IP-INF

Infinitival complements

Infinitival complements of prepositions

See also discussion in PP af að 'from'

( (IP-MAT (ADVP-TMP (ADV loksins-loksins))
	  (VBDI varð-verða)
	  (NP-SBJ (PRO-N hún-hún))
	  (ADJP (ADVR svo-svo)
		(ADJ-N þreytt-þreyttur)
		(CP-DEG *ICH*-1))
	  (PP (P af-af)
	      (IP-INF (TO að-að) (VB gráta-gráta)))
	  (, ,-,)
	  (CP-DEG-1 (C að-að)
		    (IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO-N hún-hún))
			    (VBDI sofnaði-sofna)
			    (RP út-út)
			    (RP af-af)))
	  (. ,-,)))

Infinitival complements of BE

We distinguish between IP-INF complements of BE which are the predicate of a copular clause, as in "Ást er að skemmta sér allan daginn" ("Love is to have fun all day"), and all other complements of BE. In the non-predicate case, the infinitival clause is simply labelled IP-INF, but in the predicate case, it is labelled IP-INF-PRD. This is the complement counterpart to IP-INF-SBJ.

This decision helps distinguish between an infinitival clause which is an argument of BE and the Icelandic progressive with VERA.

In the case of the IP-MAT-PRN "það er að segja" ("that is to say"), the infinitival clause "að segja" is just labelled IP-INF, because it is difficult to distinguish the predicate and non-predicate interpretations in this case.

Tough Movement

see CP-TMC

ECM vs. Object Control

See the PPCME2,PPCEME guidelines on this issue.

Following those guidelines, we parse IP-INF complements of inherent ECM verbs (according to the list in the PPCME2 guidelines) as always having an embedded subject. An example of an inherent ECM verb in Icelandic is LÁTA, which always takes an IP-INF complement containing a subject even if the subject is not overt, as in the example below:

( (IP-MAT (CONJ og-og)
	  (NP-SBJ *con*)
	  (VBPI lætur-láta)
	  (IP-INF (NP-SBJ *arb*)
		  (VB flytja-flytja)
		  (NP-OB1 (PRO-A hana-hún))
		  (PP (P um-um)
		      (NP (N-A hæl-hæll)))
		  (PP (RP yfir-yfir)
		      (P að-að)
		      (NP (NPR-D Sigríðartungu-sigríðartunga))))
	  (. .-.)))

When the inherent ECM verb is in the passive, then the subject of the infinitival clause can be a trace of A-movement, as in:

( (IP-MAT (, ---)
	  (NP-SBJ-1 (NPR-N Guðrún-guðrún)
		    (NP-PRN (N-N vinnukona-vinnukona)))
	  (BEDI var-vera)
	  (VAN látin-láta)
	  (IP-INF (NP-SBJ *-1)
		  (VB fara-fara)
		  (PP (P með-með)
		      (NP (PRO-D henni-hún)))
                             ...

LÁTA is not treated as ECM verb when it does not take another verb (in the infinitive), but only an object:

	      (RDDI varð-verða)
	      (NP-SBJ (PRO-N ég-ég))
	      (IP-INF (TO að-að)
		      (VB láta-láta)
		      (NP-OB1 (ADVP (ADV næstum-næstum)
				    (NP (PRO-D því-það)))
			      (NUM-A þrjár-þrír)
			      (NS-A spesíur-spesía)))
	      (. ,-,)))

	      (RDDI varð-verða)
	      (NP-SBJ (PRO-N ég-ég))
	      (IP-INF (TO að-að)
		      (VB láta-láta)
		      (NP-OB1 (PRO-A hana-hún))
		      (ADVP-DIR (ADV þangað-þangað)))
	      (. ,-,)))

When the verb is not an inherent ECM verb, the parse depends on the context. A verb on the non-inherent ECM verb list is parsed as having an embedded subject in its complement iff:

   * when the postverbal noun phrase is an expletive expression (IT, THERE, weather IT, idiom chunk)
   * when the postverbal noun phrase refers to an inanimate (or at least nonhuman) entity
   * when the complement infinitive is a passive verb
   * when the complement infinitive is a copular verb 

So, a verb like "fyrirbjóða" is annotated as having an embedded ECM subject when it takes a copular complement, as in:

( (IP-MAT (CONJ og-og)
	  (VBD FYRIRBAUÐ-FYRIRBJÓÐA)
	  (NP-SBJ (N-N hreppstjóri-hreppstjóri))
	  (IP-INF (NP-SBJ (Q-D nokkrum-nokkur) (N-D manni-maður))
		  (TO að-að)
		  (BE vera-vera)
		  (ADJP (ADVR svo-svo)
			(ADJ djarfur-djarfur)
			(IP-INF-DEG (TO að-að) (VB ljúka-ljúka) (RP upp-upp))))
	  (. .-.)))

IP-INF-DEG

Sister of a degree adverb, as in:

( (IP-MAT (CONJ og-og)
	  (VBD FYRIRBAUÐ-FYRIRBJÓÐA)
	  (NP-SBJ (N-N hreppstjóri-hreppstjóri))
	  (IP-INF (NP-SBJ (Q-D nokkrum-nokkur) (N-D manni-maður))
		  (TO að-að)
		  (BE vera-vera)
		  (ADJP (ADVR svo-svo)
			(ADJ djarfur-djarfur)
			(IP-INF-DEG (TO að-að) (VB ljúka-ljúka) (RP upp-upp))))
	  (. .-.)))

IP-INF-PRP

Purpose infinitives.

In Icelandic, these generally appear inside a PP as the complement of the P "til", as in:

( (IP-MAT (CONJ og-og)
	  (BEDI voru-vera)
	  (NP-SBJ (PRO-D honum-hann))
	  (VAN fengnir-fá)
	  (NP-OB1 (Q-N nokkrir-nokkur) (NS-N þúfnakollar-þúfnakollur))
	  (PP (P til-til)
	      (IP-INF-PRP (TO að-að)
			  (VB reyna-reyna)
			  (NP-OB1 (PRO-A sig-sig))
			  (RP við-við)))
	  (. ;-;)))

In cases where TIL also takes a pronoun object, the IP-INF-PRP appears as the complement of the pronoun, as in:

                  (PP (P til-til)
		      (NP (PRO-G þess-það)
			  (IP-INF-PRP (TO að-að)
				      (VB sýna-sýna)
				      (NP-OB2 (PRO-D henni-hún))
                                       ...

See also the discussion of similar pronoun objects under CP-THT#TIL_ÞESS_AÐ.