Parameters of Predicate Fronting

Many of the world's languages permit or require clause-initial positioning of the primary predicate, potentially alongside some or all of its dependents. While such predicate fronting (where "fronting" may or may not involve movement) is a widespread phenomenon, it is also subject to intricate and largely unexplained variation. In Parameters of Predicate Fronting, Vera Lee-Schoenfeld and Dennis Ott bring together leaders in the field of comparative syntax to explore the empirical manifestations and theoretical modelling of predicate fronting across languages. There exists by now a rich literature on predicate fronting, but few attempts have been made at synthesizing the resulting empirical observations and theoretical implementations. While individual phenomena have been described in some detail, we are currently far from a complete understanding of the uniformity and variation underlying the wider cross-linguistic picture. This volume takes steps towards this goal by showcasing the state of the art in research on predicate fronting and the parameters governing its realization in a range of diverse languages. Covering topics like prosody, VP-fronting, and predicate doubling across a wide arrange of languages, including English, German, Malagasy, Niuean, Ch'ol, Asante, Twi, Limbum, Krachi, Hebrew, and multiple sign languages, this collection enriches our understanding of the predicate fronting phenomenon.

Vera Lee-Schoenfeld is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Georgia. She is the author of Beyond Coherence: The Syntax of Opacity in German (2007). Dennis Ott is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Chapter 1: Parameters of Predicate Fronting Vera Lee-Schoenfeld and Dennis Ott Chapter 2: Verb Phrase I-topics in German Anya Hogoboom and Vera Lee-Schoenfeld Chapter 3: VP Fronting within a Movement Typology Lisa deMena Travis and Diane Massam Chapter 4: The Use of Prosody as a Diagnostic for Syntactic Structure Lauren Clemens Chapter 5: V(P)-fronting in Asanta Twi and Limbum Johannes Hein Chapter 6: Predicate Fronting with Verb Doubling in Krachi Jason Kandybowicz and Harold Torrence Chapter 7: Predicate Doubling by Phonological Copying Gereon Müller Chapter 8: Clause-initial Vs in Sign Languages Donna Jo Napoli and Rachel Sutton Spence