Rightward Movement in a Comparative Perspective

This article contributes to a better understanding of the syntax-phonology interface. It offers a prosodic trigger for extraposition which accounts for the following asymmetry: While extraposition of subject, adjunct and attributive clauses is optional in German, object clauses must appear in the ri...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Webelhuth, Gert, Sailer, Manfred, Walker, Heike
Format eBook Book
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam John Benjamins Publishing Company 2013
J. Benjamins
John Benjamins
Edition1
SeriesLinguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today
Subjects
Armed Forces
Civil War, 1967-1970
Complement
Corpus linguistics
Demobilization
Generative linguistics
Grammar, Comparative and general
Grammar, Comparative and general > Complement
Grammar, Comparative and general > Syntax
Grammar, Comparative and general > Topic and comment
History
Language
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
Nigeria
Peace
Psycholinguistics
Semantics
Syntax
Theoretical linguistics
Topic and comment
Online AccessGet full text
ISBN9027290636
9789027290632
9027255830
9789027255839
DOI10.1075/la.200

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Summary:This article contributes to a better understanding of the syntax-phonology interface. It offers a prosodic trigger for extraposition which accounts for the following asymmetry: While extraposition of subject, adjunct and attributive clauses is optional in German, object clauses must appear in the right periphery of the clause. It is argued that the constituents following an object clause in its preverbal base-position cannot be a parsed into phonological phrases. Such a configuration causes a defective prosodic clause structure. This deficiency is resolved by extraposition, which derives a structure where the formerly unparsed constituents now incorporate into the preceding prosodic constituent. Extraposition is thus considered a last resort strategy.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:9027290636
9789027290632
9027255830
9789027255839
DOI:10.1075/la.200