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There is no OBJECT SHIFT, just a GENERAL SHIFT, and independent constraining principles

Josefsson, Gunlög LU (2010) In Tampa Papers in Linguistics 1. p.13-29
Abstract
There is a propensity in many languages for elements that represent backgrounded and/or given information to show up in the middle field, a tendency that I term SHIFT. In this paper I argue that Object Shift and the raising of certain adverbials to the middle field in Swedish is due to this general propensity. SHIFT applies across the board, but language-specific principles, such as Constituent Order Rules, may block its application. An example of a reordering restriction is that an operation must not result in a constituent order for which the phonological module cannot supply a prosodic pattern, for example an OV pattern in a VO language. Another restriction is that a reordering operation must not result in a violation of the Case... (More)
There is a propensity in many languages for elements that represent backgrounded and/or given information to show up in the middle field, a tendency that I term SHIFT. In this paper I argue that Object Shift and the raising of certain adverbials to the middle field in Swedish is due to this general propensity. SHIFT applies across the board, but language-specific principles, such as Constituent Order Rules, may block its application. An example of a reordering restriction is that an operation must not result in a constituent order for which the phonological module cannot supply a prosodic pattern, for example an OV pattern in a VO language. Another restriction is that a reordering operation must not result in a violation of the Case filter. Holmberg’s generalization (cf. Holmberg 1999) does not describe a restriction on Object Shift per se, but is a consequence of a more general rule which states that VO-languages (such as the Scandinavian languages) do not allow an OV constituent order in the IP-VP domain. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
directionality parameter, prosody, OV/VO, information structure, long object shift, object shift
in
Tampa Papers in Linguistics
volume
1
pages
13 - 29
publisher
Department of World Languages, University of South Florida
ISSN
2155-1022
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Swedish (015011001)
id
99fa1dff-acfc-47b5-8164-835dd8792e99 (old id 1744732)
alternative location
http://www.tampalinguistics.org/TPL/Volume%201.1%20(Fall%202010)/Josefsson.pdf
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:19:31
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:25:38
@article{99fa1dff-acfc-47b5-8164-835dd8792e99,
  abstract     = {{There is a propensity in many languages for elements that represent backgrounded and/or given information to show up in the middle field, a tendency that I term SHIFT. In this paper I argue that Object Shift and the raising of certain adverbials to the middle field in Swedish is due to this general propensity. SHIFT applies across the board, but language-specific principles, such as Constituent Order Rules, may block its application. An example of a reordering restriction is that an operation must not result in a constituent order for which the phonological module cannot supply a prosodic pattern, for example an OV pattern in a VO language. Another restriction is that a reordering operation must not result in a violation of the Case filter. Holmberg’s generalization (cf. Holmberg 1999) does not describe a restriction on Object Shift per se, but is a consequence of a more general rule which states that VO-languages (such as the Scandinavian languages) do not allow an OV constituent order in the IP-VP domain.}},
  author       = {{Josefsson, Gunlög}},
  issn         = {{2155-1022}},
  keywords     = {{directionality parameter; prosody; OV/VO; information structure; long object shift; object shift}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{13--29}},
  publisher    = {{Department of World Languages, University of South Florida}},
  series       = {{Tampa Papers in Linguistics}},
  title        = {{There is no OBJECT SHIFT, just a GENERAL SHIFT, and independent constraining principles}},
  url          = {{http://www.tampalinguistics.org/TPL/Volume%201.1%20(Fall%202010)/Josefsson.pdf}},
  volume       = {{1}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}