Productivity of Non-Default Case

This article is about productivity of non-default patterns in grammar. More specifically it is about the extension of non-default case patterns in syntax to novel items. The study draws on data from Icelandic syntax but addresses general questions about the nature of productivity. Contributions are made to the picture of Icelandic case by presenting new data from natural and experimental sources and those are discussed within the context of the Variational Model of language acquisition. The main claim is that all case marking is based on productive rules, contrary to previous accounts, demanding a rethinking of such notions as the so-called quirky-case. This approach also provides a formal explanation of the nature of Dative Substitution, a well-known morphosyntactic change. 1