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Preposition stranding, sometimes called P-stranding, is the syntactic construction in which a preposition appears without an object. (The preposition is then described as stranded or hanging.) This construction is widely found in Germanic languages, including English and the North Germanic languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic); whether or not German and Dutch exhibit legitimate preposition stranding is still debated. P-stranding is also found in languages outside the Germanic family, such as Vata and Gbadi, two languages in the Niger-Congo family, and certain dialects of French spoken in North America. In English, some grammarians frown upon preposition stranding; see Disputed English grammar.
Preposition stranding in English In English, prepositon stranding is commonly found in three types of constructions: Wh-questions, pseudopassives, and relative clauses. Whati are you talking about ___i? This chairi was sat on ___i. This is the booki thati I told you about ___i. This is the booki I told you about ___i. Preposition stranding in French Certain dialects of French seem to have developed preposition stranding as a result of linguistic contact with English. P-stranding is found in areas where the francophone population is under intense contact with English, including certain parts of Alberta, Northern Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Louisiana. For example, Prince Edward Island French permits all three types of preposition stranding: Whom did you bake the cake for? Standard French: Pour qui as-tu fait le gâteau? Robert has been much talked about at the meeting. Standard French: On a beaucoup parlé de Robert au meeting. You don't know the girl that I'm talking to you about. Standard French: Tu ne connais pas la fille dont je te parle. However, not all dialects of French allow P-stranding to the same extent. For instance, Ontario French restricts preposition stranding to relative clauses with certain prepositions; in most dialects, stranding is impossible with the prepositions à (to) and de (of). P-stranding in Dutch There are two kinds of P-stranding constructions in Dutch, both of which in fact involve the stranding of postpositions. Directional constructions The first case involves directional constructions. A number of common Dutch adpositions can be used either prepositionally or postpositionally, with a slight change in possible meanings; for example, Dutch in can mean either in or into when used prepositionally, but can only mean into when used postpositionally. When postpositions, such adpositions can be stranded: literally, Which foresti walked he ___i into? i.e., What forest did he walk into? literally, … that he such-a dark forest not into dares to walk … i.e., … that he doesn't dare walk into such a dark forest … Another way to analyze examples like the first one above would be to allow arbitrary "postposition + verb" sequences to act as transitive separable prefix verbs (e.g. in + lopen → inlopen); but such an analysis would not be consistent with the position of in in the second example. (The postposition can also appear in the verbal prefix position: … dat hij zo'n donker bos niet durft in te lopen ….) R-pronouns The second case of P-stranding in Dutch is much more widespread. Dutch prepositions generally do not take the ordinary neuter pronouns (het, dat, wat, etc.) as objects. Instead, they become postpositional suffixes for the corresponding ''r''-pronouns (er, daar, waar, etc.): hence, not literally, We talked there not about. i.e., We weren't talking about it. literally, Where talked we about? i.e., What were we talking about? Some regional varieties of German show the same phenomenon with da(r)- and wo(r)- forms. For example: literally, I can me therefrom nothing buy. i.e., I can't buy anything with this. literally, I can me there-clipped nothing from buy. i.e., I can't buy anything with this. literally, There-clipped can I me nothing from buy. i.e., I can't buy anything with this. Again, although the stranded postposition has nearly the same surface distribution as a separable verbal prefix, it would not be possible to analyze these Dutch and German examples in terms of the reanalyzed verbs | ||||||||
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