Topicalization is a mechanism of syntax that establishes an expression as the sentence or clause topic by having it appear at the front of the sentence or clause (as opposed to in a canonical position further to the right). This involves a phrasal movement of determiners, prepositions, and verbs to sentence-initial position.[1] Topicalization often results in a discontinuity and is thus one of a number of established discontinuity types, the other three being wh-fronting, scrambling, and extraposition. Topicalization is also used as a constituency test; an expression that can be topicalized is deemed a constituent.[2] The topicalization of arguments in English is rare, whereas circumstantial adjuncts are often topicalized. Most languages allow topicalization, and in some languages, topicalization occurs much more frequently and/or in a much less marked manner than in English. Topicalization in English has also received attention in the pragmatics literature.[3]
Typical cases of topicalization are illustrated with the following examples:
a. The boys roll rocks for entertainment.
b. For entertainment, the boys roll rocks. -Topicalization of the adjunct for entertainment
a. Everyone refused to answer because the pressure was too great.
b. Because the pressure was too great, everyone refused to answer. - Topicalization of the adjunct because the pressure was too great
a. I won't eat that pizza.
b. That pizza, I won't eat. - Topicalization of the object argument that pizza
a. I am terrified of those dogs.
b. Those dogs, I am terrified of. - Topicalization of the object argument those dogs
Assuming that the a-sentences represent canonical word order, the b-sentences contain instances of topicalization. The constituent in bold is fronted to establish it as topic. The first two examples, which use topicalized adjuncts, are typical, but the last two examples with topicalized object arguments are comparatively rare. The appearance of the demonstrative determiners that and those is important since without them, topicalization of an argument seems less acceptable: A pizza I won't eat.
Topicalization can occur across long distances:
a. I thought you said that Tom believes the explanation needs such examples.
b. Such examples I thought you said that Tom believes the explanation needs. - Topicalization of the object argument such examples over a long distance
Further examplesEdit
Topicalization is similar to wh-movement insofar as the constituents that can be wh-fronted can also be topicalized:
a. Bill is living in that one house on the hill.
b. Which house is Bill living in? - Wh-fronting of NP resulting in preposition stranding
c. That one house on the hill Bill is living in. - Topicalization of NP resulting in preposition stranding
a. Shelly has indeed uncovered part of our plan.
b. What has Shelly indeed uncovered part of? - Wh-fronting out of object NP resulting in preposition stranding
c. Our plan Shelly has indeed uncovered part of. - Topicalization out of object NP resulting in preposition stranding
Also, topicalization is similar to wh-fronting insofar as the islands and barriers to wh-fronting are also islands and barriers to topicalization:
a. The description of his aunt was really funny.
b. *Whose aunt was the description of really funny? - Wh-fronting impossible out of a subject in English
c. *His aunt the description of was really funny. - Topicalization impossible out of a subject in English
a. He relaxes after he's played Starcraft.
b. *What does he relax after he's played? - Wh-fronting impossible out of adjunct clause
c. *Starcraft he relaxes after he's played. - Topicalization impossible out of adjunct clause
a. She approves of the suggestion to make pasta.
b. *What does she approve of the suggestion to make? - Wh-fronting impossible out of complex NP
c. *Pasta she approves of the suggestion to make. - Topicalization impossible out of complex NP
Those examples illustrate the similar behavior of topicalization and wh-fronting. Further data, which will not be produced here, could show, however, that topicalization is unlike the other two major discontinuity types: scrambling and extraposition.
Theoretical analysesEdit
The theoretical analysis of topicalization can vary greatly depending in part on the theory of sentence structure that one adopts. If one assumes the layered structures associated with many phrase structure grammars, all instances of topicalization will involve a discontinuity. If, in contrast, less layered structures are assumed as for example in dependency grammar, then many instances of topicalization do not involve a discontinuity, but rather just inversion.[4] This point is illustrated here first using flatter structures that lack a finite VP-constituent (which means the entire sentence has the status of a large VP). Both constituency- and dependency-based analyses are given. The example itself is a piece of Yoda wisdom (as he speaks to Anakin), and is certainly of questionable acceptability in this regard. It is, however, perfectly understandable:
The upper two trees show the analysis using flat constituency-based structures that lack a finite VP constituent, and the lower two trees are dependency-based,[5] whereby dependency inherently rejects the existence of finite VP-constituents.[6] The noteworthy aspect of these examples is that topicalization does not result in a discontinuity, since there are no crossing lines in the trees. What this means is that such cases can be analyzed purely in terms of inversion. The topicalized expression simply "inverts" to the other side of its head.[7]
Instead of the flat trees just examined, most constituency grammars posit more layered structures that include a finite VP constituent. These more layered structures are likely to address topicalization in terms of movement or copying, as illustrated with the following two trees:[8]
Tree a. shows the canonical word order again, and tree b. illustrates what is known as the movement or copying analysis. The topicalized expression is first generated in its canonical position but is then copied to the front of the sentence, the original then being deleted.
The movement analysis of discontinuities is one possible way to address those instances of topicalization that cannot be explained in terms of inversion. An alternative explanation is feature passing. One assumes that the topicalized expression is not moved or copied to the clause-initial position, but rather it is "base" generated there. Instead of movement, there is feature passing, however.[9] A link of a sort is established between the topicalized expression and its governor. The link is the path along which information about the topicalized expression is passed to the governor of that expression. A piece of Yoda wisdom is again used for illustration, the full sentence being Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin:
The nodes in red mark the path of feature passing. Features (=information) about the topicalized expression are passed rightward through (and down) the tree structure to the governor of that expression. This path is present in both analyses, i.e. in the constituency-based a-analysis on the left and in the dependency-based b-analysis on the right. Since topicalization can occur over long distances, feature passing must also occur over long distances. The final example shows a dependency-based analysis of a sentence where the feature passing path is quite long:
Information about the topicalized such nonsense is passed along the path marked in red down to the governor of the topicalized expression spouting. The words corresponding to the nodes in red form a catena (Latin for 'chain', plural catenae).[10] A theory of topicalization is then built up in part by examining the nature of these catenae for feature passing.
^Sportiche, Dominique; Koopman, Hilda; Stabler, Edward (2014). An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 68–70, 189–191. ISBN978-1-4051-0017-5.
^For examples of topicalization used as a constituency test, see for instance Allerton (1979:114), Borsley (1991:24), Napoli (1993:422), Burton-Roberts (1997:17), Poole (2002:32), Radford (2004:72), Haegeman (2006:790).
^ Concerning topicalization as discussed in the pragmatics literature, see for example Prince (1998).
^Two prominent sources on dependency grammar are Tesnière (1959) and Ágel (2003/6).
^See Mel'čuk (2003: 221) and Starosta (2003: 278) for dependency grammar analyses of topicalization similar to the ones shown here.
^Concerning the rejection of a finite VP constituent in dependency grammar, see Tesnière (1959:16ff.).
^See Groß and Osborne (2009:64-66) for such an analysis.
Ágel, V., L. Eichinger, H.-W. Eroms, P. Hellwig, H. Heringer, and H. Lobin (eds.) 2003/6. Dependency and valency: An international handbook of contemporary research. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Allerton, D. 1979. Essentials of grammatical theory: A consensus view of syntax and morphology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Borsley, R. 1991. Syntactic theory: A unified approach. London: Edward Arnold.
Grewendorf, G. 1988 Aspekte der deutschen Syntax: Eine Rektions-Bindungs-Analyse. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Groß, T. and T. Osborne 2009. Toward a practical dependency grammar theory of discontinuities. SKY Journal of Linguistics 22, 43-90.
Hinrichs, E.W. and Nakazawa, T 2000. Partial VP and split NP topicalization in German: an HPSG analysis Studies in contemporary phrase structure grammar
Kuhn, J, 1998. Resource sensitivity in the syntax-semantics interface and the German split NP construction. Universität Stuttgart, Fakultät Philosophie.
Haegeman, L. 2006. Thinking syntactically: A guide to argumentation and analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Mel’čuk, I. 2003. Levels of dependency description: Concepts and problems. In Ágel et al. (eds.), Dependency and valency: An international handbook of contemporary research, vol.1, 188-229.
Napoli, D. 1993. Syntax: Theory and problems. New York: Oxford University Press.
Osborne, T., M. Putnam, and T. Groß 2012. Catenae: Introducing a novel unit of syntactic analysis. Syntax 15, 4, 354-396.
Ouhalla, J 1999. Introducing Transformational Grammar: From Principles and Parameters to Minimalism, second edition. London: Arnold.
Poole, G. 2002. Syntactic theory. New York: Palgrave.
Prince, Ellen. 1998. On the limits of syntax, with reference to topicalization and left-dislocation. In: Cullicover, P., McNally, L. (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics, vol. 29. Academic Press, New York, pp. 281–302
Radford, A. 2005. English syntax: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Sportiche, D, H. Koopman, and E. Stabler. 2014. An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Starosta, S. 2003. Lexicase grammar. In Ágel et al. (eds.), Dependency and valency: An international handbook of contemporary research, vol.1, 270-281.
Tesnière, Lucien 1959. Éleménts de syntaxe structurale. Paris: Klincksieck.
van Riemsdijk, H. (1989a). Movement and Regeneration. In: Dialect Variation and the Theory of Grammar. Paola Benincà (ed.), 105–136. Dordrecht: Foris.
October 15, 2023
topicalization, mechanism, syntax, that, establishes, expression, sentence, clause, topic, having, appear, front, sentence, clause, opposed, canonical, position, further, right, this, involves, phrasal, movement, determiners, prepositions, verbs, sentence, ini. Topicalization is a mechanism of syntax that establishes an expression as the sentence or clause topic by having it appear at the front of the sentence or clause as opposed to in a canonical position further to the right This involves a phrasal movement of determiners prepositions and verbs to sentence initial position 1 Topicalization often results in a discontinuity and is thus one of a number of established discontinuity types the other three being wh fronting scrambling and extraposition Topicalization is also used as a constituency test an expression that can be topicalized is deemed a constituent 2 The topicalization of arguments in English is rare whereas circumstantial adjuncts are often topicalized Most languages allow topicalization and in some languages topicalization occurs much more frequently and or in a much less marked manner than in English Topicalization in English has also received attention in the pragmatics literature 3 Contents 1 Examples 2 Further examples 3 Theoretical analyses 4 See also 5 Notes 6 ReferencesExamples EditTypical cases of topicalization are illustrated with the following examples a The boys roll rocks for entertainment b For entertainment the boys roll rocks Topicalization of the adjunct for entertainment dd a Everyone refused to answer because the pressure was too great b Because the pressure was too great everyone refused to answer Topicalization of the adjunct because the pressure was too great dd a I won t eat that pizza b That pizza I won t eat Topicalization of the object argument that pizza dd a I am terrified of those dogs b Those dogs I am terrified of Topicalization of the object argument those dogs dd Assuming that the a sentences represent canonical word order the b sentences contain instances of topicalization The constituent in bold is fronted to establish it as topic The first two examples which use topicalized adjuncts are typical but the last two examples with topicalized object arguments are comparatively rare The appearance of the demonstrative determiners that and those is important since without them topicalization of an argument seems less acceptable A pizza I won t eat Topicalization can occur across long distances a I thought you said that Tom believes the explanation needs such examples b Such examples I thought you said that Tom believes the explanation needs Topicalization of the object argument such examples over a long distance dd Further examples EditTopicalization is similar to wh movement insofar as the constituents that can be wh fronted can also be topicalized a Bill is living in that one house on the hill b Which house is Bill living in Wh fronting of NP resulting in preposition stranding c That one house on the hill Bill is living in Topicalization of NP resulting in preposition stranding dd a Shelly has indeed uncovered part of our plan b What has Shelly indeed uncovered part of Wh fronting out of object NP resulting in preposition stranding c Our plan Shelly has indeed uncovered part of Topicalization out of object NP resulting in preposition stranding dd Also topicalization is similar to wh fronting insofar as the islands and barriers to wh fronting are also islands and barriers to topicalization a The description of his aunt was really funny b Whose aunt was the description of really funny Wh fronting impossible out of a subject in English c His aunt the description of was really funny Topicalization impossible out of a subject in English dd a He relaxes after he s played Starcraft b What does he relax after he s played Wh fronting impossible out of adjunct clause c Starcraft he relaxes after he s played Topicalization impossible out of adjunct clause dd a She approves of the suggestion to make pasta b What does she approve of the suggestion to make Wh fronting impossible out of complex NP c Pasta she approves of the suggestion to make Topicalization impossible out of complex NP dd Those examples illustrate the similar behavior of topicalization and wh fronting Further data which will not be produced here could show however that topicalization is unlike the other two major discontinuity types scrambling and extraposition Theoretical analyses EditThe theoretical analysis of topicalization can vary greatly depending in part on the theory of sentence structure that one adopts If one assumes the layered structures associated with many phrase structure grammars all instances of topicalization will involve a discontinuity If in contrast less layered structures are assumed as for example in dependency grammar then many instances of topicalization do not involve a discontinuity but rather just inversion 4 This point is illustrated here first using flatter structures that lack a finite VP constituent which means the entire sentence has the status of a large VP Both constituency and dependency based analyses are given The example itself is a piece of Yoda wisdom as he speaks to Anakin and is certainly of questionable acceptability in this regard It is however perfectly understandable nbsp dd The upper two trees show the analysis using flat constituency based structures that lack a finite VP constituent and the lower two trees are dependency based 5 whereby dependency inherently rejects the existence of finite VP constituents 6 The noteworthy aspect of these examples is that topicalization does not result in a discontinuity since there are no crossing lines in the trees What this means is that such cases can be analyzed purely in terms of inversion The topicalized expression simply inverts to the other side of its head 7 Instead of the flat trees just examined most constituency grammars posit more layered structures that include a finite VP constituent These more layered structures are likely to address topicalization in terms of movement or copying as illustrated with the following two trees 8 nbsp dd Tree a shows the canonical word order again and tree b illustrates what is known as the movement or copying analysis The topicalized expression is first generated in its canonical position but is then copied to the front of the sentence the original then being deleted The movement analysis of discontinuities is one possible way to address those instances of topicalization that cannot be explained in terms of inversion An alternative explanation is feature passing One assumes that the topicalized expression is not moved or copied to the clause initial position but rather it is base generated there Instead of movement there is feature passing however 9 A link of a sort is established between the topicalized expression and its governor The link is the path along which information about the topicalized expression is passed to the governor of that expression A piece of Yoda wisdom is again used for illustration the full sentence being Careful you must be when sensing the future Anakin nbsp dd The nodes in red mark the path of feature passing Features information about the topicalized expression are passed rightward through and down the tree structure to the governor of that expression This path is present in both analyses i e in the constituency based a analysis on the left and in the dependency based b analysis on the right Since topicalization can occur over long distances feature passing must also occur over long distances The final example shows a dependency based analysis of a sentence where the feature passing path is quite long nbsp dd Information about the topicalized such nonsense is passed along the path marked in red down to the governor of the topicalized expression spouting The words corresponding to the nodes in red form a catena Latin for chain plural catenae 10 A theory of topicalization is then built up in part by examining the nature of these catenae for feature passing See also EditCatena linguistics Constituent linguistics Dependency grammar Discontinuity linguistics Phrase structure grammarNotes Edit Sportiche Dominique Koopman Hilda Stabler Edward 2014 An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory Wiley Blackwell pp 68 70 189 191 ISBN 978 1 4051 0017 5 For examples of topicalization used as a constituency test see for instance Allerton 1979 114 Borsley 1991 24 Napoli 1993 422 Burton Roberts 1997 17 Poole 2002 32 Radford 2004 72 Haegeman 2006 790 Concerning topicalization as discussed in the pragmatics literature see for example Prince 1998 Two prominent sources on dependency grammar are Tesniere 1959 and Agel 2003 6 See Mel cuk 2003 221 and Starosta 2003 278 for dependency grammar analyses of topicalization similar to the ones shown here Concerning the rejection of a finite VP constituent in dependency grammar see Tesniere 1959 16ff See Gross and Osborne 2009 64 66 for such an analysis See for instance Grewendorf 1988 66ff Ouhalla 1998 136f Radford 2004 123ff See for instance the account of functional uncertainty in Lexical Functional Grammar Bresnan 2001 64 69 See Osborne et al 2013 concerning catenae References EditAgel V L Eichinger H W Eroms P Hellwig H Heringer and H Lobin eds 2003 6 Dependency and valency An international handbook of contemporary research Berlin Walter de Gruyter Allerton D 1979 Essentials of grammatical theory A consensus view of syntax and morphology London Routledge and Kegan Paul Borsley R 1991 Syntactic theory A unified approach London Edward Arnold Grewendorf G 1988 Aspekte der deutschen Syntax Eine Rektions Bindungs Analyse Tubingen Gunter Narr Verlag Gross T and T Osborne 2009 Toward a practical dependency grammar theory of discontinuities SKY Journal of Linguistics 22 43 90 Hinrichs E W and Nakazawa T 2000 Partial VP and split NP topicalization in German an HPSG analysis Studies in contemporary phrase structure grammar Kuhn J 1998 Resource sensitivity in the syntax semantics interface and the German split NP construction Universitat Stuttgart Fakultat Philosophie Haegeman L 2006 Thinking syntactically A guide to argumentation and analysis Malden MA Blackwell Mel cuk I 2003 Levels of dependency description Concepts and problems In Agel et al eds Dependency and valency An international handbook of contemporary research vol 1 188 229 Napoli D 1993 Syntax Theory and problems New York Oxford University Press Osborne T M Putnam and T Gross 2012 Catenae Introducing a novel unit of syntactic analysis Syntax 15 4 354 396 Ouhalla J 1999 Introducing Transformational Grammar From Principles and Parameters to Minimalism second edition London Arnold Poole G 2002 Syntactic theory New York Palgrave Prince Ellen 1998 On the limits of syntax with reference to topicalization and left dislocation In Cullicover P McNally L Eds Syntax and Semantics vol 29 Academic Press New York pp 281 302 Radford A 2005 English syntax An introduction Cambridge University Press Sportiche D H Koopman and E Stabler 2014 An Introduction to Syntactic Analysis and Theory Malden MA Blackwell Starosta S 2003 Lexicase grammar In Agel et al eds Dependency and valency An international handbook of contemporary research vol 1 270 281 Tesniere Lucien 1959 Elements de syntaxe structurale Paris Klincksieck van Hoof H 2006 Split topicalization In M Everaert amp H van Riemsdijk Eds pp 410 465 Blackwell Publishing https doi org 10 1002 9780470996591 ch62 van Riemsdijk H 1989a Movement and Regeneration In Dialect Variation and the Theory of Grammar Paola Beninca ed 105 136 Dordrecht Foris Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Topicalization amp oldid 1106311900, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
