The definite article and demonstrative determiners in transitional icelandic: a case study in Oddur Gottskálksson's New Testament, Matthew 1-17

Abstract

In this paper I address the use of demonstrative determiners in the first known translation of the New Testament into Icelandic - that of Oddur Gottskálksson, published in 1540. This thesis is chiefly concerned with what identifiable semantic purpose these determiners serve in the language of Oddur, and what this can tell us about this transitional period between Classical Old Icelandic and the Icelandic of today. However, I argue that this translation is heavily influenced by the language of the Vulgate Bible, and so caution must be exercised in attributing all its forms to the spoken Icelandic of the period.