Re: Topics and foci/focuses... Wow, now I get it!!!

From: "Amanda Babcock" <langs@...>
> On Sat, May 05, 2001 at 09:43:18PM -0400, Oskar Gudlaugsson wrote:
>
> > So what did he do?
> > - He  like  came over to me and...
> >      [topic]
> >
> > What's that "like" doing? Looks like topic marking to me.
>
> Well, just one thing.  English, unlike Japanese, is mostly a head-initial
> language.  Our markers (like prepositions) usually govern the following
> words, not the preceding ones, and the use of "like" and "just" feels
> like it's connected to the words that follow them, to me.
[Er, you meant 'head-final'?  Like 'MOD MOD MOD HEAD']

But in English we also have examples like:

    He [switched on] the light.

Where 'on' doesn't modify 'the light' [He was standing on the light, and
switched something?] but rather 'switched' [the light was switched to 'on'].  A
lot of verbs tend to act that way, as well as the normal way ["He died in the
street"] and some that could be read either way [If I say: "He went through the
window", did he break the window? It depends how it's divided].

Plus there's the postposition-like objects:

    It happened seven years [ago].
    He looked the table [over] for defects.

And the other sentence markers and adverbs that go wherever:

    [Unfortunately,] John was not ready for the camel.
    The camel [however] was ready and eager.
    The mess they left wouldn't clean up [easily].

At least, that's my idea.  There may be special explanations of which I am
unaware.

    *Muke!

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