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Information-structural Constraints on PP Topicalization from NPs

  • Kordula De Kuthy and Andreas Konietzko
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Architecture of Topic
This chapter is in the book Architecture of Topic

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss PP extraction from complex NPs such as [Aus Tübingen]i haben [mehrere Studenten ti] am Forschungswettbewerb teilgenommen. (‘From Tübingen have several students in the research contest participated’). Extractions from complex NPs are difficult to capture since they are subject to various restrictions related to the syntactic status of the extracted PP, the semantic relation between the verb and the complex NP, and the type of verb involved. In this paper, we will concentrate on one particular kind of extraction, the PP topicalization from NPs. This PP topicalization has been shown to be dependent on an appropriate context. In order to account for the discourse properties of the construction, we present an account based on the Questions under Discussion (QUD) approach to information structure. Modeling QUDs is starting to emerge as a fruitful way to define an explicit hinge between the properties of the sentence and the nature of the discourse in which the sentence can function. The proposed QUD analysis is based on attested data from corpora, which is supplemented by experimental evidence.

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss PP extraction from complex NPs such as [Aus Tübingen]i haben [mehrere Studenten ti] am Forschungswettbewerb teilgenommen. (‘From Tübingen have several students in the research contest participated’). Extractions from complex NPs are difficult to capture since they are subject to various restrictions related to the syntactic status of the extracted PP, the semantic relation between the verb and the complex NP, and the type of verb involved. In this paper, we will concentrate on one particular kind of extraction, the PP topicalization from NPs. This PP topicalization has been shown to be dependent on an appropriate context. In order to account for the discourse properties of the construction, we present an account based on the Questions under Discussion (QUD) approach to information structure. Modeling QUDs is starting to emerge as a fruitful way to define an explicit hinge between the properties of the sentence and the nature of the discourse in which the sentence can function. The proposed QUD analysis is based on attested data from corpora, which is supplemented by experimental evidence.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Exploring the Architecture of Topic at the Interface of Grammar and Discourse 1
  5. Part I: Semantic and Discourse-pragmatic Correlates of Topicality
  6. Topics and Givenness 47
  7. The Role of Topics in Licensing Anaphoric Relations in VP-ellipsis 67
  8. Topic Marking and Illocutionary Force 95
  9. Topics, Conversational Dynamics and the Root/Non-root Distinction: Adverbial Clauses at the Discourse-syntax Interface 139
  10. Part II: Variation in the Grammatical Encoding of Topicality: Clause-internal, Clause-external and Null Topics
  11. Why Topicalize VP? 173
  12. Information-structural Constraints on PP Topicalization from NPs 203
  13. Stage Topics and their Architecture 223
  14. Topicality in Icelandic: Null Arguments and Narrative Inversion 249
  15. Apropos the Topic 273
  16. Discourse Topic vs. Sentence Topic Exploiting the Right Periphery of German Verb-second Sentences 293
  17. PART III: Topics from the Diachronic Perspective
  18. Topichood and the Margins of the German Clause from a Historical Perspective 337
  19. Stylistic Fronting at the Interface of Syntax and Discourse 373
  20. Index 425
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501504488-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Exploring the Architecture of Topic at the Interface of Grammar and Discourse 1
  5. Part I: Semantic and Discourse-pragmatic Correlates of Topicality
  6. Topics and Givenness 47
  7. The Role of Topics in Licensing Anaphoric Relations in VP-ellipsis 67
  8. Topic Marking and Illocutionary Force 95
  9. Topics, Conversational Dynamics and the Root/Non-root Distinction: Adverbial Clauses at the Discourse-syntax Interface 139
  10. Part II: Variation in the Grammatical Encoding of Topicality: Clause-internal, Clause-external and Null Topics
  11. Why Topicalize VP? 173
  12. Information-structural Constraints on PP Topicalization from NPs 203
  13. Stage Topics and their Architecture 223
  14. Topicality in Icelandic: Null Arguments and Narrative Inversion 249
  15. Apropos the Topic 273
  16. Discourse Topic vs. Sentence Topic Exploiting the Right Periphery of German Verb-second Sentences 293
  17. PART III: Topics from the Diachronic Perspective
  18. Topichood and the Margins of the German Clause from a Historical Perspective 337
  19. Stylistic Fronting at the Interface of Syntax and Discourse 373
  20. Index 425
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