Optimizing Structure in Context :

This dissertation examines the \free" word order or scrambling phenomena in German and Korean from the perspective of constraint interaction in Optimality Theory. To overcome the problems raised in single-component analyses in explaining word order variation, I propose an `interface' approach in which the constraints from several di erent components of grammar participate, compete, and interact with one another. That is, various word orders are considered to be motivated and constrained by interactions among syntactic, semantic, and discourse principles of these languages. As the constraints from di erent modules of grammar are highly con icting, I utilize Optimality Theory to demonstrate how the constraints interact and resolve con icts among one another. In this approach, each scrambled variant, i.e. a sentence with a particular word order, is conceived of as the \optimal" output, which instantiates the syntactic, semantic, and discourse-contextual information given in the input. I rst develop the phrase structural constraints in German and Korean, referred to as canon, which are responsible for the mapping from the argument-structure and grammatical-function information to the phrase structure con guration, which in turn re ects the surface word order. Then, I examine the semantic and discourse e ects of scrambling and propose a model of information structure based on the two crossclassifying discourse features [New] and [Prom] to capture the complex interactions of topic and focus on word order. The semantic e ect of speci city is also handled iv in terms of information structure by means of semantic restrictions on discourse feature assignment. Based on this information structure, I propose two information structuring constraints new and prom, which are the mapping constraints between information structure and phrase structure, as the major driving forces of scrambling. Finally, I demonstrate the interaction and con ict-resolution among these constraints in the German and Korean scrambling data by proposing a particular ranking for each language. v Acknowledgments Once in my life, I went to see a fortune teller, right before I came to Stanford. She said, no worries, go ahead, and you will meet great teachers in the United States. She was right indeed! I have been blessed with great teachers at Stanford. Among the greatest are my dissertation committee members. My deepest gratitude goes to my principal advisor Joan Bresnan, for her insightful ideas, invaluable comments and discussions, and untiring personal encouragement. I wish I could be such an advisor to my future students. I must also thank for her nal push: otherwise, I may not have made it. I have always relied on Peter Sells not only for his prompt comments but also for various academic and nonacademic advice. He has been no less accessible although he was on sabbatical, and the late night overseas email exchanges with him have been a nice source of refreshment. I have bene ted a great deal from the discussion with Henriette de Swart. She was the person who rst got me interested in topic and focus phenomena, and her precise comments and criticisms helped me greatly with sharpening my unorganized ideas. Finally, I am deeply grateful to Tom Wasow for his interest in my topic, careful reading, and invaluable comments. I learned a lot from his own interest and knowledge on word order variation. I am also indebted to Ivan Sag, Elizabeth Traugott, and Gert Webelhuth (who was visiting Stanford in my nal year of dissertation writing), for their interest in my work, helpful comments, and encouragement. Also, special thanks are due to my dear professors in Korea, Sung-Hwan Lee and Seung-Hyuk Park at Ewha and Ik-Hwan Lee vi at Yonsei, for rst letting me know about linguistics and moreover getting me caught in it. I have been privileged to have such wonderful friends and fellow students at Stanford. I rst thank the classmates in my year for making our rst few years so enjoyable: Lynn Cherny, Chris Manning, Yookyung Kim, Hinrich Sch utze, and Hadar Shem-Tov. Special thanks to Chris Manning for being such a good friend, always listening to me and helping me with every little thing. Heartfelt thanks go to my o cemates in 210, Cordura. It has been such a pleasure to share the space with them, almost like having my own sisters around. I thank Tracy Holloway King for answering all my silly little question from formatting to writing tips, and especially for proofreading my dissertation so carefully. Talking to Mar gaEugenia Ni~ no has always given me comfort and relief. I am also grateful to her for letting me share her X terminal when mine went dead. Finally, I thank Rachel Nordlinger for constantly encouraging and cheering me up, and also for making our o ce such a fun place to be in. I am especially grateful to my German informants, Susanne Riehemann and Martina Faller, for their prompt and patient responses, through email or in person, to my endless questions. I know from my own experience how time-consuming and mindboggling it can be to be an informant. I am also indebted to other fellow linguists for their intellectual and moral support, and also for their helpful comments and discussions: they are Alex Alsina, Arto Anttila, Jennifer Arnold, Emily Bender, Miriam Butt, Young-mee Yu Cho, Vivienne Fong, Eunjoo Han, Jongbok Kim, Rob Malouf, and Changyong Sohn. And special thanks to Eunjin Oh for ling this dissertation for me.Among the family members, my rst thanks go to my mother Jong Lim Kim and my father Duksan Choi. They have always been encouraging and supportive of my pursuing an academic career, which not all Korean parents are to their daughters. I vii truly appreciate what they have done for me and I dedicate this dissertation to them as a small token of my gratitude. I thank my dear son Hongsoon for putting up with mom and dad's absence in his second 6 months of his life and I am grateful and indebted to my mother-in-law Nam Ki Kim for her taking the best care of him in that period. I have appreciated having my husband Sunhyuk Kim as a true friend and companion throughout my life at Stanford. He has been supportive and understanding, but also critical as a true friend would be. Writing and also nishing our dissertations at the same time was not the most pleasant experience we've had together, but I am proud that we survived it. viii