VP Fronting and Predicate Initial Word Order In Western Subanon
Trent Ukasick
February 2025
 

Much attention has been paid to the verb-initial structures of Austronesian languages. A variety of analyses including head movement and VP-fronting have been proposed to explain the derivation of these structures. Although a VP-fronting analysis has traditionally been used to explain VSO/VOS alternations observed in languages such as Niuean and Samoan, it has less often been applied to languages with more strict VSO tendencies. This paper presents evidence from Western Subanon suggesting that a remnant VP-fronting analysis is not only compatible with the strict VSO word order of the language but may also offer advantages over a head movement analysis. I also present evidence to demonstrate that this phrasal movement is driven by a +Predicate EPP feature associated with T that attracts XP-sized constituents, in line with Massam’s (2000) analysis of Niuean, Collin’s (2017) analysis of Samoan, and Coon’s (2010) analysis of Chol. My analysis shows that while Niuean and Samoan exhibit VSO/VOS surface alternations that Western Subanon does not, all three languages share a common underlying syntactic structure and mechanism for the derivation of verb-initial word order.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/008783
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: submitted
keywords: austronesian, syntax, word order, vp movement, syntax
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