The variation between integrated (verb-final) and independent (verb-second) causal clauses in German could depend on the amount of information conveyed in that clause. A lower amount might lead to integration, a higher amount to independence, as processing constraints might forbid integration of… read more
This chapter provides a general background to the field of particles by introducing major classifications and considerations from synchronic, diachronic, and contrastive perspectives. It builds on earlier literature from the respective fields. In doing so, it also prepares the ground for the… read more
The prefield in German declarative main clauses (i.e. the area left of the tensed verb) usually contains exactly one phrase. As I showed in earlier work, the phrase-selection is guided by information-structural factors, scene-setting elements being preferred over contrastive elements, which in… read more
This paper presents an analysis of the linguistic realization of discourse relations across and within English and German discourse, comparing the genres of newspaper editorial and personal narrative. It concentrates on Continuation, Narration and Contrast, and Elaboration, Explanation and… read more
An important task of the verb in German is to indicate sentence type. Depending on where the verb is positioned, the clause is a declarative (verb after the first constituent, which can be any constituent), wh-interrogative (verb after the first constituent, being the wh-phrase),… read more
The Centering status of a referent and the coherence relation of the discourse unit in which the referent is used are potential factors for anaphor resolution. In Old High German, as exemplified with Otfrid’s Evangelienbuch, there is a strong tendency for this generalisation – Backward looking… read more
This paper compares the linguistic realization of coordinating and subordinating discourse relations in English and German short personal narratives, paying particular attention to the context-dependence of (1) their overt marking with discourse connectives, and (2) their adjacent and… read more
In German, there are two infinitive constructions for complement infinitives, the accusativus cum infinitivo (AcI) and the object control infinitive construction (OCIC). Both constructions have nearly identical structures, where the logical subject of the infinitive is a distinct constituent from… read more
This chapter examines contrastively the overt and non-overt coding of discourse
relations in British English and German editorials. Particular attention is given
to the linguistic coding of discourse relations between adjacently and non-adjacently
positioned discourse units, and to the question… read more
The sentence-initial position (vorfeld) in German is filled in accordance with discourse structural consideration. Several types of elements compete for this position. Their distribution can be modelled by Stochastic Optimality Theory. It is filled in general by phrases that have at least one of… read more
The filling of the vorfeld (= clause-initial position in German declarative clauses) depends on information structural rather than strictly syntactic constraints. Referential phrases of one of the following three types are eligible for the vorfeld: scene-setting elements, contrastive elements and… read more
To obtain textual coherence two things are important: a match between the concepts of an utterance with those of the preceding utterance (semantic coherence) and, crucial especially in dialogue, the fulfilment of the first speaker's intentions and perlocutionary acts by the following speaker's… read more