Practical and Theoretical Studies of Sentence-Final Adjoined Elements in English

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In the former year of this research project, we first carefully examined the observations and analyses adduced in the relevant papers published previously. Next, pointing out the problems with the previous analyses, we considered if it was possible to reconcile the observations with the recent theoretical apparatuses. As a result, we concluded that the distributional properties of sentence- final adjoined elements can hardly be accounted for within the Larsonian framework. We also examined the semantic properties of sentence-final adjoined elements in empirical points of view. The sentence-final adjoined element expresses new information in a sentence, and has been regarded as a marked element in a sentence. We showed the Larsonian framework directly contradicts this view, and considered if the sentence-final adjoined element can be taken to be an unmarked element in a sentence.In the latter year of this research project, re-examining the properties of the sentence-final adjoined elements, we proposed that the sentence-final adjoined elements should be divided into two categories. We argued that the sentence-final adjoined elements including some locational adverbials, some situational adverbials, and adverbials in passive and middle sentences, should be treated separately.. We also demonstrated that some of the sentence-final adjoined elements should be derived by movement, giving support to Johnson's and Nakajima's analyses, and showed that complicated patterns of the linguistic behavior seen among extraposition, subject raising, and Wh-movement, can be explained only if we adopt the position that rightward movement does exist and is induced by some semantic driving force.