MittelfeldPhenomena: Scrambling in Germanic

Abstract

Mittelfeld (MF; literally, ‘mid‐field’) is a handy, theory‐neutral, descriptive term for addressing the non‐peripheral portion of an OV‐type clause, that is, a clause with a head‐final VP. MF refers to what is in between the clause‐initial C‐position and the clause‐final V‐positions. MF phenomena are clause‐internal phenomena since the left and the right boundaries belong to the same simple clause structure. The MF core issues are (i) the serialization variation in the MF (scrambling) and (ii) the particular serialization options for pronouns at the beginning of the MF (in German) as a unique phenomenon that contrasts with scrambling of full DPs on the one hand and clitic placement on the other hand (in cliticizing languages). MF phenomena are a challenge for the grammar theory (especially with respect to languages like German). Word order variation is optional, and descriptively, the syntactic behavior of MF elements is that of VP‐internal elements. Mainstream grammar theory, however, models the MF of OV languages as a derivational continuation of a head‐initial VP known from VO languages. Consequently, the MF is characterized as a derived head‐final VP plus several functional layers above a basic head‐initial VP and below C°. Movement (with hitherto unclear trigger conditions) is invoked for arriving at a head‐final organization after starting from an English‐like clause structure. However, central predictions of this approach are not fulfilled. The cumulative empirical evidence points into a different direction. Syntactic structures that successfully cover VO language structures do not straightforwardly cover OV. Head‐final and head‐initial structures seem to be alternative options, with collateral syntactic effects, that go well beyond mere serialization differences.

Object Shift and Object Scrambling in Germanic

“…It has since been used as a cover term in the description of a wide range of word-order phenomena in various typologically different languages: see the studies in Corver and Van Riemsdijk (1994) and Karimi (2003) for illustration. The literature on Germanic syntax normally uses it to refer to the flexible word order of arguments and specific types of adverbial phrases in the middle field of the West-Germanic languages; see Broekhuis and Corver (2016: ch.13) and Haider (2017) for data collections. The notion of object shift is used for a similar but slightly more constrained wordorder phenomenon in the Scandinavian languages; see Thráinsson (2001;2007: §2.2.4) and Vikner (2017) for data collections.…”

Wh quantifier float in German

“…For example, it is harder to explain proper-binding effects where scrambling out of a scrambled constituent is illicit (e.g., Müller 1998) and the fact that the availability of inverse scope is modulated by scrambling. For an overview of scrambling and theoretical approaches in German see Corver &van Riemsdijk 1994 andHaider 2017. In general, scrambled constituents appear in clause-medial projections, vP or TP; possibly, both projections are viable, with different interpretations associated with each, as proposed, for example, in Heck & Himmelreich 2017.…”

Binding German (In)direct Objects: Spell-Out Strategies for Disambiguation

“…In (11), the order of the DAT and ACC objects can, of course, be switched, but this does not speak against IO> DO as base order and is to be expected in a language where scrambling motivated by information structure is quite common (see e.g. Lenerz 1977 andHaider 2017).…”