Regulating word order in modern Greek : verb initial and non-verb initial orders & the conceptual-intentional interface

I introduce the notions ‘configurational’, ‘discourse-configurational’, and the basics of the minimalist syntax, on the one hand, and notions relevant to information packaging, on the other hand (Chapter 1), in the following thee chapters I proceed to a detailed examination of the syntactic properties of verb-initial and non-verb initial orders, insisting on certain debated aspects. In particular, in Chapter 2, I compare the syntax of VSO and that of the ‘problematic’ VOS order; I show that what differentiates the two constructions is that the latter order is due to a flexible strategy in the narrow syntax that allows the object to pied-pipe alongside the verb to the TP domain. In Chapter 3, I discuss clitic doubling for which I put forward an alternative account involving feature copying that allows the same DP to occur in two positions in the structure at the same time. In this light, I further argue that clitic doubling is a parameterized version of A-movement. In Chapter 4, I deal with the properties of a range of constructions targeting the preverbal domain. I argue that the peculiar behaviour of CLLD is due to that it is the result of two operations, namely, A-movement in the form of clitic doubling and A-bar movement. I also show that non-focal LD is more productive than previously thought and that the construction involves mere A-bar movement. In the remaining two chapters I shift attention to issues related to the discourse-configurational nature of the language and information structure. After I discuss various models of integrating information structure into the minimalist grammar (Chapter 5), I argue that Information Structure can refer either to pragmatic articulations or more abstract logico-semantic strategies or both. Regarding the latter one, I show that Greek formally realizes via its word order two such strategies: a predicative and a non-predicative, the former surfacing as non-Verb initial orders and the latter one surfacing as verb-initial orders. In the second half of Chapter 6, I deal with the interpretive effects of doubling. In particular, I argue that doubling in Greek invariably marks a DP as a topic. I also show that non-focal left dislocated DPs in Greek are fronted ground material that serves as an anchor for the introduction of new information into the discourse. Chapter 7 summarizes the major contributions of the current thesis