Comparative Concept: hanging topic phrase (cxn)
Extracted from the appendix of Morphosyntax: Constructions of the World's Languages, by William Croft (2022)
hanging topic phrase (cxn)
| Typ | construction (def) |
|---|---|
| Alias(se) | hanging topic phrase |
| Assoziiert | |
| Spraakbanken | hanging topic phrase (cxn) |
Umbrella
Hierarchy
Definition
a phrase that expresses a topic that is not a participant in the predicated - event. Example: in Mandarin Chinese xiàng bizi cháng [elephant nose long] 'Elephant's noses are long / Elephants have long noses', xiàng 'elephant' is a topic but not a participant in the predicated event cháng 'be long'. Hanging topics may use a detached topic phrase strategy. (Section 11.2.3)