When information structure exploits syntax: The relation between the loss of VO and scrambling in Dutch

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Abstract

This paper addresses the relation between two types of word order variation in two stages of Dutch: OV/VO variation in historical Dutch and scrambling in present-day Dutch. Information structural considerations influence both types of word order variation, and we demonstrate by means of a comprehensive corpus study that they have a comparable pattern: given objects tend to appear earlier in the sentence than new objects. We infer from this that the two types of word order variation are diachronically related. Our findings support an analysis of scrambling as object movement from a uniformly head-initial base via the specifier of VP to the specifier of vP. We argue that historical Dutch allows spell out of the object in its postverbal base position, but that this possibility was eventually lost. Consequently, the boundary between the given and new domains shifts from the verb to the adverbial.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)655-690
Number of pages36
JournalJournal of Linguistics
Volume59
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Aug 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Dutch
  • OV/VO variation
  • copy theory of movement
  • historical Dutch
  • information structure
  • scrambling

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