Extraposition in Middle and New High German

Abstract This study investigates extraposition, i.e., the occurrence of a non-clausal constituent to the right of the clause-final verbal position, from medieval to modern German. Using a database of subordinate clauses from medieval and early-modern texts, several linguistic and sociolinguistic factors are identified that have a favoring effect on extraposition. These include a tendency for prepositional phrases, focused constituents, and heavy constituents to extrapose. Although extraposition is much less frequent in Modern Standard German, it is subject to largely the same restrictions as i... Mehr ...