Chapter 7 - Complementiser Phrases5 Other fronting movements
So far we have concentrated on movements which seem to specifically involve
complementisers and their projections. However, there are movements in English
which appear to move an element out of the IP but which do not involve the CP. This
indicates that there are positions between the CP and the IP. In this final section of this
chapter we will briefly investigate this part of the English clause structure.
5.1 Topicalisation
So far we have claimed that AP modifiers of VP and of the clause are adjoined to
various places inside the IP. There is another position in which we can find both VP
and sentential adverbs which appears to be outside the IP altogether:
(98) a certainly, no one saw the thieves get away
b quietly, the robbers made their get-away
In some ways, the initial position for adverbs is similar to the wh-position, which is
unspecified for the kind of wh-element that can occupy it:
(99) a who did you think [- robbed the Post Office] (subject wh)
b what did you think [Biggs robbed -] (object wh)
c where did you think [Biggs robbed the train -] (adjunct wh)
The initial position of the adverb seems also unrestricted in that any kind of adverb
can occupy it. The reason why the specifier of CP is so unrestricted is because
elements move to this position from positions compatible with their status (e.g. from
subject, complement and adjunct positions). Taking this into account, we might
therefore claim that the initial adverb position is a position to which various kinds of
adverbs move. This is backed up by the observation that this position is not only
reserved to adverbs, but a whole range of elements seem to be able to occupy it:
(100) a [PP on the train], I saw Biggs –
b [NP Biggs], I remember seeing – on the train
c [VP see Biggs on the train], I certainly did –
These fronted elements are often referred to as topics, as they represent
information that is already part of the discourse, or can be assumed to be readily
retrieved by the participants in the conversation from the context or from general
knowledge (often called ‘old’ information). Note that out of context, these expressions
often sound strange, but given a context in which the topicalised element has already
been introduced, they greatly improve:
(101) a considering all the places that I saw the robbers (i.e. on the platform, in the
engine and on the train), on the train, I saw Biggs, ...
b of all the people that I recognised (i.e. Biggs, Smith and Jones), Biggs, I saw
on the train, ...
c I expected to see Biggs on the train and [see Biggs on the train], I certainly
did