Two types of inversion in Russian noun phrases


2012. № 2 (24), 65-106

Abstract:

The paper deals with different kinds of inversion, i.e., change of the basic word order, in Russian noun phrases. Types of inversion differ with respect to their impact on the interpretation of the noun phrase, their syntactic properties (head movement vs. XP movement, availability of splits), discourse register, eventual interaction with the information structure of the whole sentence. The paper argues that the crucial characteristic which splits these types of inversion into two classes is the choice of the phrasal stress bearer.