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Topichood and the Margins of the German Clause from a Historical Perspective

  • Augustin Speyer
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Architecture of Topic
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Architecture of Topic

Abstract

German sentence structure offers two clause-peripheral positions, the left-peripheral prefield and the right-peripheral postfield. The content of both is determined by information structural constraints. The prefield especially is often seen as topic position. A closer look into the history reveals that the prefield started as a position specialized for familiar aboutness topics in pre-Old High German, but became more permissive over time, eventually allowing for anything that establishes a link to the context. Likewise, the postfield, a designated position for constituents bearing presentational focus, widened its application range to anything that bears some focus (including contrastive foci). The development of the fields towards less information structural specialization is interpreted as a process of ‘bleaching’, in that the semanto-pragmatic feature content of elements that are compatible with the fields is reduced, until only few features are left.

Abstract

German sentence structure offers two clause-peripheral positions, the left-peripheral prefield and the right-peripheral postfield. The content of both is determined by information structural constraints. The prefield especially is often seen as topic position. A closer look into the history reveals that the prefield started as a position specialized for familiar aboutness topics in pre-Old High German, but became more permissive over time, eventually allowing for anything that establishes a link to the context. Likewise, the postfield, a designated position for constituents bearing presentational focus, widened its application range to anything that bears some focus (including contrastive foci). The development of the fields towards less information structural specialization is interpreted as a process of ‘bleaching’, in that the semanto-pragmatic feature content of elements that are compatible with the fields is reduced, until only few features are left.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  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/10.1515/9781501504488-012

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  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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Heruntergeladen am 21.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501504488-012/html
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