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The syntax of functional left peripheries and its relation to information structure

Subject Area General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
Term from 2015 to 2019
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 262814098
 
Final Report Year 2018

Final Report Abstract

The project developed a feature-based model of the left periphery of the clause, traditionally referred to as the CP-domain. According to this, the number of projections is not based on a predefined, “cartographic” template but is dependent on the clause-typing features that have to be lexicalised and/or checked off by various elements, as well as on the properties of the individual elements. In many cases, a single CP is sufficient even for handling doubling phenomena in West Germanic, though this does not exclude the necessity of multiple CP projections in certain constructions, including comparative clauses. Regarding comparison constructions, an interesting asymmetry was found between degree equatives and comparatives expressing inequality: while in the former type, the overt marker of the subordinate clause can be either a complementiser head or an operator, in the latter case the complementiser has to be overt. This can be attributed to a negation-like component in the semantics. Importantly, it is true in all clause types that the number of CP projections is defined by the need to mark certain properties overtly and by the semantic properties of the elements in question. The same applies to the ordering restrictions in combinations, thus there is no need to postulate a pre-given cartographic template. One of the most crucial findings is that the insertion of the complementiser in so-called Doubly Filled COMP patterns in Germanic is linked to the general presence of a requirement to lexicalise a finite C head, which is responsible for V2 and T-to-C patterns, too. This implies that non-standard varieties of West Germanic, which show such patterns, are more consistent with the general syntactic paradigm than the standard varieties, and hence they cannot be regarded as exceptional patterns. The project has also examined the relationship between clause-typing patterns and movement due to specific information structural properties of certain elements (such as topics and foci). Namely, there are languages where clause-typing properties are not only encoded on the high, CP- periphery but they also mark some of these properties lower in the clause, in a so-called lower periphery. The same languages may exhibit information structural movement to the lower periphery. By contrast, Germanic languages do not have a lower periphery and there are no designated positions for elements with special information structural status. It has been found that, similarly to the CP, lower functional projections can be iterated. Further, data from Hungarian suggest that verb movement targeting a lower functional projection is similar to Germanic V2, in that both follow from a requirement on lexicalising a finiteness feature. All this points to a conclusion that even projections generally associated with information structure can develop functions in clause typing, while still preserving the information structural properties of the phrase in the specifier. By contrast, in the case of lexical phrases moving together with an operator to an operator position, the information structural status of the lexical phrase is not relevant in the CP. Finally, the project investigated ellipsis phenomena, particularly in comparatives subclauses, comparing West Germanic to Hungarian and Greek. The focus was on the underlying clause, as indicated by certain properties of the remnant, such as its morphological case and its interpretation in potentially ambiguous constructions. Nominative subject remnants clearly indicate that there is a Tense Projection (TP) underlyingly, representing a typical case of clausal ellipsis. However, in certain cases an underlying subject can be in the accusative in West Germanic as well. This option is not available in the absence of a matrix transitive case assigner in German and Icelandic, but it can be detected across the board in English (and non-standard Dutch). However, the complementiser can be followed by elements other than accusative-marked DPs in these languages, which contrasts with the behaviour of true phrasal comparatives, where no underlying clause can be detected. The most important finding in this respect is that the intermediate nature of certain West-Germanic comparatives can be modelled by assuming that the functional projection (FP) responsible for ellipsis in these cases can take not only a TP but also a PredP (predicative phrase) complement. The PredP is without tense specification, and hence without any nominative case assigner. The findings thus indicate that the FP is not merely a projection that can be used to model ellipsis in certain constructions but its availability also has an adverse effect on clause structure. That is, it may license a type of complement not available in full clausal counterparts, whereby the new complement contributes to a more minimal and transparent structure, in line with general economy principles.

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