Ditransitives in Faroese

Abstract

This paper examines the acceptability of the double object and prepositional frames for ditransitives in Faroese. We build on previous literature which has discussed various factors which may influence speakers’ use of one frame over the other. We report the findings of a judgment study in which we examined the degree to which semantic properties of verbs and length of the indirect object affect speakers’ acceptability of each frame. Our findings suggest that verbal semantics affect the acceptability of the prepositional construction, but not the double object construction. Our findings, however, do not directly support a heavy-late effect, unlike what has been reported in previous literature on Faroese (most notably by Fiebig 2012).