Abstract
This paper deals with expletives that are inserted into clauses for structural
reasons. We will focus on the Germanic languages Danish, German,
and Yiddish. In Danish and Yiddish expletives are inserted in preverbal position
in certain wh clauses: For Danish such an insertion is necessary when
the subject is locally extracted from an SVO configuration in non-assertive
clauses. In Yiddish wh clauses are formed from a wh phrase and a V2 clause.
If no element would be fronted in the embedded V2 clause, an expletive is
inserted in non-assertive clauses in order to meet the V3 requirement. In
addition to the embedded wh clauses, declarative V2 clauses also allow the
insertion of an expletive. In Danish the expletive fills the subject position
and is not necessarily fronted. In German and Yiddish the expletive has to
occur in fronted position. In contrast to Danish and Yiddish, German does
not insert expletives in wh clauses. They are inserted only into declarative
V2 clauses in order to fulfill the V2 requirement without having to front another
constituent. In this paper we try to provide an account that captures the
comonnalities between the three languages while being able to account for
the differences.
reasons. We will focus on the Germanic languages Danish, German,
and Yiddish. In Danish and Yiddish expletives are inserted in preverbal position
in certain wh clauses: For Danish such an insertion is necessary when
the subject is locally extracted from an SVO configuration in non-assertive
clauses. In Yiddish wh clauses are formed from a wh phrase and a V2 clause.
If no element would be fronted in the embedded V2 clause, an expletive is
inserted in non-assertive clauses in order to meet the V3 requirement. In
addition to the embedded wh clauses, declarative V2 clauses also allow the
insertion of an expletive. In Danish the expletive fills the subject position
and is not necessarily fronted. In German and Yiddish the expletive has to
occur in fronted position. In contrast to Danish and Yiddish, German does
not insert expletives in wh clauses. They are inserted only into declarative
V2 clauses in order to fulfill the V2 requirement without having to front another
constituent. In this paper we try to provide an account that captures the
comonnalities between the three languages while being able to account for
the differences.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the HPSG 2011 Conference |
| Editors | Stefan Müller |
| Place of Publication | Stanford, Ca |
| Publisher | CSLI Publications |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Pages | 167-187 |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
| Event | The 18th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar - , Denmark Duration: 22 Aug 2011 → 25 Aug 2011 Conference number: 18 |
Conference
| Conference | The 18th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar |
|---|---|
| Number | 18 |
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| Period | 22/08/2011 → 25/08/2011 |
| Series | International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Volume | 19 |
| ISSN | 1535-1793 |