Factors influencing the acceptability of object fronting in German

• Published in: The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics 2020-04, Vol.23 (1), p.77-124
• Main Authors: Wierzba, Marta, Fanselow, Gisbert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accentuation; Acceptability; Comparative Linguistics; German language; Germanic Languages; Linguistics; Noun phrases; Original Paper; Pronouns; Prosody; Social Sciences; Syntax; Theoretical Linguistics
• ISSN: 1383-4924; 1572-8552
• DOI: 10.1007/s10828-020-09113-1

In this paper, we address some controversially debated empirical questions concerning object fronting in German by a series of acceptability rating studies. We investigated three kinds of factors: (i) properties of the subject (given/new, pronoun/full DP), (ii) emphasis, (iii) register. The first factor is predicted to play a crucial role by models in which object fronting possibilities are limited by prosodic properties. Two experiments provide converging evidence for a systematic effect of this factor: we find that the relative acceptability of object fronting across subjects that require an accent (new DPs) is lower than across deaccentable subjects (pronouns and given DPs). Other models predict object fronting across full phrases (but not across pronouns) to be limited to an emphatic interpretation. This prediction is also borne out, suggesting that both types of models capture an empirically valid generalization and can be seen as complementing each other rather than competing with each other. Finally, we find support for the view that informal register facilitates object fronting. In sum, our experiments contribute to clarifying the empirical basis concerning a phenomenon influenced by a range of interacting factors. This, in turn, informs theoretical approaches to the prefield position and helps to identify factors that need to be carefully controlled in this field of research.