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Feminint och maskulint, animat och inanimat, manligt och kvinnligt. Form och semantik i Urshultsmålets nominalsystem

Josefsson, Gunlög LU (2020) In Arkiv för nordisk filologi 134. p.233-264
Abstract
: My paper studies the nominal system in a dialect of Småland, spoken in Urshult,
as it has been coded and transcribed in a volume by Swea Johansson, a native speaker of this dialect. In this variety, a large portion of the weak feminines, in modern Swedish roughly nouns ending -a, for example penna ’pencil’, instead end in -e, penne ’pencil’. Furthermore, the definite form frequently ends in -na, pennena (pencil.the) ’the pencil’, a form that can be compared to the modern standard Swedish pennan ’the pencil’. The result shows that both the e- and the (e)-na form are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting inanimates, whereas the corresponding forms ending in -a and -n – as in modern standard Swedish – are typically,... (More)
: My paper studies the nominal system in a dialect of Småland, spoken in Urshult,
as it has been coded and transcribed in a volume by Swea Johansson, a native speaker of this dialect. In this variety, a large portion of the weak feminines, in modern Swedish roughly nouns ending -a, for example penna ’pencil’, instead end in -e, penne ’pencil’. Furthermore, the definite form frequently ends in -na, pennena (pencil.the) ’the pencil’, a form that can be compared to the modern standard Swedish pennan ’the pencil’. The result shows that both the e- and the (e)-na form are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting inanimates, whereas the corresponding forms ending in -a and -n – as in modern standard Swedish – are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting animate and female referents. The e- and the -(e)na forms (see above) seem to be derived from the old Swedish accusative forms. The findings corroborate Wessén’s connection between nominative case and animates, as well as between accusative case and inanimates. The paper also discusses the transition from the Old Swedish three-gender system, to the present-day two-gender system, arguing that this process is best viewed as the feminine gender on nouns disappearing, not that masculine and feminine merge into a common gender. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
My paper studies the nominal system in a dialect of Småland, spoken in Urshult,
as it has been coded and transcribed in a volume by Swea Johansson, a native speaker of this dialect. In this variety, a large portion of the weak feminines, in modern Swedish roughly nouns ending -a, for example penna ’pencil’, instead end in -e, penne ’pencil’. Furthermore, the definite form frequently ends in -na, pennena (pencil.the) ’the pencil’, a form that can be compared to the modern standard Swedish pennan ’the pencil’. The result shows that
both the e- and the (e)-na form are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting inanimates, whereas the corresponding forms ending in -a and -n – as in modern standard Swedish – are typically,... (More)
My paper studies the nominal system in a dialect of Småland, spoken in Urshult,
as it has been coded and transcribed in a volume by Swea Johansson, a native speaker of this dialect. In this variety, a large portion of the weak feminines, in modern Swedish roughly nouns ending -a, for example penna ’pencil’, instead end in -e, penne ’pencil’. Furthermore, the definite form frequently ends in -na, pennena (pencil.the) ’the pencil’, a form that can be compared to the modern standard Swedish pennan ’the pencil’. The result shows that
both the e- and the (e)-na form are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting inanimates, whereas the corresponding forms ending in -a and -n – as in modern standard Swedish – are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting animate and female referents. The e- and the -(e)na forms (see above) seem to be derived from the old Swedish
accusative forms. The findings corroborate Wessén’s connection between nominative case and animates, as well as between accusative case and inanimates. The paper also discusses the transition from the Old Swedish three-gender system, to the present-day two-gender system, arguing that this process is best viewed as the feminine gender on nouns disappearing, not that masculine and feminine merge into a common gender. (Less)
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author
organization
alternative title
Feminine and masculine, animate and inanimate, male and female. Form and semantics in the nominal system of the Urshult dialect
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Urshult, S måland, feminine, weak nouns, nominative, accusative, three-gender system
in
Arkiv för nordisk filologi
volume
134
pages
233 - 264
publisher
ANF
external identifiers
  • scopus:85082102784
ISSN
0066-7668
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
488512d4-1f50-49fe-81df-1571bc8f6466
date added to LUP
2020-02-20 10:55:14
date last changed
2022-04-18 20:52:37
@article{488512d4-1f50-49fe-81df-1571bc8f6466,
  abstract     = {{: My paper studies the nominal system in a dialect of Småland, spoken in Urshult,<br/>as it has been coded and transcribed in a volume by Swea Johansson, a native speaker of this dialect. In this variety, a large portion of the weak feminines, in modern Swedish roughly nouns ending -a, for example penna ’pencil’, instead end in -e, penne ’pencil’. Furthermore, the definite form frequently ends in -na, pennena (pencil.the) ’the pencil’, a form that can be compared to the modern standard Swedish pennan ’the pencil’. The result shows that both the e- and the (e)-na form are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting inanimates, whereas the corresponding forms ending in -a and -n – as in modern standard Swedish – are typically, though not uniquely, used for nouns denoting animate and female referents. The e- and the -(e)na forms (see above) seem to be derived from the old Swedish accusative forms. The findings corroborate Wessén’s connection between nominative case and animates, as well as between accusative case and inanimates. The paper also discusses the transition from the Old Swedish three-gender system, to the present-day two-gender system, arguing that this process is best viewed as the feminine gender on nouns disappearing, not that masculine and feminine merge into a common gender.}},
  author       = {{Josefsson, Gunlög}},
  issn         = {{0066-7668}},
  keywords     = {{Urshult, S måland, feminine, weak nouns, nominative, accusative, three-gender system}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{233--264}},
  publisher    = {{ANF}},
  series       = {{Arkiv för nordisk filologi}},
  title        = {{Feminint och maskulint, animat och inanimat, manligt och kvinnligt. Form och semantik i Urshultsmålets nominalsystem}},
  volume       = {{134}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}