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Re: Natlag: Middle English impersonal verbs

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Sunday, March 12, 2006, 5:08
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Leigh" <thomas@...>

> Sally Caves skrifaði: > >>> Auðvitað! There are some verbs constructed with an accusative >>> > subject and a whole bunch that take a dative subject, though >>> _mig dreymir_ "I dream", _mig langar_ "I long for", _mér líkar_ >> >> Sooo cognate with Old English. > > I know! I'm currently on a serious Icelandic kick (augmented by having > gone there for a half-week's vacation a couple of weeks ago!) and the > similarities with OE are so striking. I wish I hadn't forgotten all my > OE, or I'd probably be making more progress with the Icelandic!
Hey, Thomas. Nice to see you, again. I have a student who is in Iceland AS WE SPEAK. Her first trip. As for me all jealous. Yry... forgot the word.
>> Also in the "Wife's Lament," ond mec longade. >> And it longed to me/I was in longing. > > Cool! I didn't realize (or rather, didn't remember, as I did read the > poem in OE class all those years ago) that OE had the exact same > construction, same verb! > >> So, likar is cognate with >> lician, but it means "long for"? > > _líka_ means "please", "be pleasing to": _mér líkar það_ "I like that". > Also _mér líkar vel/illa við hann_ "I get along well/badly with him". > _Langa_ means "want", "long to/for": _mig langar til að fara til > Íslands_ "I want/long to go to Iceland".
You rock, kiddo. I thought this was more like it.
>> "I like" are the only ones I can recall off the top of my head. >> _Mér tekur á bakið/haus/..._ "My back/head/... hurts" is a >> borderline case, I think. > > The other one that springs immediately to mind is _mér finnst_ "I > think", "it seems to me" (lit. "it finds itself to me"). I'm sure a > perusal of the dictionary would find plenty more; Icelandic does seem to > like the impersonal verbs!
Us needs more and more of these. Sally