Reflexive sentences with la 'let' in Norwegian – active or passive?

Abstract

This article discusses Norwegian sentences such as Helge lar seg ikke stoppe ‘Helge lets REFL not stop’. The second verb raises a difficult question: It does not have passive morphology, but it seems to share properties with passive verbs. This problem has been discussed for corresponding constructions in e.g. German and French. I focus on the Norwegian data, and argue that it is necessary to consider this kind of sentences to be passive. I also discuss how to implement this view within an LFG conception of complex predicates.