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Stefan Müller » Publications » German clause structure

German clause structure: An analysis with special consideration of apparent multiple frontings

Author: Stefan Müller with contributions by Felix Bildhauer and Philippa Cook

Key Words: V2, German, apparent multiple frontings

This book argues for a head-movement analysis of German within the framework of HPSG. While many surface-based analyses of German sentence structure are compatible with simple verb last, verb first and verb second sentences, there are examples that seem to contradict the verb second property of German in that more than one constituent is placed before the finite verb. I argue that surface-based approaches do not capture the phenomenon adequately and that an analysis with an empty verbal head is the only one that gets the facts right.

One chapter is devoted to information structural constraints on apparent multiple frontings. The book discusses alternative GPSG, HPSG, Categorial Grammar, Dependency Grammar and Construction Grammar analyses. It ends with a general discussion of empty elements.

Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. German clause structure
  3. Multiple fronting
  4. Clause types
  5. Information structure constraints on multiple frontings
  6. Alternatives
  7. Empty elements

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