From preverbal focus to preverbal “left periphery”: The Ossetic clause 
architecture in areal and diachronic perspective

Erschler, D

doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2012.01.009

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From preverbal focus to preverbal “left periphery”: The Ossetic clause architecture in areal and diachronic perspective

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Erschler, D
Department Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Erschler, D. (2012). From preverbal focus to preverbal “left periphery”: The Ossetic clause architecture in areal and diachronic perspective. Lingua, 122(6), 673-699. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2012.01.009.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0010-3D06-4

Abstract

I show that a focus position may serve as a source of grammaticalization for the “left periphery”, i.e. the locus of wh-phrases and complementizers. In Ossetic, wh-phrases and certain complementizers are obligatorily placed immediately to the left of the verb, with only a specific class of lexemes being able to intervene between them. Other complementizers may occur anywhere between the left edge of the clause and the verb. I propose a scenario whereby this unusual clause architecture came into existence. The key step is that the wh-position got split from the focus. I argue that this change occurred under influences from South Caucasian languages.