Part of
Discourse and Grammar in Australian LanguagesEdited by Ilana Mushin and Brett Baker
[Studies in Language Companion Series 104] 2008
► pp. 25–57
Edited by Ilana Mushin and Brett Baker
[Studies in Language Companion Series 104] 2008
► pp. 25–57
Clause-initial position in four Australian languages
Word order in Australian languages has frequently been described as “free” or subject to pragmatic or discourse constraints rather than governed by syntactic rules. This paper examines both the pragmatic and syntactic factors which motivate the placement of constituents in clause initial position. We find striking similarities across four languages – Warlpiri, Jiwarli, Nyangumarta and Garrwa – suggesting underlying principles for ordering that belie their description as “free word order” languages. Clause initial position is dominated by “prominent” constituents” – both those which are inherently prominent and thus obligatory in initial position, and those which are prominent by virtue of the discourse context.
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[no author supplied]
2018. Preface. In Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, ► pp. viii ff.
[no author supplied]
2018. Series preface. In Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, ► pp. vii ff.
[no author supplied]
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2018. Copyright Page. In Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, ► pp. iv ff.
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