A prosodic constraint on prenominal modification
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Hisao Tokizaki
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that the word order patterns of the prenominal modification structures across languages are regulated by the universal prosodic constraint we propose; No Prosodic Boundary (NPB) bans the structure in which a modifier and the modified head is separated by a prosodic boundary (i.e. * ... M... / ... H ...). Together with the baremapping algorithmproposed in Tokizaki (1999, 2008a), according towhich syntactic brackets (both right and left) are interpreted as prosodic boundaries (/), our proposal accounts for the contrast between *a [sleeping [on the sofa]] baby vs. ein [[inMunchen] wohnhafter] Kunstler, without recourse to such syntactic constraints as head final filter or head adjacency condition. Our analysis can also be extended to prenominal modification structures in Russian and phrasal compounds in languages such as English or German. If our analysis is on the right track, it enables us to account for phenomena pertaining to word order by way of constraints operating outside the narrow syntactic component, thus contributing to one of theminimalist theses that syntax is universal, only hierarchically organized without linear information.
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that the word order patterns of the prenominal modification structures across languages are regulated by the universal prosodic constraint we propose; No Prosodic Boundary (NPB) bans the structure in which a modifier and the modified head is separated by a prosodic boundary (i.e. * ... M... / ... H ...). Together with the baremapping algorithmproposed in Tokizaki (1999, 2008a), according towhich syntactic brackets (both right and left) are interpreted as prosodic boundaries (/), our proposal accounts for the contrast between *a [sleeping [on the sofa]] baby vs. ein [[inMunchen] wohnhafter] Kunstler, without recourse to such syntactic constraints as head final filter or head adjacency condition. Our analysis can also be extended to prenominal modification structures in Russian and phrasal compounds in languages such as English or German. If our analysis is on the right track, it enables us to account for phenomena pertaining to word order by way of constraints operating outside the narrow syntactic component, thus contributing to one of theminimalist theses that syntax is universal, only hierarchically organized without linear information.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Prosody in syntactic encoding 1
- Sentence stress in presidential speeches 17
- German case ambiguities at the interface: Production and comprehension 51
- Ambiguity resolution via the syntax-prosody interface: The case of kya ‘what’ in Urdu/Hindi 85
- Focus structure affects comparatives: Experimental and corpus work 119
- The ordering of interface mapping rules in German object fronting 159
- Interaction at the syntax–prosody interface 189
- Syntacticizing intonation? Tag questions in Glasgow Scots 219
- A prosodic constraint on prenominal modification 245
- Cartography cannot express scrambling restrictions – but interface-driven relational approaches can 265
- Head movement as a syntax-phonology interface phenomenon 303
- Index 331
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Prosody in syntactic encoding 1
- Sentence stress in presidential speeches 17
- German case ambiguities at the interface: Production and comprehension 51
- Ambiguity resolution via the syntax-prosody interface: The case of kya ‘what’ in Urdu/Hindi 85
- Focus structure affects comparatives: Experimental and corpus work 119
- The ordering of interface mapping rules in German object fronting 159
- Interaction at the syntax–prosody interface 189
- Syntacticizing intonation? Tag questions in Glasgow Scots 219
- A prosodic constraint on prenominal modification 245
- Cartography cannot express scrambling restrictions – but interface-driven relational approaches can 265
- Head movement as a syntax-phonology interface phenomenon 303
- Index 331
