Abstract
In German, the subject usually precedes the object (SO order), but, under certain discourse conditions, the object is allowed to precede the subject (OS order). This paper focuses on main clauses in which either the subject or a discourse-given object occurs in clause-initial position. Two acceptability experiments show that OS sentences with a given object are generally acceptable, but the precise degree of acceptability varies both with the object‘s referential form (demonstrative objects leading to higher acceptability than other types of objects) and with formal properties of the subject (pronominal subjects leading to higher acceptability than non-pronominal subjects). For SO sentences, acceptability was reduced when the object was a d-pronoun, which contrasts with the high acceptability of OS sentences with a d-pronoun object. This finding was explored in a third acceptability experiment comparing d-pronouns in subject and object function. This experiment provides evidence that a reduction in acceptability due to a prescriptive bias against d-pronouns is suspended when the d-pronoun occurs as object in the prefield. We discuss the experimental results with respect to theories of German clause structure that claim that OS sentences with different information-structural properties are derived by different types of movement.
Highlights
Sentences with non-canonical word order occupy a central place in investigations of the relationship between discourse and syntax
SO order was judged as more acceptable (p-pronoun and definite NP) or the two orders were judged as acceptable
This contrasts with Experiment 2 of Bader and Portele (2019), where OS sentences with d-pronoun objects were as acceptable as OS sentences with demonstrative NPs
Summary
Sentences with non-canonical word order occupy a central place in investigations of the relationship between discourse and syntax. A prime example of non-canonical word order is provided by sentences in which an object does not appear in its canonical position following the subject but is fronted to the sentence-initial position and precedes the subject. An example of object fronting in English is given in (1) Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. As a child he’d gone to school with nuns, and he wore a gold crucifix around his neck. The rosary he kept wrapped in a green silk scarf that held three other treasures: . . . [‘A Diamond Guitar’, in Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories, Vintage Books
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