6 - Complex Prefields

Summary

In the complex prefield construction in German, it looks as though more than one constituent can occupy the position in front of the finite verb in declarative root clauses. Two kinds of analysis can be found in the literature: In one approach, there are indeed multiple constituents in the SpecC domain; in another approach, complex prefields are in fact single VP constituents lacking an overt V head. In this chapter I argue that there is empirical evidence for both views, coming from the clause-mate condition, order restrictions, massive prefield placement, complex long-distance topicalization, and an indefiniteness constraint, on the one hand, and from freezing effects, Barss' generalization, bound variable pronouns, negative polarity items, idioms, left dislocation, and extraposition, on the other hand. I develop a derivational, minimalist analysis based on Remove, according to which complex prefields involve both simple VPs (at early stages of the derivation) and multiple constituents (after removal of the VP projection has taken place).