Rejecting approaches with a directionality parameter, mainstream minimalism has adopted the notion of strict (or unidirectional) branching. Within optimality theory however, constraints have recently been proposed that presuppose that the branching direction scheme is language specific. I show that a syntactic analysis of Chechen word order and relative clauses using strict branching and movement triggered by feature checking seems very unlikely, whereas a directionality approach works well. I argue in favor of a mixed directionality approach for Chechen, where the branching direction scheme depends on the phrase type. This observation leads to the introduction of context variants of existing markedness constraints, in order to describe the branching processes in terms of optimality theory. The paper discusses how and where the optimality theory selection of the branching directions can be implemented within a minimalist derivation.

This thesis analyses the distribution of the different functions of the subject it in two text types: academic prose and fiction. The objective of the thesis is to discover to what extent and in which aspects the two examined text types differ. The analysis is based on two hundred examples of it in the subject function obtained from the British National Corpus (BNC), one half of them drawn from academic prose, the other from fiction. The functions of it analysed include anaphoric it, anticipatory it, empty it and it as the subject in a cleft sentence (focusing it). The discussion of anaphoric it focuses on the distance of the referent from the pronoun, the realisation form and semantic role of the referent; in the case of anticipatory it, attention is paid to the type of subordinate clause realising the extraposed subject and the realisation form and semantics of the predicate in the superordinate clause; for the cleft sentence, the analysis deals mainly with the realisation form and underlying syntactic function of the focused element. Additionally, the instances of it that did not fit into any of the four main categories are also examined. The two text types are first discussed separately, and the findings are then compared in the final part of the thesis. Key words: anaphoric it, anticipatory...

The present study focuses on object extraposition in English based on an analysis of corpus findings. The construction in question comprises a monotransitive verb complemented by it which anticipates an object nominal content clause introduced by the conjunctions that, when or if/whether, immediately juxtaposed to the anticipatory it. The aim of the study is to determine the types and frequency of verbs which occur with object it extraposition and to describe what factors influence the use of anticipatory it. The study first provides a review of the relevant topics and outlines a summary of possible factors influencing the occurrence of the construction under study. It focuses on the properties of the verb and complements, the nature of object extraposition in English and the realisations of the object function, and lastly, it outlines the possible factors leading to the use of anticipatory it object. The research part of the study consists of two parts. The first one deals with the selection of material and methodology, while the second presents the description and analysis of the findings. The primary main part of the research was conducted on the data containing 836 sentences that were drawn from the British National Corpus. The research shows that the most frequent verbs occurring with...

Esta pesquisa versa sobre a análise morfossintática do fenômeno de extraposição no hebraico. No primeiro capitulo mostro quais são as premissas, as hipóteses e os corpora trabalhados nesta pesquisa. No segundo capítulo, localiza-se a extraposição dentro do sistema morfossintático da língua hebraica revisando o uso da extraposição em diferentes registros do hebraico moderno. Analisei o fenômeno em si, para entender seu uso, formas, regras, nomenclatura e entorno onde a extraposição geralmente aparece. No terceiro capítulo, analiso o livro Shum Gamadim ló Yavohu. Por meio desta análise pude pesquisar a linguagem pobre dos personagens, um idioma comum aos bairros da periferia. Os objetivos da analise do livro são, por um lado, confirmar que o fenômeno de extraposição é espontâneo e cotidiano no hebraico, tanto na linguagem oral como na escrita, e por outro lado, analisar por que este fenômeno é considerado como parte do registro baixo na língua hebraica moderna. No quarto e quinto capítulos, localizei o fenômeno de extraposição no texto bíblico e talmúdico. A Bíblia e o Talmud são as fontes indiscutíveis do judaísmo e constituem o padrão do hebraico para definir o que pertence ou não pertence à língua hebraica do ponto de vista linguístico. Desta maneira consegui demonstrar que o fenômeno de extraposição é parte da língua hebraica desde a época bíblica. No sexto e último capítulo, através da analise da extraposição no árabe e no francês, pude demonstrar que a extraposição é um fenômeno frequente nestas línguas, penetrando no hebraico moderno pelos falantes dessas línguas. Entendendo que estes falantes do árabe e francês foram discriminados pelos nativos do hebraico. O fenômeno de extraposição foi discriminado pelo uso excesivo dos falantes da comunidade judia oriental. / The present work deals with the morphosyntactic analysis of the phenomenon of extraposition in Hebrew. Its first chapter contains the premises, hypotheses and corpora worked on for the research. Its second chapter identifies extraposition within the morphosyntactic system of the Hebrew language, revising the use/occurrence of extraposición in different/distinct registers of Modern Hebrew. The phenomenon in itself is analyzed, with the purpose of understanding the use, forms, rules, nomenclature and environment where extraposition normally occurs. The third chapter analyzes the book/novel Shum Gamadim ló Yavohu. It is through this analysis that the language of its characters is researched, which is a simple language, common to the speakers of the suburban neighborhoods. The aims of the analysis of the book are, on the one hand, confirming that the phenomenon of extraposición is spontaneous and usual in Hebrew, both in spoken language as well as in writing, and on the other hand discussing why this phenomenon is ascribed to the lower register of Modern Hebrew. Chapters four and five deal with the identification of the phenomenon of extraposition in Biblical and Talmudic text. The Bible and the Talmud are both undisputable sources of Judaism, and they constitute the pattern of Hebrew in order to define what belongs to Hebrew and what does not from a linguistic perspective. It is thus demonstrated that the phenomenon of extraposition has been a part of the Hebrew language since Biblical times. In the sixth and final chapter, by means of the analysis of the phenomenon of in Arab and French, it is demonstrated that extraposition is a phenomenon of high frequency of occurrence in those languages. Given the understanding that the Hebrew of native speakers of Arab and French was looked down upon by native speakers of Hebrew, the phenomenon of extraposition was scorned due to its excessive use by the speakers of the Oriental Jewish community.

Esta pesquisa versa sobre a análise morfossintática do fenômeno de extraposição no hebraico. No primeiro capitulo mostro quais são as premissas, as hipóteses e os corpora trabalhados nesta pesquisa. No segundo capítulo, localiza-se a extraposição dentro do sistema morfossintático da língua hebraica revisando o uso da extraposição em diferentes registros do hebraico moderno. Analisei o fenômeno em si, para entender seu uso, formas, regras, nomenclatura e entorno onde a extraposição geralmente aparece. No terceiro capítulo, analiso o livro Shum Gamadim ló Yavohu. Por meio desta análise pude pesquisar a linguagem pobre dos personagens, um idioma comum aos bairros da periferia. Os objetivos da analise do livro são, por um lado, confirmar que o fenômeno de extraposição é espontâneo e cotidiano no hebraico, tanto na linguagem oral como na escrita, e por outro lado, analisar por que este fenômeno é considerado como parte do registro baixo na língua hebraica moderna. No quarto e quinto capítulos, localizei o fenômeno de extraposição no texto bíblico e talmúdico. A Bíblia e o Talmud são as fontes indiscutíveis do judaísmo e constituem o padrão do hebraico para definir o que pertence ou não pertence à língua hebraica do ponto de vista linguístico. Desta maneira consegui demonstrar que o fenômeno de extraposição é parte da língua hebraica desde a época bíblica. No sexto e último capítulo, através da analise da extraposição no árabe e no francês, pude demonstrar que a extraposição é um fenômeno frequente nestas línguas, penetrando no hebraico moderno pelos falantes dessas línguas. Entendendo que estes falantes do árabe e francês foram discriminados pelos nativos do hebraico. O fenômeno de extraposição foi discriminado pelo uso excesivo dos falantes da comunidade judia oriental. / The present work deals with the morphosyntactic analysis of the phenomenon of extraposition in Hebrew. Its first chapter contains the premises, hypotheses and corpora worked on for the research. Its second chapter identifies extraposition within the morphosyntactic system of the Hebrew language, revising the use/occurrence of extraposición in different/distinct registers of Modern Hebrew. The phenomenon in itself is analyzed, with the purpose of understanding the use, forms, rules, nomenclature and environment where extraposition normally occurs. The third chapter analyzes the book/novel Shum Gamadim ló Yavohu. It is through this analysis that the language of its characters is researched, which is a simple language, common to the speakers of the suburban neighborhoods. The aims of the analysis of the book are, on the one hand, confirming that the phenomenon of extraposición is spontaneous and usual in Hebrew, both in spoken language as well as in writing, and on the other hand discussing why this phenomenon is ascribed to the lower register of Modern Hebrew. Chapters four and five deal with the identification of the phenomenon of extraposition in Biblical and Talmudic text. The Bible and the Talmud are both undisputable sources of Judaism, and they constitute the pattern of Hebrew in order to define what belongs to Hebrew and what does not from a linguistic perspective. It is thus demonstrated that the phenomenon of extraposition has been a part of the Hebrew language since Biblical times. In the sixth and final chapter, by means of the analysis of the phenomenon of in Arab and French, it is demonstrated that extraposition is a phenomenon of high frequency of occurrence in those languages. Given the understanding that the Hebrew of native speakers of Arab and French was looked down upon by native speakers of Hebrew, the phenomenon of extraposition was scorned due to its excessive use by the speakers of the Oriental Jewish community.

The diploma thesis explores whether the complementation of infinitives and gerunds, functioning as subject clauses, is different. Expecially it compares syntactic structures, relative length and complexity of the complementations and their roles in functional sentence perspective (whether elements are rather thematic or rhematic etc.). Furthemore it explores whether the form of complementation is affected by the position of infinitive of gerund, it means if there is any difference between the complementations of non-finite verb in initial position and extraposition. The research is based on the relevant academic writing and on authentic instances of gerunds and infinitives from the present sources of literature.

Partant du constat que le pronom IT connaît, en anglais contemporain, une grande richesse d‘emplois, cette thèse propose une étude de IT référentiel et vise à examiner ses fonctions, son positionnement phrastique et son pouvoir référentiel. Ce pronom occupe toutes les places syntaxiques au sein de la phrase. Il a la spécificité de renvoyer à une entité beaucoup plus complexe qu‘un groupe nominal. De plus, le rapport de IT avec ses antécédents est au cœur de cette étude qui examine aussi les différents facteurs jouant un rôle dans l‘identification du bon référent où la présence textuelle ou situationnelle d‘un antécédent n‘est pas une condition nécessaire pour que le pronom soit référentiel. Un traitement global de tous les emplois référentiels de IT est proposé, car quelle que soit la place de l‘objet désigné par IT, cet objet appartient à la mémoire commune du locuteur et de l‘allocutaire. / In contemporary English, the pronoun IT is used in a great variety of contexts. This doctoral thesis proposes a study of referential IT and aims at examining its functions, its phrasal positions and its referential potential. This pronoun occupies all the syntactical places in the sentence. IT also has the specificity to refer to a more complex entity than to a simple nominal group. The relationship between IT and its antecedents is also in the heart of the present study that examines the various factors playing a role in the identification of the good referent where the textual or the situational presence of an antecedent is not sufficient for the pronoun to be referential. A global treatment of all the referential uses of IT is proposed: whatever is the place of the object indicated by IT, this object belongs to the common memory of the speaker.

Partant du constat que le pronom IT connaît, en anglais contemporain, une grande richesse d'emplois, cette thèse propose une étude de IT référentiel et vise à examiner ses fonctions, son positionnement phrastique et son pouvoir référentiel. Ce pronom occupe toutes les places syntaxiques au sein de la phrase. Il a la spécificité de renvoyer à une entité beaucoup plus complexe qu'un groupe nominal. De plus, le rapport de IT avec ses antécédents est au cœur de cette étude qui examine aussi les différents facteurs jouant un rôle dans l'identification du bon référent où la présence textuelle ou situationnelle d'un antécédent n'est pas une condition nécessaire pour que le pronom soit référentiel. Un traitement global de tous les emplois référentiels de IT est proposé, car quelle que soit la place de l'objet désigné par IT, cet objet appartient à la mémoire commune du locuteur et de l'allocutaire.