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The syntax of postpositional phrases in Wan, an “SOVX” language
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- Source: Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language”, Volume 33, Issue 4, Jan 2009, p. 910 - 933
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Abstract
In the study of word order typology, the SOVX word order pattern of Mande is often viewed as exceptional and explained diachronically as a “type in transition”. This paper argues against that view based on analysis of the sentence structure of Wan (Southeastern Mande). I show that the SOVX word order of Wan is a consequence of an unusual syntactic behavior of postpositional arguments, which do not form a syntactic constituent with their verb but instead appear in a fixed position outside of the VP. The analysis has typological implications, suggesting that the SOVX pattern of this kind should be treated separately from types where PP arguments are syntactically dependent on their verb.
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