Parameters of Predicate Fronting (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax)

✍ Scribed by Vera Lee-Schoenfeld (editor), Dennis Ott (editor)

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 234
• Series: Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Many of the world's languages permit or require clause-initial positioning of the primary predicate, potentially alongside some or all of its dependents. While such predicate fronting (where "fronting" may or may not involve movement) is a widespread phenomenon, it is also subject to intricate and largely unexplained variation.

In Parameters of Predicate Fronting, Vera Lee-Schoenfeld and Dennis Ott bring together leaders in the field of comparative syntax to explore the empirical manifestations and theoretical modelling of predicate fronting across languages. There exists by now a rich literature on predicate fronting, but few attempts have been made at synthesizing the resulting empirical observations and theoretical implementations. While individual phenomena have been described in some detail, we are currently far from a complete understanding of the uniformity and variation underlying the wider cross-linguistic picture. This volume takes steps towards this goal by showcasing the state of the art in research on predicate fronting and the parameters governing its realization in a range of diverse languages. Covering topics like prosody, VP-fronting, and predicate doubling across a wide arrange of languages, including English, German, Malagasy, Niuean, Ch'ol, Asante, Twi, Limbum, Krachi, Hebrew, and multiple sign languages, this collection enriches our understanding of the predicate fronting phenomenon.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Contributors
CHAPTER 1 Parameters of predicate fronting: Introduction to the volume
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 PREDICATE FRONTING: AN OVERVIEW
1.3 THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS VOLUME
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 2 Verb phrase I-topics in German
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 METHODS
2.2.1 Participants
2.2.2 Stimuli
2.2.3 Procedure
2.3 RESULTS
2.3.1 Boundary Strength
2.3.2 Boundary Tone
2.3.3 Nominal Pitch Accents
2.3.4 Realizations of the Hat Contour
2.3.4.1 The hat contour in one-argument verb phrases
2.3.4.2 The hat contour in two-argument verb phrases
2.4 CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 3 VP-fronting within a movement typology
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 FEATURE-BASED MOVEMENT TYPOLOGY
3.3 SPINAL A-MOVEMENT
3.3.1 VP-Fronting: English
3.3.2 The Feature: English
3.4 SPINAL A-MOVEMENT
3.4.1 VP-Fronting: Niuean
3.4.2 The Feature: Niuean
3.4.3 A Problem Solved
3.4.4 Interim Summary and Looking Ahead
3.5 SPINAL C-MOVEMENT
3.5.1 VP-Fronting: Malagasy
3.5.2 The Feature: Malagasy
3.6 CATEGORIAL MOVEMENT FEEDS A-MOVEMENT
3.7 SPINAL MOVEMENT MORE GENERALLY
3.8 ADDING HEAD-MOVEMENT TO THE MOVEMENT TYPOLOGY
3.9 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 4 The use of prosody as a diagnostic for syntactic structure: The case of verb-initial order
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 VSO/VOS ALTERNATIONS IN CH’OL AND NIUEAN
4.2.1 Ch’ol VSO/VOS
4.2.2 Niuean VSO/VOS
4.2.3 Comparing Word Order Alternations in Ch’ol and Niuean
4.3 TOWARD TESTABLE PROSODIC PREDICTIONS
4.3.1 Competing Accounts
4.3.1.1 Right-side specifiers
4.3.1.2 VP-raising
4.3.1.3 V0-raising
4.3.2 Syntax-Prosody Mapping
4.3.2.1 Right-side specifiers
4.3.2.2 VP-raising
4.3.2.3 V0-raising
4.3.3 Interim Discussion
4.4 THE DATA
4.4.1 Ch’ol
4.4.1.1 Methodology
4.4.1.2 Results
4.4.2 Niuean
4.4.2.1 Methodology
4.4.2.2 Results
4.4.3 Interim Summary
4.5 DIFFERENTIATING VERB-MOVEMENT ACCOUNTS
4.6 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 5 V(P)-fronting in Asante Twi and Limbum
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 TWO GAP AVOIDANCE STRATEGIES
5.3 GAP AVOIDANCE PATTERNS IN V(P)-FRONTING
5.4 V(P)-FRONTING IN ASANTE TWI AND LIMBUM
5.4.1 Asante Twi
5.4.2 Limbum
5.5 ANALYSIS
5.5.1 Background Assumptions
5.5.2 Proposal
5.5.3 Symmetric Verb Doubling
5.5.4 Symmetric Dummy Verb Insertion
5.5.5 The Asymmetric Pattern
5.5.6 The Unattested Pattern
5.6 EVIDENCE FOR CLAUSE B. OF COPY DELETION
5.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 6 Predicate fronting with verb doubling in Krachi: A parallel chains analysis
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT KRACHI CLAUSE STRUCTURE
6.3 SIMPLE V FOCUS
6.3.1 Core Properties of Krachi Predicate Fronting, as Illustrated by Simple V Focus
6.3.2 Analysis
6.3.2.1 One V Chain
6.3.2.2 Two V Chains
6.4 EXTENDING THE ANALYSIS TO VO AND OV FOCUS
6.4.1 VO Focus
6.4.2 OV Focus
6.5 REFINING THE ANALYSIS
6.5.1 Simple V Focus Redux
6.5.2 VO Focus Redux
6.5.3 OV Focus Redux
6.6 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 7 Predicate doubling by phonological copying
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.1.1 Two Sources for Copies
7.1.2 Against a Filtering Approach
7.1.2.1 Submorphemic Material
7.1.2.2 Copies without movement
7.1.2.3 Linearization
7.1.2.4 Size restrictions
7.1.2.5 Adjacency
7.2 PREDICATE DOUBLING
7.2.1 Standard Cases of Predicate Doubling
7.2.2 Predicate Doubling and Do-Support in German
7.2.3 Predicate Doubling in Asante Twi
APPENDIX: WHY PREDICATE FRONTING MUST INVOLVE VPS IN GERMAN
A.1. CATEGORIAL SELECTIVITY
A.1.1 DERIVING (21) VIA SCRAMBLING
A.1.2 DERIVING (21) VIA EXTRAPOSITION
A.2. UNEXPECTED ANTI-FREEZING
A.2.1. DERIVING (31D) VIA EXTRAPOSITION
A.2.2. DERIVING (31D) VIA SCRAMBLING
A.3. DOES SCRAMBLING EXIST?
A.4. CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 8 Clause-initial Vs in sign languages: Scene-setters
8.1 INTRODUCTION
8.2 GENERAL CAVEATS
8.3 DATA TO BE CONSIDERED
8.4 OTHER WORK ON WORD ORDER AND OUR HYPOTHESIS
8.5 DATA SETS
8.6 RESULTS
8.6.1 Results on Interviews in Libras
8.6.2 Results on Narratives in Auslan, BSL, NLT, and STS
8.7 ADDITIONAL RESULTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF CLAUSES IN WHICH THE FIRST ARTICULATED ELEMENT WAS A V NOT PERTINENT TO OUR HYPOTHESIS
APPENDIX B: FLANKING STRUCTURES
APPENDIX C: GLOSSES OF TEXT EXAMPLES IN AMBIENT SPOKENLANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
APPENDIX D: DETAILS ON TABLE 8.2
REFERENCES
INDEX