Chapter 14. Exploring the role of information structure in the word order variation of Old English verb-particle combinations

2017 ◽  
pp. 311-333
Author(s):  
Marion Elenbaas
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Role Of Information ◽  
English Verb

Topic, focus, and discourse structure

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Matić
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Discourse Structure ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Information Packaging ◽  
One To One ◽  
Free Word ◽  
Free Variation

It is commonly assumed that word order in free word order languages is determined by a simple topic – focus dichotomy. Analysis of data from Ancient Greek, a language with an extreme word order flexibility, reveals that matters are more complex: the parameters of discourse structure and semantics interact with information packaging and are thus indirectly also responsible for word order variation. Furthermore, Ancient Greek displays a number of synonymous word order patterns, which points to the co-existence of pragmatic determinedness and free variation in this language. The strict one-to-one correspondence between word order and information structure, assumed for the languages labelled discourse configurational, thus turns out to be only one of the possible relationships between form and pragmatic content.

scholarly journals Sõnajärg, infostruktuur ja objekti kääne eesti keeles

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ogren
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Relevant Parameter ◽  
Order Information ◽  
Boundedness Criterion ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
The Relationship

Objekti kääne eesti keeles oleneb eelkõige tegevuse ja objekti piiritle- (ma)tusest, kuid da-infinitiiviga konstruktsioonides leidub palju varieerumist objekti käändes, mida ei ole võimalik seletada piiritletuse mõiste abil. Suur osa sellest varieerumisest on seotud sõnajärjega: da-infinitiivile järgnev objekti on pigem totaalne, infinitiivile eelnev objekt on pigem partsiaalne. Artiklis vaadeldakse seoseid sõnajärje ja objekti käände vahel neljas sagedases da-infinitiiviga konstruktsioonis. Kuna eesti keele sõnajärg sõltub suuresti infostruktuurist, uuritakse, kas ja kuivõrd on sõnajärjega seotud varieerumine seletatav infostruktuuriliste parameetrite abil. Jõutakse järeldusele, et objekti käände varieerumist ei mõjuta mitte infostruktuur, vaid sõnajärg ise. Artikli lõpuosas arutletakse selle üle, miks võiks sõnajärg üldse mõjutada objekti käänet ning miks selle mõju piirdub infiniitsete konstruktsioonidega.Abstract. David Ogren: Word order, information structure and object case in Estonian. While object case in Estonian depends primarily on the boundedness of the action and the object nominal, numerous constructions with da-infinitive verb forms exhibit object case variation that cannot be explained by the boundedness criterion. A considerable amount of this variation is related to word order: VO word order in the da-infinitive phrase favors the use of the total object, OV word order favors the partial object. The article examines the relationship between word order and object case in four common da-infinitive constructions. As word order in Estonian is heavily dependent on information structure, the article also investigates whether the relationship between word order and object case can be explained by information-structural features, and finds that the relevant parameter is in fact not information structure, but rather word order itself. The article closes with a discussion of the possible explanations for the relationship between word order and object case and for why this relationship is found only in non-finite constructions.Keywords: object case, da-infinitive, information structure, word order, variation, analogy

Syntactic and Prosodic Reflexes of Information Structure in Germanic

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisbert Fanselow
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Left Edge ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Finite Verb

This chapter deals with syntactic and prosodic reflexes of information structure in the Germanic languages. It begins with an overview of givenness and word order variation in the TP, along with aboutness topics and the prosodic prominence of topics and foci. It then considers the postulation of a focus head in Germanic and how contrast seems to intensify the acoustic properties of topics and foci. It shows how the left edge of verb second clauses acts as a slot for placing contrastive elements in all Germanic languages, but that the position is also filled on purely formal grounds. The article also describes the conditions of information structure that decide whether an XP can go to the position preceding the finite verb/auxiliary in the verb second (V2) constructions. Finally, it discusses two types of V2 constructions: unrestricted V2 constructions and pragmatically restricted V2 constructions.

Adnominal adjectives in Old English

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAGMAR HAUMANN
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Adjectival Inflection ◽  
Order Variation

Even though adnominal adjectives in Old English are distributionally versatile in that they may precede, follow or flank the noun they modify, their positioning is not random but follows from systematic interpretive contrasts between pre- and postnominal adjectives, such as ‘attribution vs predication’, ‘individual-level vs stage-level reading’ and ‘restrictive vs non-restrictive modification’. These contrasts are largely independent of adjectival inflection (pace Fischer 2000, 2001, 2006). The placement of adnominal adjectives in Old English is investigated in relation to recent comparative and theoretical studies on word order and word order variation (see Cinque 2007; Larson & Marušič 2004).

The Relevance of the principle of Relevance for Word Order Variation in Complex Referring Expressions in Mandarin Chinese

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Chen ◽  
Tao Ming ◽  
Xiangyu Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Corpus Data

AbstractWord order variation in Mandarin Chinese results in two constructions consisting of a noun phrase (NP), a cluster of a demonstrative and a classifier (DM), and a relative clause (RC): the OMN with the RC+DM+NP order and the IMN with DM+RC+NP order. This study used corpus data to show correlational patterns of constructional choices. Specifically, OMN is associated with new and inanimate NPs serving the grammatical role of object in the relative clause that serves the discourse function of identification. By contrast, for IMN, the head NP tends to carry given information, tends to be an animate entity, tends to serve the grammatical role of subject in the relative clause, and tends to have an RC that serves the discourse function of characterization. We suggest that the usage patterns can be interpreted in terms of the cognitive and communicative principles of relevance (Sperber and Wilson 1995).

scholarly journals Translating and Exegeting Hebrew Poetry: Illustrated with Psalm 70

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-60
Author(s):  
Christian Locatell
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Hebrew Poetry ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Coherence Relations ◽  
Order Variation

Biblical Hebrew (BH) poetry poses unique challenges to translators and exegetes because of its often complex textual development, its defamiliarized mode of communication, and its understudied relationship to its co-text. While a comprehensive analysis is welcomed for any discourse type, the unique challenges of BH poetry call for a holistic approach that marshals insights from the extra-linguistic setting, co-text, and multifaceted discourse features. The method of discourse analysis proposed by Wendland (1994) seems to provide a helpful framework for such investigation. Applying this approach to Psalm 70—a short, but incredibly multifaceted text—reveals the value of this sort of comprehensive, interdisciplinary analysis. Additionally, following the application of Lambrecht’s (1994) theory of information structure (IS) to BH by Van der Merwe et al. (forthcoming), I propose that the Psalms may use parallel word order variation patterns beyond their IS purposes to create coherence relations at the discourse level.

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