Agreement with conjoined singular noun phrases in Icelandic

Abstract

This article presents results from a study on agreement with conjoined singular noun phrases in Icelandic. A survey was conducted to elicit agreement choices on two agreement targets (predicate adjectives and personal pronouns) with agreement controllers from four individuation levels (human, animal, countable object, uncountable abstract). The aim was to provide an overview of the strategies for determining agreement with conjoined noun phrases in Icelandic, and examine whether two typological hierarchies – the Agreement Hierarchy and the Individuation Hierarchy – can predict the distribution of agreement options. This research identifies and examines five different agreement strategies with conjoined singular noun phrases in Icelandic. The distribution of these patterns in relation to the two hierarchies is evaluated with the aim of discerning what influences agreement choices. Both typological hierarchies are shown to affect the choice of agreement strategies. In addition to discussing semantic resolution, syntactic resolution, and partial agreement in Icelandic – this paper identifies and argues for two types of neuter default agreement. The first is neuter plural, a fixed value for agreement with conjoined noun phrases, and the second is neuter singular: semantic default agreement triggered by referents that are low on the Individuation Hierarchy. This research presents new data that has implications for the understanding of agreement with conjoined noun phrases and the function of neuter in Icelandic and related languages.