Clausal Architecture and Subject Positions

Impersonal constructions in the Germanic languages

Author

Sabine Mohr | University of Stuttgart

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027233523 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027293992 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

This book offers a comparative study of the Germanic languages. It promotes a new approach to the OV vs. VO classification, according to which all clauses have a universal base where the internal argument is always merged in SpecVP. Word order differences and their correlates result from an interaction of checking conditions, the EPP and different types of verb movement, and from parametric variation concerning the location of the subject of predication in the I- or in the C-system. In the discussion of a range of impersonal constructions in German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Icelandic, the Mainland Scandinavian languages and English, it is shown that crosslinguistic variation as regards, e.g., the distribution of the expletive in impersonal passives and the occurrence of a Definiteness Effect in Transitive Expletive Constructions is mainly due to the choice of different kinds of 'expletive' elements (each associated with different featural make-ups which force them to show up in different positions), namely true expletives, event arguments and quasi-arguments, whereas expletive pro is shown not to exist.

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 88] 2005. viii, 207 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.88

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements | p. viii

I. Introduction

0. Introduction | pp. 3–8

II. Clausal architecture and the EPP

1. Subject positions and the EPP: The evolution of the two concepts | pp. 11–39

2. The EPP and the Extension Condition | pp. 40–54

3. Clause structure | pp. 55–76

4. Checking | pp. 77–101

5. The 'universal EPP' on T | pp. 102–109

6. Summary | pp. 110–112

III. Impersonal constructions and subject positions

7. The constructions to be discussed and previous accounts | pp. 115–133

8. The derivation of presentational sentences and impersonal passives | pp. 134–174

9. Constructions involving quasi-arguments (or not) | pp. 175–188

10. Summary | pp. 189–191

IV. Conclusion

11. Conclusion | pp. 195–198

Index | pp. 205–207

Cited by

Cited by 12 other publications

Order by:

Abraham, Werner & Elisabeth Leiss

2006. Personal and Impersonal Passives: Definite vs. Indefinite Diatheses. Transactions of the Philological Society 104:2 ► pp. 259 ff.

Anderssen, Merete, Kristine Bentzen, Guro Busterud, Anne Dahl, Björn Lundquist & Marit Westergaard

2018. The acquisition of word order in L2 Norwegian: The case of subject and object shift. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 41:3 ► pp. 247 ff.

Anderssen, Merete, Kristine Bentzen, Yulia Rodina & Marit Westergaard

2010. The Acquisition of Apparent Optionality: Word Order in Subject and Object Shift Constructions in Norwegian. In Variation in the Input [Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, 39], ► pp. 241 ff.

Anderssen, Merete, Kristine Bentzen & Yulia Rodina

2012. Topicality and Complexity in the Acquisition of Norwegian Object Shift. Language Acquisition 19:1 ► pp. 39 ff.

Anderssen, Merete & Marit Westergaard

2020. Word order variation in heritage languages. In Lost in Transmission [Studies in Bilingualism, 59], ► pp. 100 ff.

Bentzen, Kristine

2009. Subject positions and their interaction with verb movement*. Studia Linguistica 63:3 ► pp. 261 ff.

Kucerová, Ivona

2012. The T-Extension Condition. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 57:3 ► pp. 387 ff.

RINGSTAD, Tina & Marit WESTERGAARD

2023. Children’s acquisition of word order variation: A study of subject placement in embedded clauses in Norwegian. Journal of Child Language ► pp. 1 ff.

Roos, Mikko

2011. A Phase Extension Approach to Double Object Constructions – Evidence from Modern Greek*. Studia Linguistica 65:2 ► pp. 147 ff.

Sigurðsson, Halldór Ármann

2010. On EPP effects*. Studia Linguistica 64:2 ► pp. 159 ff.

van Craenenbroeck, Jeroen

2022. Dutch specCP-expletives are main clause complementizers. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 25:3 ► pp. 385 ff.

Westergaard, Marit

2011. Subject positions and information structure: the effect of frequency on acquisition and change. Studia Linguistica 65:3 ► pp. 299 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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