologi. Vol. I: Tekst samt historisk og grammatisk indledning [Faroese Anthology: Text with a historical and grammatical introduction]. København: Møller.Search in Google Scholar
Henriksen, Jeffrei. 1980. Grundbók Brævskúlans í føroyskum [The Correspondence School’s basic book of Faroese]. Tórshavn.Search in Google Scholar
Kjartansson, Helgi Skúli. 1979. Eignarfallsflótti: Uppástunga um nýja málvillu [Genitive-avoidance.: A suggestion on a new language error]. Íslenskt mál 1. 88–95.Search in Google Scholar
Kjartansson, Helgi Skúli. 1999. Orð í belg um eignarfallsflótta [Apropos genitive-avoidance]. Íslenskt mál 21. 151–160.Search in Google Scholar
Kress, Bruno. 1982. Isländische Grammatik. München: Max Hueber Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Kvaran, Guðrún. 2005. Orð: Handbók um beygingar- og orðmyndunarfræði. [Words: A handbook on inflections and word formation]. Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið.Search in Google Scholar
Lockwood, W. B. 1955. An introduction to modern Faroese. København: Mungsgaard.Search in Google Scholar
Magnússon, Friðrik. 1984. Ein lítil beygingarending [One little inflectional ending]. Mímir 32. 33–43.Search in Google Scholar
Müller, Geron. 2007. Notes on paradigm economy. Morphology 17. 1–38.10.1007/s11525-007-9114-xSearch in Google Scholar
Petersen, Hjalmar P. 2009. Gender assignment in modern Faroese. Hamburg: Verlag Dr Kovač.Search in Google Scholar
Petersen, Hjalmar P. & Jonathan Adams. 2009. Faroese. A language course for beginners: Grammar. Tórshavn: Stiðin.Search in Google Scholar
Poulsen, Jóhan Hendrik W., Marjun Simonsen, Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen, Anfinnur Johansen & Zakaris Svabo Hansen (eds.). 1998. Føroysk orðabók [Faroese dictionary]. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag.Search in Google Scholar
Svavarsdóttir, Ásta. 1993. Beygingakerfi nafnorða í nútímaíslensku [The inflectional system of nouns in modern Icelandic]. Reykjavík: Málvísindastofnun.Search in Google Scholar
Svavarsdóttir, Ásta. 1994. Enn um eignarfallsflótta [Yet again on genitive-avoidance]. In Guðrún Kvaran, Jörgen Pind, Margrét Jónsdóttir & Svavar Sigmundsson (eds.), Jónína hans Jóns G. Friðjónssonar fimmtugs 24. ágúst 1994, 7–13. Reykjavík.Search in Google Scholar
Thomson, Colin D. 1987. Íslensk beygingafræði – Isländische Formenlehre – Icelandic inflections. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Þorsteinsdóttir, Kristín Áslaug. 2009. Afdrif eignarfallsins: Staða eignarfalls í íslensku nútímamáli [The fate of the genitive: The status of genitive in modern Icelandic]. University of Iceland MA-thesis. Available at https://skemman.is/handle/1946/2655.Search in Google Scholar
Thráinsson, Höskuldur, Hjalmar P. Petersen, Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen & Zakarias Svabo Hansen. 2004. Faroese: An overview and a reference grammar. Tórshavn: Førøya Fróðskaparfelag.Search in Google Scholar
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
