LÖYTYÄ-VERBIN KONSTRUKTIOIDEN YHTEYDESSÄ ESIINTYVÄ SUBJEKTIN SIJANVAIHTELU.

This article examines the nominative-partitive subject alternation occurring with constructions containing the Finnish verb löytyä. The material used is taken from corpora and consists of a random sample of 779 observations, analyzed both quantitatively by means of statistical methods, and from a qualitative point of view. The research aims at investigating which variables influence the case alternation of subjects of constructions containing the verb löytyä. The chosen variables are subject number, subject divisibility, subject part of speech, word order, tense, agreement and subject lemma, the only random variable. With the help of regression analysis, the subject case is predicted on the basis of said variables and of interactions between them. The qualitative analysis will also discuss the relationship these morphosyntactic and semantic variables have with the existential interpretations of the clause as well as with the subject quantity and definiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]