Preposition Stranding in German Dialects

Jürg Fleischer (Universität Zürich)

Abstract

In this paper, I will investigate the syntax of pronominal adverbs in German. One construction to be discussed is commonly called preposition stranding, this construction has been paid wide attention in the discussion on the structure of the PP. In section 1, I will argue that most studies dealing with preposition stranding in German are based on insufficient empirical evidence. In section 2, I will present the different constructions pronominal adverbs may be involved in, the data base being restricted to German dialects. It turns out that the pronominal adverbs exhibit a great variety of different constructions which should be accounted for. In section 3, I will draw some conclusions from the areal distribution of the various constructions and I will discuss some of the common assumptions concerning the constructions dealt with in the present paper. Finally, I will propose a theory which tries to relate the type of preposition stranding known from Germanic SOV-languages to the type known from Germanic SVO-languages. For that purpose, Dutch and Frisian data will also be taken into consideration. In section 4, I will briefly discuss the findings achieved so far with regard to the relation between dialectology and formal linguistic theories.

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