Embedded declaratives, assertion and swear words

• This article discusses embedded declaratives and their force of expressing assertion, a topic that was debated by Anna-Lena Wiklund and Marit Julien in both numbers of this working paper series 2009. Two questions are focused: “Is the assertedness of V2 de­claratives in Mainland Scandinavian structurally inherent?” and “Can also embedded non-V2 declaratives express assertion?” The answer here is yes on both questions, which means that I take a third position beside the ones raised in the previous debate. A swear word test, originally proposed by Julien, but rejected by Wiklund, is also scrutinized. It is shown that swear words actually can be used to discriminate between asserted and non-asserted declaratives. However, the dividing line does not go between V2 and non-V2 clauses, as assumed by Julien.

Nyckelord

embedded clauses

assertion

swear words

Scandinavian languages

Swedish

Scandinavian Languages

Nordiska språk

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

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