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Object Shift and remnant VP-topicalisation: Danish and Swedish verb particles and ‘let’-causatives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2013

Eva Engels
Affiliation:
English Degree Programme, Department of Aesthetics & Communication, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. eva.engels@hum.au.dk
Sten Vikner
Affiliation:
English Degree Programme, Department of Aesthetics & Communication, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. sten.vikner@hum.au.dk

Abstract

On the basis of an examination of remnant VP-topicalisation constructions, this paper argues for an order preservation analysis of Scandinavian Object Shift. Extending the empirical database, we account for the phenomena in an Optimality Theoretic framework. The paper focusses on two particular constructions in Danish and Swedish, namely particle verb constructions and causative constructions with Danish lade and Swedish låta ‘let’. It is shown how differences in the VP-internal object position give rise to mirror image sequences concerning Object Shift in connection with verb second (V°-to-I°-to-C° movement) and with remnant VP-topicalisation.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Nordic Association of Linguistics 2013 
Figure 0

Tableau 1. No full DP shift, obligatory pronominal OS (Danish).

Figure 1

Tableau 2. No full DP shift, optional pronominal OS (Swedish).

Figure 2

Tableau 3. No OS with in situ verb.

Figure 3

Tableau 4. OS with V°-to-I°-to-C° movement.

Figure 4

Tableau 5. OS with verb in SpecCP.

Figure 5

Tableau 6. Particle verb construction (with DP-movement; Danish).

Figure 6

Tableau 7. Particle verb construction (with particle adjunction; Swedish).

Figure 7

Tableau 8. OS with moved particle verb (Danish).

Figure 8

Tableau 9. No OS with moved particle verb (Swedish).

Figure 9

Tableau 10. No OS with remnant VP-topicalisation of particle verb (Danish).

Figure 10

Tableau 11. OS with remnant VP-topicalisation of particle verb (Swedish).

Figure 11

Tableau 12. OS of infinitival subject but not of infinitival object in ‘let’-constructions.