Scrambling and Reference in German

Although the linear order of arguments (and adverbials) in German is relatively free, it underlies certain restrictions; these don’t apply to the so-called unmarked order for arguments (Lenerz 1977) and adverbials (Frey/Pittner 1998). It is a common assumption to take the unmarked order as basic and derive all other orders from it by scrambling, whatever its specific characteristics may be (cf., amongst others, Haider/Rosengren 1998). The observable restrictions obtaining for some linear ordering may then be considered as constraints on a movement operation (scrambling). Some well known restrictions are given in (1), exemplified by the linear order of indirect (IO) and direct object (DO). In the examples (2) – (4), the focussed NP is the questioned argument, e.g. Q:IO in (2): (1) a. [±def IO]> [±def DO] : “unmarked order”, regardless of focus positio