Thanks Brian :)

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <bm.brian@...> wrote:
>
> At 6:15:32 PM on Thursday, October 13, 2011, Hrafn wrote:
>
> > Hello everybody :b
>
> > I am working with "Jan Terje Faarlund - the syntax of old
> > norse". On page 60, he uses the term "conceptual unit".
> > And i would like to know what the definiation is.
>
> > If you dont have the book, i can tell the section is about
> > the genetive noun phrase. He point out the word order that
> > a pronoun (determiner) in genetive, sometimes precides the
> > noun.
>
> > And then he says:
>
> > This order is particularly common if the genitive and the
> > noun make up a conceptual unit:
>
> > (11)
>
> > a.
>
> > þar með gáfu Svíar honum Onundar nafn
> > there with gave.3p Swedes.n him.d Onund.g name.a
> > `In addition the Swedes gave him the name of Onund' (Hkr
> > II.194.14)
>
> > b. þat var á margra manna vitorði
> > that was on many men.g knowledge.d
> > `It was known by many men' (Hkr II.206.14)
>
> I don't think that there is a clearcut, strict definition of
> 'conceptual unit': conceptual unity is a matter of degree,
> not an either/or kind of thing. The idea is that the phrase
> consisting of the genitive and the noun is a semantic unit,
> that it refers to something that one might naturally talk
> about. This seems to me quite clear in the first example:
> people have names, and 'Onund's name' is a natural thing to
> talk about. 'The tree's name' would be much less natural,
> and I suspect that Old Norse would normally use <nafn
> trésins>, not <trésins nafn>. 'Many men's knowledge' is
> perhaps a little lower on the conceptual unity scale, but
> it's still a pretty natural concept.
>
> Brian
>