oa Extrapositie

Modifiers and several other types of constituents can be right-extraposed across the right sentence bracket (the verbal pole) in Dutch. This article discusses what the conditions on such configurations are, how extraposed phrases can be distinguished from dislocated phrases, and how extraposition can be analyzed from a formal syntactic perspective. An extraposed phrase is part of the intonational and semantic domain of the host, and the process is limited to the finite clause. Nevertheless, it can cross certain island boundaries in terms of structural hierarchy, among other things. Such properties are problematic for movement and stranding theories of extraposition. Instead, I propose an alternative analysis in terms of specifying coordination. Furthermore, I argue that ellipsis plays a role. In effect, then, extraposition amounts to structural but not phonological repetition of a part of the clause, such that the extraposed phrase is base-generated within the additional part of the structure.