Capturing word order asymmetries in English Left-Peripheral Constructions: A Domain-Based Approach

Abstract

Left-Peripheral Constructions: A Domain-Based Approach Even though the word order in English is rather straightforward, the distributional possibilities of left-peripheral elements like topic phrases, wh-phrases, and negative operators (introducing an SAI) are quite intriguing and complex. In particular, there seems to exist no straightforward way of capturing the linear order asymmetries of these elements in the main and embedded clauses. The prevailing analyses have resorted to movement processes with multiple functional projections. The goal of this paper is to explore an alternative analysis to such movement-based analyses. In particular, this paper adopts the notion of topological fields (DOMAIN) proposed by Kathol (2000, 2001) within the framework of HPSG. The paper shows that within this DOMAIN system, the distributional possibilities as well as the asymmetries we find in English left peripheral constructions can easily follow from the two traditional views: (i) a topic precedes a focus element, and (ii) in English a wh-phrase and a complementizer competes with each other for the same position.