A corpus-based analysis of word order variation: the order of verb arguments in the German middle field

A perennial problem in German syntax is the order of verb arguments in the Mittelfeld. The Mittelfeld is the section of the clause between the two parts of the discontinuous verbal group. In it, all verb arguments can be realized simultaneously, however, not always in the same order. There is a long-standing debate about a number of factors that possibly govern this variation, yet, what their actual influence is, remains unclear. This study takes a quantitative corpus-based approach to the problem and looks specifically at a type of variation that has scarcely been dealt with up to now, viz. the relative order of a pronominal object and a nominal subject in the Mittelfeld. Clauses that show this kind of variation have been collected from the NEGRA-corpus consisting of German newspaper material and they have been annotated for 5 factors frequently mentioned in the literature: grammatical function of the arguments, given/new status and animacy of the arguments' referents, difference in length between the arguments, and their occurrence in either a main or a subordinate clause. The effect of these factors has been statistically checked and modelled in a logistic regression model. The results of the statistical analysis show an effect of all factors except for grammatical. The effect of main versus subordinate clause is especially strong, contradicting earlier hypotheses that this factor is only an epiphenomenon of length differenceDepartement Linguïstiek. Diensten Faculteit Letteren. Dienst Informatieverwerking Letteren. Centrum voor Grammaticaal en lexicaal betekenisonderzoek.status: publishe