The Distinction
The following trees illustrate the distinction:
The presence of the VP constituent in the configurational tree on the left allows one to define the syntactic relations (subject vs. object) in terms of the configuration. The subject is the argument that appears outside of the VP, whereas the object appears inside it. The flatter structure on the right, where there is no VP, forces/allows one to view aspects of syntax differently. More generally, Hale proposed that non-configurational languages have the following characteristics:
- free (or more accurately, pragmatically determined) word order
- extensive use of null anaphora
- syntactically discontinuous expressions
However, it is not clear that these properties all cluster together. Languages that have been described as non-configurational include Mohawk, Warlpiri, Nahuatl and O'odham (Papago).
Read more about this topic: Non-configurational Language
Famous quotes containing the word distinction:
“There is a distinction to be drawn between true collectors and accumulators. Collectors are discriminating; accumulators act at random. The Collyer brothers, who died among the tons of newspapers and trash with which they filled every cubic foot of their house so that they could scarcely move, were a classic example of accumulators, but there are many of us whose houses are filled with all manner of things that we “can’t bear to throw away.””
—Russell Lynes (1910–1991)
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—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)