English focus inversion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10139343 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter W Culicover (0009-0006-9255-7560, The Ohio State University, corresponding author), Susanne Winkler (University of Tübingen) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 625-658 |
| Publication date | 2008-10-16 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-2267 • E-ISSN: 1469-7742 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022226708005343 |
| OpenAlex | W2000130955 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 37 |
Besides the canonical Subject–I–VP structure, English has several inversion constructions in which the subject follows the inflected verb. The most familiar is Subject Auxiliary Inversion (SAI) which is analyzed as an instance of Head Movement (I–to–C-movement across the subject) in the generative tradition. In this paper we investigate Comparative Inversion (CI), which appears to be a special case of SAI in which ellipsis is required (Merchant 2003). Contrary to this analysis, we show that the subject can stay low in a noncanonical position, violating the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) in exactly those instances where it is under comparison and therefore heavily accented and contrastively focused. Our analysis shows that the non-application of the EPP is tied to regular interactions of syntax with phonology and syntax with semantics. We extend this in depth analysis to other English focus inversions and provide evidence that phonological highlighting and focus on the low subject can suspend the EPP. Thus, our analysis supports research programs which assume minimal syntactic structure and operations in interaction with interface constraints that are independently required for explanation
Focus (optics · Generative grammar · Inversion (geology · Linguistics · Minimalist program · Natural language processing · Phonology · Physics · Subject (documents · Syntax · Verb · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Subject–Auxiliary Inversion
The Oxford Handbook of Information Structure
The Oxford Handbook of Ellipsis
Verum Focus
Information Structure in Slavic
Information Structure and Discourse Particles
The impact of explicit instruction on different types of linguistic properties
Flat structure
Locative inversion and the surprise effect
The Interpretability of Features in Second Language Acquisition
The syntax of Why-Stripping
Gradient optionality in L2 acquisition at the syntax-discourse interface
V P-fronting with and without remnant movement
Edges and gaps
The Handbook of Phonological Theory
Information Status and Noncanonical Word Order in English
Focus in Generative Grammar
Simpler Syntax
Efficiency and Complexity in Grammars
T-to-C Movement
The Theory of Principles and Parameters
The Handbook of Phonological Theory
Syntax
Syntactic Nuts
Prosody–Syntax Interaction in the Expression of Focus
Object positions
Stylistic Inversion In English
English Focus Constructions and the Theory of Grammar
English Focus Constructions and the Theory of Grammar
Notes on transitivity and theme in English
Basic notions of information structure
English relative clause constructions
Givenness, Avoidf and Other Constraints on the Placement of Accent
A theory of focus interpretation
The Structural Deficiency of Verbal Pro-Forms
Focus Projection and Prosodic Prominence in Nested Foci
Stress and Focus in English
Regularity and Idiomaticity in Grammatical Constructions
Bengali Intonation Revisited
| Citations per year | 0.88 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Highly cited | No |