On the variable nature of head final effects in German and English
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Roland Hinterhölzl
Abstract
The paper investigates head final effects (HF-effects) in German and English and argues that the syntactic configuration that underlies them gives rise to three different types of violations in the interfaces. It is shown that HF-effects are either morphological or prosodic in nature. A diagnostics – morphological versus syntactic displacement – is established that allows to connect HF-effects to their relevant interface conditions. The prosodic conditions on word order are then argued to be twofold: they involve a condition on heavy constituents, on the one hand, and a condition on the mapping of syntactic constituents onto prosodic constituents respecting the Strict Layer Hypothesis, on the other hand. Finally, I argue that a pure syntactic condition, like the Final-over-Final Constraint proposed by Biberauer, Holmberg and Roberts (2007 and 2014) is inedaquate to account for the variable nature of HF-effects.
Abstract
The paper investigates head final effects (HF-effects) in German and English and argues that the syntactic configuration that underlies them gives rise to three different types of violations in the interfaces. It is shown that HF-effects are either morphological or prosodic in nature. A diagnostics – morphological versus syntactic displacement – is established that allows to connect HF-effects to their relevant interface conditions. The prosodic conditions on word order are then argued to be twofold: they involve a condition on heavy constituents, on the one hand, and a condition on the mapping of syntactic constituents onto prosodic constituents respecting the Strict Layer Hypothesis, on the other hand. Finally, I argue that a pure syntactic condition, like the Final-over-Final Constraint proposed by Biberauer, Holmberg and Roberts (2007 and 2014) is inedaquate to account for the variable nature of HF-effects.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
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Part one: Synchronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Germanic and Romance onset clusters – how to account for microvariation 25
- The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions 53
- Adverb and participle agreement 89
- Why a bed can be slept in but not under 119
- Deriving idiolectal variation 145
- On the variable nature of head final effects in German and English 177
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Part two: Diachronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Variation and change in Italian phonology 205
- Which clues for which V2 237
- Parameter typology from a diachronic perspective 259
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Part three: On the relationship between language variation and language change in bilingual settings
- Attrition at the interfaces in bilectal acquisition (Italian/Gallipolino) 295
- Little v and cross-linguistic variation 317
- On language acquisition and language change 337
- Index 371
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part one: Synchronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Germanic and Romance onset clusters – how to account for microvariation 25
- The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions 53
- Adverb and participle agreement 89
- Why a bed can be slept in but not under 119
- Deriving idiolectal variation 145
- On the variable nature of head final effects in German and English 177
-
Part two: Diachronic variation in phonology and syntax
- Variation and change in Italian phonology 205
- Which clues for which V2 237
- Parameter typology from a diachronic perspective 259
-
Part three: On the relationship between language variation and language change in bilingual settings
- Attrition at the interfaces in bilectal acquisition (Italian/Gallipolino) 295
- Little v and cross-linguistic variation 317
- On language acquisition and language change 337
- Index 371
