LINGUIST List 21.4529 Thu Nov 11 2010 Qs: Multi-Ling Examples: Discontinuous Noun Phrases Editor for this issue: Danielle St. Jean <daniellelinguistlist.org> We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate. In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query. To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Gisbert Fanselow , Multi-Ling Examples: Discontinuous Noun Phrases Message 1: Multi-Ling Examples: Discontinuous Noun Phrases Date: 08-Nov-2010 From: Gisbert Fanselow <gisbert.fanselowgmail.com> Subject: Multi-Ling Examples: Discontinuous Noun Phrases E-mail this message to a friend The Potsdam University Split Noun Phrase project (http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~split) tries to develop a model for the constraints on the crosslinguistic variation of discontinuous noun phrases. We have collected data from roughly 150 languages, more than half of which on the basis of a questionnaire. In the context of analyzing these questionnaires, the following issue has come up. In discontinuous noun phrases as exemplified by German (1) and Czech (2), heads belonging to the same extended projection of the noun appear in two different positions of the clause (1) Bücher  hat  er   viele    gelesen      books   has  he  many   read      "He has read many books" (2) Tři     má     Marie    židle.      three  has   Mary     chairs-acc      "Mary has three chairs" In normal extraction contexts such as (3), an argument or adjunct of the noun (or a part of such an argument/adjunct) is preposed. (3) who did you see [a picture of _] It is not too difficult to find languages in which (3) is fine while (1) and (2) are not. English is a case in point. Are there languages in which (1) or (2) are fine while (3) is not? I find it hard to come up with clear examples, and would like to ask the community for help. Thanks, Gisbert Fanselow Linguistic Field(s): Syntax                             Typology Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 11-Nov-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.