The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová

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lizatko nasel chlapec
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Figure 1-2: OVS order
Before we get to the actual proposal there is another empirical observation to be established.
Notice that in the examples in (2) the verb occupies the second position. In contrast,
in the examples in (4) the verb linearly follows the arguments. 8 As we will see shortly, two
factors turn out to be crucial for understanding Czech word order variations: the relative
position of arguments and the relative position of the verb with respect to the arguments.
In the rest of this chapter and in the following chapters I will closely investigate the
nature of the reordering witnessed in (2). I will argue that this type of reordering is derived
by short A-movement that is sometimes parasitic on verb head movement. I will call this
movement G-Movement. This movement happens, I will claim, only in order to derive a
semantic interpretation that would not be available otherwise. As such this kind of movement
is driven by interpretation requirements and is restricted by economy.
The goal of section 1.1 is to introduce the basics of a system that can account for the
Czech word order data observed in (2). I will present the proposal in stages.
The first version of the system, introduced in this section, is designed to account for
the order of the arguments and the position of the verb. Further refinements will be introduced
in the following chapters. In the next section, section 1.2, I will address the question
of how come multiple interpretations are available (only) for basic word orders, such as
SVO. In particular, I will argue that the ambiguity follows from G-movement being a last
resort operation. Section 1.3 will more closely investigate the fact that the verb intervenes
between the two arguments, in contrast to other types of reorderings, such as questions
8 To make the picture complete, in questions the verb precedes the arguments.
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