Right dislocation in Turkish

Abstract

This paper investigates a scrambling operation called Right Dislocation (RD) in Turkish. Despite the limited understanding of RD in Turkish, previous studies have converged on the conclusion that (i) RD in Turkish involves rightward movement (Kural 1997, Kornfilt 2005), and (ii) post-verbal constituents (PVCs) consistently undergo reconstruction (with the exception of scope, as suggested by Kural (1997)), indicating that PVCs occupy an A’-position. This paper presents instances where PVCs are interpreted in their surface position, casting doubt on the presumed A’-properties. Additionally, it demonstrates that RD of higher arguments (e.g., subjects or indirect objects) seems to create new binding and scope relations with respect to lower arguments (e.g., direct and indirect objects). To address these issues, this paper proposes a structure that is governed by the interaction between discourse, pragmatics, and syntax. It argues that RD is a by-product of focus movement which is found in cleft-like constructions, and RD is preceded by the scrambling of lower arguments to discourse-functional projections such as FocusP and TopicP. Similarly, the RD of lower arguments is preceded by their short scrambling to the specifier of vP, driven by the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC). By aligning syntax with dis- course through a one-to-one mapping, in conjunction with independently motivated principles like the Scope principle, LF-approach to Condition C, and the Anywhere Condition of Condition A and pronominal binding, the proposed framework provides a consistent explanation for RD in Turkish, attributing all A-properties to the short scrambling of arguments.