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The Weight of Predicates: A Dependency Grammar Analysis of Predicate Weight in German

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2007

Timothy Osborne
Timothy Osborne
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Abstract

When predicate constituents appear in the midfield in German, they must follow their sister constituents. When a midfield cannot be clearly identified, however, as in many matrix V2 clauses, predicate constituents may precede (certain of) their nonpredicate sister constituents. The contrast in serialization possibilities is curious. This paper provides a dependency grammar analysis of the phenomenon. Presenting four principles of word order for German, the analysis concentrates on the dependency grammar understanding of WEIGHT and RISING and how predicate constituents behave with respect to these areas. The relative flatness of dependency structures provides an opportunity for a theory of weight that does not exist for the more layered structures of most constituency grammars. The term RISING refers to discontinuities. When a discontinuity is perceived, the assumption is that rising has occurred. The understanding of predicates builds on the CHAIN concept. The words corresponding to the predicate in the semantics of an utterance always qualify as a chain in the syntax of that utterance.

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ARTICLES
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 23 - 72
Copyright
© 2007 Society for Germanic Linguistics

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