UNA

Universidad Nacional
Sede Región Brunca

Morphology and Syntax

Danish Syntax

Professor: M.A. Sandra Palacios Palacios

Students:
Milton Segura Bonilla
Leonardo Solís Valverde
Magally Rojas Mora

San Isidro del General

I Semester, 2009
 Introduction

The aim of this project is to describe some of the most relevant syntactic aspects of

Danish such as Functional, Pragmatic, Relational, Structural, and Negation. In this project, we

do not want to compare Danish with any other language, even thought there are several aspects

we can compare and contrast. We, on the other hand, are going to describe the aspects mentioned

before by bringing examples and short descriptions of the characteristics and functions of the

different examples in the language. To do this, we are going to research on the web in order to

find out some other research projects from other Universities as well as different opinions from

expert linguists all around the glove for we consider that it may be very helpful to make our

description of Danish even more reliable. This, together with our own perspectives and analyses

will give us the opportunity to know more about Danish syntax. Moreover, we are going to put

into practice the knowledge that we have acquired during the different sessions in the course

Syntax and Morphology in order to analyze the reliability of the information that we would find

out.
 Functional

Declarative sentences: These sentences present mainly a SVO order but when the sentence

begins with an adverb inversion applies.

Examples

1)

Du kinder mig.

S.Pron (You) V (know) O (me)

“You know me.”

2) Aldrig har jeg givet hende en blomst

før.

Adv (Never) V1. (have) S (I) V2(given) IO (her) O (a flower)

før

Adv (before)

“I have never given her a flower before.”

3) Tit har jeg givet ham bøger.

Adv (Often) V1.(have) S (I) V2.(given) I.O(him) O (books)

“I have often given him books.”

Interrogative questions ( HV words)

These words are the ones in charge of introducing a direct or indirect question, some

interrogative questions are:

Common gender Neuter Plural Genitive

Hvem hvad hvem hvis

Who(m) what who(m) whose

Hvilken hvilket hvilke

What/which what/which what/which

Hvad for en hvad for et hvad for nogle

Which(kind/one) which(kind/one) which(kinds/ones)

However, it is important to point out that words such as: hvor, where; hvordan, how;
hvorfor, why; and hvornår, when; are interrogative adverbs.

The following chart taken from the book “Danish: An Essential Grammar” presents not

only different speech acts but also the word order presented in Danish

Statement

Han rejser hjem i dag

S. Pron (he) V (is going) O. (home) Adv (today)

“He is going home today”

I dag rejser han hjem.

Adv (today) V (is going) S. Pron (he) O. (home)

“Today he is going home”

Yes/No Questions

Rejser han hjem i dag?

V (is going) S. Pron (he) O. (home) Adv (today)

Is he going home today?

Ikke rejse han hjem idag?

Neg+V (isn’t going) S. Pron (he) O. (home) Adv (today)

Isn’t he going home today?

Seeking information questions

Hvorfor rejser han hjem i dag?

Int. Question (Why) V (is going) S. Pron (he) O. (home) Adv (today)

Why is he going home today?

Hvem rejser hjem i dag?

Int. Question (Who) V (is going) O. (home) Adv (today)

Who is going home today?

Command

Rejs hjem!

V(go) O. (home)

“Go home”

Whish

Måtte du snart blive rask!

Cond (May) S (you) Adv (soon) (adj) get well

“May you get well soon”

 Thus, based on the previous information we can state that although the main word order

used in Danish is SVO; when making an adverbial and interrogative statement the verb should be

fronted.
 Pragmatic

Danish, as many other languages presents the new information at the end of the sentence.

The following examples taken from the book, “The information structure of Danish grammar

constructions” by Patrizia Paggio illustrate this.

Examples:

1) (Mødle du nogen igår?) Jep mødle [din søster.] New information

(met you anybody yesterday?) I met your sister

“Did you meet anybody yesterday? I met your sister.”

This example shows that the new information is at the end, “your sister,” [din søster.]

2) Jeg kan ikke hjælpe dig, [men det kan Chris.] new information

I can not help you, but it can Chris

“I can’t help you, but Chris can.”

The information in brackets is the new information.

3) (Hvad lavede børnene?) De [spite is.]  new information

(What did children.DEF) they ate icecream

“what did the children do? They ate icecream.”

The information in brackets is the new information.

4) (Hvad spite børnene?) De spite [ is.]  new information

(What ate children.DEF) they ate icecream

 “what did the children eat? They ate icecream.”

The information in brackets is the new information.

5) og i det nederste vindue [ tager man og sætter

urtepotten] new information.

and in the lowest window takes one and puts

flowerpot.DEF

“And in the lowest window you put the flowerpot.’

In this example the information enclosed in brackets is the new information [tager

man og sætter urtepotten]

Topic:

It appears at the beginning of the sentence and often as the subject. Some examples taken

from the book, “The information structure of Danish grammar constructions” by Patrizia Paggio

illustrate this.

Examples:

1) Hun havde travlt.

She had harry

“She was in a hurry”

In this example the subject pronouns refers to the topic [hun]

2) så er der et vindue til … [ det] skal sidde oppe i trekanten

 then is there a window more . . . it must sit up in triangle.DEF

‘Then there is one more window . . . It must be placed up inside the triangle.’

In this example needs to be taken into account the second part of the sentence, in this sentence the

topic is the subject [det].

3) (Hvad lavede børnene?) [De] spite is.

(What did children.DEF) they ate icecream

“what did the children do? They ate icecream.”

Example 3 shows that the topic is at the beginning [de]

Old information:

Danish language tends to put the old information somewhere in between within the sentence. The

next examples taken from the book “Information Structure, The syntax-Discourse Interface,” by

Nomi Erteschink-Shir will provide this evidence.

Examples:

Old information

1) Hende mødle jeg igår.

Her met I yesterday

“I met her yesterday.”

 Old information

2) Pigen mødle jeg igår.

The girl met I yesterday

“I met the girl yesterday.”

Passive

Danish language has a passive construction that involves promoting an object to subject.

There are two common ways of forming a passive form in Danish language. The –s passive and

the blive passive. It is essential to mention that the –s passive does not normally have a past

participle form; on the other hand, the composite tenses are formed with the blive passive. The

next examples taken from the book “Danish: An essential grammar” can show this.

Examples:

1)

Active clause → Andersen (subject) ejer hele huset(object)

Noun verb 3sin(own) DET-whole noun(house)

“Andersen owns the whole house.”

Passive clause → Hele huset (subject) ejes af Andersen (Prep.C)

DER-whole house V(past) PREP(by) noun

“The whole house is owned by Andersen

2)

Active clause→ Drengen(subject,agent) griber(verb) bolden (object,patient)

DET-boy active verb DET-ball

“The boy catches the ball.”

Passive clause → Bolden (subject, patient) gribes af drengen(Prep.P,agent)

DET-ball passive verb PREP(by) DET-boy

“The ball is caught by the boy.”

As a summary, the transformation of an active clause to a passive clause includes three changes:

Active Passive

Object → subject

Subject → (af) + prepositional complement

Active verb form → passive verb form

The –s passive

This passive is less common than the blive passive. It is rare in the past tense and is nonexistent

in the past participle.

It is mainly used:

• In the infinitive with modal verbs that express notions such as obligation, permission,

prohibition.

Example:

Svaret bør sendes til kontoret.

DET-answer modal (should) V PREP-(to) DET-office

“The answer should be sent to the office.”

• In the present tense to express a habitual or repeated action.

Example:

Varerne bringes ud om fredagen.

DET-goods V (put) PREP (on) Friday

“The goods are delivered on Fridays.”

The blive passive

This passive is more common, and is the only option in the composite tenses.

It is normally used:

• After modal verbs expressing possibility or future promise.

Example:

Per kan blive udtaget til holdet.

 Per Modal (may) be select PREP-(to) DET-team

“Per may be picked for the team.” (It may happen.)

• To express a single action.

Example:

Min søn er blevet inviteret

ud.

P (My) N (son) to be (is) (Passive) been V.pp(invited)

PREP( out)

“My son has been invited out.”

Notes:

• Some verbs can only form the passive using the –s, e.g.: behøve, need; eje, own; have,

have; skylde, owe; vide, know.

• Both the -s passive and the blive passive may be used to indicate a recurrent activity.

Example:

Der stjæles biler hver dag. Der bliver stjålet biler hver dag.

To stolen cars each day to will be stolen cars each day

“Cars are stolen every day.” “Cars are stolen every day.”
 Relational

Prepositions

In Danish prepositions have always the same form. Prepositions usually govern a complement,

and preposition+complement is called a prepositional phrase.

Types of preposition:

According to form, there are three types of preposition:

(a) Simple prepositions:

These consist of a single, indivisible word and include the most common prepositions, such as:

ud (around, out), efter (after), fra(from), i (in), med (with), på (on, at, in), til (to), ved (at).

(b) Compound prepositions:

The preposition i may be prefixed to four other independent prepositions, blandt (among);

gennem (through); mellem (between); mod (against), to form the compound prepositions:

iblandt, igennem, imellem, imod, which are more formal variants of the simple ones and both

words mean the same.

(c) Complex prepositions:

These are made up of two or more words, including at least one preposition, which in terms of

meaning form a unit. For example:

Motion:

Tina gik ud i haven.

(Noun) V(went) Prep(out) O(the garden)

“Tina went into the garden.”

Location:

Tina gik ude i haven.

(Noun) V(went) Prep(out) O(the garden)

“Tina walked (around) in the garden”

Most Common Prepositions in Danish.

The following chart presents a list of the most common prepositions in Danish:

Danish Word English equivalence Danish Word English equivalence

*af of, with, by *med with, by

bag(ved) behind *om (a)round, about, in

blandt among omkring (a)round

*efter after, for over over, above, across

*for before, in front of. *pa on, in. for

at, for siden since

foran in front of *til until, to, for

forbi past trods in spite of

for...siden ago uden without

*fra from uden for outside

for before *under under. below.

hos at (the home of) during

*i in. on, for *ved by, around

(Ogennem through, by

(Omellem between

*(i)mod to(wards), against

langs along
The agent in Danish behaves almost the same as in English in which what performs the action it

will be referred as the agent, for example in the sentence:

1) Drengen griber bolden.

S (The boy) [agent] V (catches) O (the ball) [patient]

“The boy catches the ball”

This example shows how the agent can be identified in a Danish sentence by finding the

participant of a situation that carries out the action. At the same time the patient is the participant

on whom the situation is carried out.

Is important to point out that the grammatical category is not directly linked to a specific

semantic role for example when the same sentence (1) is transformed into passive voice:

2) Bolden. gribes af drengen.

S (The ball) [patient] V (is caught) P.P (by the boy) [agent]

“The ball is caught by the boy”

Sentence (2) shows that Danish does not distinguish grammatical among semantic roles, what

matters is the action that undergoes in the sentence.

The locative semantic role in Danish is established by the segment of the sentence that indicates

location. Example:

3) De kørte ud af byen

S(They) V (drove) P(out of) O(the city)

4) Soldaten marcherede hen ad vejen

S(Soldier) V (marched) P(along) O(the road )

 Structural

Coordination vs. Subordination in Danish

In Danish, coordination is close related to subordination because in order to coordinate sentences

this language uses coordinating conjunctions which link main clauses and subordinate clauses.

Note that the subordinate clause may either follow or precede the main clause.

Coordinating Conjunctions

Danish English

og and

eller or

for for (because)

men but

sa so

Examples:

Ga hjem og sov!

V(go) N(house) CONJ(and) V(sleep)

(Go home and go to sleep!)

Pengene eller livet!

PRO+money CONJ(or) PRO+life

(Your money or your life!)

Han lob hurtigt, for han havde travlt.

PRO(he) V(run) ADV(quickly) CONJ(for) PRO(he) V(was) PRE/DET(hurry)

(He run quickly for he was in a hurry)

Jeg vasker op, men min kone sorgerfor maden.

PRO/AUX DET/wash/ing/PRE CONJ(but) PRO(my) N(wife) V(cook) AUX/V

(I do the washing up but my wife does the cooking.)

Moreover; in Danish, coordination occurs with the coordinating conjunctions med (with) and og

(and). For example:

Jeg mødtes med Poul

PRON V CONJ (with) Poul

(I met with Poul)

Poul og jeg mødtes

Poul CONJ (and) PRON V

(Poul and I met)

Hanne drøftede sagen med Peter

Hanne V DET+matter CONJ(with) Peter

(Hanne discussed the matter with Peter)

Hanne og Peter drøftede sagen

Hanne CONJ(and) Peter V DET+matter

(Hanne and Peter discussed the matter)

Main Clauses vs. Subordinate Clauses

In Danish main clauses and subordinate clauses have a different structure.

The following information was summarized from the book “Danish: An Essential Grammar” in

other to describe the structure of Danish main clauses and subordinate clauses.

Main Clause Structure:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Vi har ikke set Peter i aften

(We have not seen Peter this evening)

Pron verb adv verb noun pre+noun (word class)

Sub Finite verb clausal adv non-finite verb obj other adv (clause element)

Danish main clauses present the following characteristics:

A) A finite verb is mandatory.

B) They usually have a subject.

C) All positions can be left vacant except the one occupied by the finite verb.

D) Position 1 is occupied most of the time by the subject.

 E) Position 1(front) is always occupied in statements and in hv-questions while it is left

vacant in yes/no questions.

Some examples:

Hv-question: Hvem kommer ___ ____ ____ her i aften?

PRO(who) V(come) here Adv

(Who is coming here tonight?)

Yes/no question: ____ Kommer de _____ _____ _____her i aften?

V(come/ing) PRO(they) here Adv

(Are they coming here tonight?)

As it can be seen, in the yes/no example, the front position (1) is left vacant. The question

starts with the verb, which is in second position and the pronoun, in this case de (they),

determines whether the auxiliary verb is singular or plural even though it is not present in

written form.

Subordinate Clause Structure:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Context conjunction subj clausal finite verb non-finite verb obj complement other adv
Subordinate clauses are understood as the elements of main clauses which can constitute and

occupy different positions in the whole sentence such as subject position, object position, and

other adverbial, in rare cases.

Subject Clause:

At du er rask, glæder mig ____ ______ ______meget.

PRO V(be) Adj(well) Adj(glad) PRO(me) ADV(very)

(That you are well makes me very glad)

Object Clause:

glæder mig ____ ______ ______ meget at du er rask.

adj(glad) PRO(me) ADV(very) PRO V(be) adj(well)

(I am very glad that you are well)

 Subordinate Relative Clauses Introduced by Relative Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

Der who, which, that

Som ho(m), which, that

Hvis whose

Hvem who(m)

Hvad that, which

Hvilken, hviiket, hvilke who(m), which

In Danish, there are two types of subordinate relative clauses such as Restrictive and Non-

Restrictive. Each type of clause has its particular characteristics and functions.

Restrictive Relative Clauses: These clauses are necessary to identify the correlative clause, which

means that they cannot be omitted. For instance;

Min kollega som bor pa Amager, tager bussen til arbejde.

PRO N(colleague) PRO(who) V(live) PREP N V(take) N(bus) PREP V(work).

(My colleague who lives on (the island of) Amager takes the bus to work.(one of several))
Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses: It is also called parenthetical clause. In this case the correlative

is known, so the relative clause provides extra information and can be omitted.

Min mor, som nuer meget gammel, bor pa plejehjem.

PRO N(mother) PRO(who) AUX ADV(very) adj(old) V(live) PREP N(nursing home)

(My mother, who is now very old, lives in a nursing home.)

Given the evidence, we can omit the information contained in the subordinate relative clause

without any problem for the sentence would not lose sense. For example:

Min mor bor pa plejehjem.

PRO N(mother) V(live) PREP N(nursing home)

(My mother lives in a nursing home.)

 Negation

Negation in Danish

Based on our research, we found that Danish has a particular form to mark negation. In this

sense, they have two words to mark negation ; for instance; ikke (not) and aldrig (never).On the

first hand; “To negate any verb the words ikke and aldrig are placed after the verb in simple verb

forms and after the auxiliary verb in the present perfect tense.” Examples:

Danish English

Han har skrevet (he has written) (Positive)

PRO AUX(has) V(write)

han ha ikke skrevet (he hasn’t written) (Negative)

PRO AUX(has) NEG V(write)

Han skrev (he wrote) (Positive)

PRO V(write)

Han skrev ikke (he didn’t write) (Negative)

PRO V(write) NEG

Peter vil aldrig gore det. (Peter will never do it) (Negative)

Peter AUX(will) NEG V PRO

On the other hand, there are some cases in which negation may come between the verb and the

subject in inverted statements in order to make contrast.

For example:

VERB SUBJECT

I dag kommer ikke kun Peter, men ogsa hans familie.

ADV V(come) NEG(not) CONJ(only) Peter CONJ(who) CONJ(also) PRO(his) N(family)

(Today it is not only Peter who is coming but also his family.)

According to the information taken from the book of Universidad of California “Specifying Who:

On the Structure, Meaning, and use of specificational Copular Clauses.” Danish has a word

nogen which is very similar to the English word any. This word is recognized as a Negative

Polarity Item (NPI) and it is located inside object phrases but not inside subject phrases. For

example:

Peter har ikke nogen hund

Peter V NEG(not) NEG(any) N(dog)

(Peter doesn’t have a dog)

But not:

* Nogen hund er ikke forsvundet

NEG(any) N(dog) V(be) NEG(not) V(disappeared)

(no dog has disappeared)

 Findings
 Declarative sentence have SVO Word Order

 Adverbial sentences invert the order of the Subject and the Verb.

 Yes/No and information questions invert the order of the Subject and the Verb.

 Command sentences apply a word order similar to English

 New information goes at end of the sentences

 The topic appears at the beginning on the sentence and often as the subject

 Old information appears somewhere in between of the sentence

 The passive construction involves promoting an object to subject.

 Danish uses “s” passive and “blive” passive

 Danish does not distinguish grammatical among semantic roles, what matters is the action that

undergoes in the sentence.

 In order to coordinate sentences this language uses coordinating conjunctions which link main

clauses and subordinate clauses.

 Main clauses and subordinate clauses have a different structure

 In Danish, main clauses present the following characteristics:

-A finite verb is mandatory.

-They usually have a subject.

-All positions can be left vacant except the one occupied by the finite verb.

-Position 1 is occupied most of the time by the subject.

-Position 1(front) is always occupied in statements and in hv-questions while it is

left vacant in yes/no questions.

 Subordinate clauses are understood as the elements of main clauses which can constitute and

occupy different positions in the whole sentence such as subject position, object position, and

other adverbial, in rare cases.

 In Danish, there are two types of subordinate relative clauses such as Restrictive and Non-

Restrictive.

 Restrictive relative clauses are necessary in the sentence, so they cannot be omitted.

 Non-restrictive relative clauses provide extra information and can be omitted.

 To negate any verb the words ikke and aldrig are placed after the verb in simple verb forms

and after the auxiliary verb in the present perfect tense.

 There are some cases in which negation may come between the verb and the subject in inverted

statements in order to make contrast.

 Nogen, which is very similar to the English word any is recognized as a Negative Polarity Item

(NPI) and it is located inside object phrases but not inside subject phrases.
 References
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