Present tense: Facts and analysis

We assume that the regular present tense suffix in Standard East Norwegian is unspecified {-er}. Kristoffersen's (2000) approach, in contrast, calls for a specified H-inducing suffix {-r^H}.

We start once again by first investigating the facts.

(24) Monomorphemic verbs in the infinitive and present tense

INF(initive) PRES(ent tense) Gloss (INF/ PRES)

a. 'gå1 'går1 to go/ go

b. 'se1 'ser1 to see/ see

c. 'vise2 'viser2 to show/ show

d. 'finne2 'finner1 to find/ find e. 'skrive2 'skriver1 to write/ write f. 'hjelpe2 'hjelper1 to help/ help g. 'sykle2 'sykler2 to cycle/ cycle

h. 'åpne2 'åpner2 to open/ open

i. 'klatre2 'klatrer2 to climb/ climb j. analy'se+re1 analy'se+rer1 to analyse/ analyse

The present tense does not seem to be as homogenous as the infinitive and imperative forms. At first impression, the present tense suffix seems to be {-er} and is found in both Accent-1 and Accent-2 polysyllabic forms. However, as we already mentioned when discussing Withgott & Halvorsen (1984) and Kristoffersen (2000), diachronically we are dealing with different classes of verb stems. One class of ON verbs had a monosyllabic present tense, and one had a disyllabic present tense, which coincides with present tense forms in Modern Norwegian that have Accent 1 and Accent 2, respectively. This correspondence can best be seen if we consider the form marked for third person singular present as illustrated in the first column of (25) below.

(25) ON monosyllabic vs. disyllabic verb stems a. Monosyllabic stems

Swedish Norwegian

ON PRES IMP PRES IMP Gloss

finnr finner1 finn1 finner1 finn1 find vinnr vinner1 vinn1 vinner1 vinn1 win

b. Disyllabic stems

Swedish Norwegian

ON PRES IMP PRES IMP Gloss

elskar 'älskar2 'älska2 'elsker2 'elsk1 love kallar 'kallar2 'kalla2 'kaller2 'kall1 call

Swedish has retained the monosyllabic–disyllabic differentiation in verb stems, which can be seen in the syllable count of the imperative, and the accent of the present tense. In (25a), both Swedish and Norwegian have Accent-1 disyllabic present tense forms and monosyllabic imperative forms. In (25b), however, Swedish has disyllabic Accent-2 present tense and imperative forms, whereas Norwegian has disyllabic present tense forms, which now have Accent 2, and monosyllabic imperatives. Therefore, we put Standard East Norwegian aside for one moment and take a short excursion into Swedish verb inflection.

(26) Swedish verb inflection: Imperative and present tense

IMP PRES Gloss (IMP/ PRES)

a. 'gå1 'går1 go!/ go

b. 'se1 'ser1 see!/ see

c. 'visa2 'visar2 show!/ show

d. 'finn1 'finner1 find!/ find

e. 'skriv1 'skriver1 write!/ write

f. 'hjälp1 'hjälper1 help!/ help

g. 'cykla2 'cyklar2 cycle!/ cycle

h. 'öppna2 'öppnar2 open!/ open

i. 'klättra2 'klättrar2 climb!/ climb

Here, the correlation between disyllabic imperatives and Accent-2 present tense forms (26c,g,h,i) as well as monosyllabic imperatives and Accent-1 present tense forms (26a,b, d-f,) is quite transparent. Swedish has unquestionably retained the differentiation between ON monosyllabic and disyllabic stems, which surfaces most clearly in the imperative. For the present tense in Swedish, we argue that a non-syllabic present tense suffix {-r} is added to the monosyllabic and disyllabic stems. Thus, the accent of the present tense depends on the syllable count of the stem and works as follows.

(27) Accent assignment and Swedish verb inflection (present tense) Lexical

representation

Accent

assignment Epenthesis Gloss

a. /gå/ /-r/ 'går1 go

b. /se/ /-r/ 'ser1 see

c. /visa/ /-r/ 'visar2 show

d. /finn/ /-r/ 'finnr1 'finner1 find

e. /skriv/ /-r/ 'skrivr1 'skriver1 write f. /hjälp/ /-r/ 'hjälpr1 'hjälper1 help

g. /cykla/ /-r/ 'cyklar2 cycle

h. /öppna/ /-r/ 'öppnar2 open

i. /klätra/ /-r/ 'klätrar2 climb

According to our analysis, examples (27a,b) are monosyllabic in the present tense and therefore receive Accent 1. The disyllabic stems (27c, g-i) bear no lexical specification and, consequently, have Accent-2 present tense forms. Examples (27d-f) have monosyllabic stems and since the present tense suffix is not syllabic, and epenthesis takes place after accent assignment, only a monosyllabic environment is available for accent assignment (/finnr/, /skrivr/, /hjälpr/). Notice also that the epenthetic vowel is even represented differently in the spelling, er vs. ar for monosyllabic and disyllabic stems, respectively. The only possible and correct output for (27d-f) is Accent 1. Thus, the difference in accent assignment in the Swedish present tense is the result of differences in the syllable count of the verb stems. Now let us return to Norwegian.

Standard East Norwegian did not retain the distinction of monosyllabic and disyllabic stems to the same extent as Swedish did. Norwegian has generally monosyllabic imperative forms.

With the loss of the distinction of syllable count in the imperative, the only evidence that a Norwegian language learner has for the differentiation in the stems is no longer segmental but tonal, and this differentiation was transferred onto the suffix. We propose that Standard East Norwegian has two allophones for the present tense suffix. The verbs now differ in whether their present tense suffix is {-er} or {-r}, and not whether the stem is mono- or disyllabic.

Note, once again, that there is no need to lexically specify either of these inflectional suffixes for accent: accent is assigned after suffixation of the present tense marker and before schwa epenthesis, as is shown in (28).

(28) Accent assignment and Norwegian verb inflection (present tense) /skrivr/, /hjelpr/), and thus all have Accent-1 present tense forms. Epenthesis takes place after accent assignment, creating disyllabic forms. All other unspecified forms take the syllabic present tense suffix {-er} and, consequently, consist of disyllabic trochees before accent assignment, thus resulting in default Accent 2. Once again the last example analy'serer1

remains Accent 1 as predicted, providing more proof for our assumption that the stressed verbal suffix {-er}VERB is lexically specified.

Kristoffersen (2000:263) also assumes two allomorphs for the present tense suffix as we mentioned in Chapter 2, section 2.2. One is lexically specified for Accent-2 {-r^H}, and one is not specified {-r} to account for the Accent-1 forms. It seems rather suspicious to have to lexically specify the more numerous weak verbs (some 4,800), which mostly had disyllabic stems in ON, and to consider the strong verbs as representing the norm (200).⁴⁶ We agree with Kristoffersen (2000) in so far as we also claim that the present tense suffix of Standard East Norwegian today has two allomorphs that corresponds to syllable count differences in Norwegian spoken earlier. However, in our analysis, neither of these suffixes need be lexically specified for accent. One suffix is syllabic {-er} and the other not {-r}. Accent assignment in the present tense otherwise follows our general rules.

46. The numbers are taken from Enger & Kristoffersen (2000:88) who consulted the Bokmålsordboka (http://www.dokpro.uio.no/ordboksoek.html) to calculate these numbers.