Manner adverbs and information structure: Evidence from the adverbial modification of verbs of creation

Abstract

The paper investigates the pragmatic effects of word order variation in German, specifically concerning the ordering of adverb and nominal arguments. The behaviour of verbs of creation in combination with adverbs and indefinite object NPs proves that the allegedly neutral word order NP Adverb Verb is not really presupposition free. I claim that indefinite object NPs to the left of manner adverbs receive a special kind of partitive reading which presupposes that the referent of NP is already contextually present before the reported event takes place. This will offer an explanation for the fact that in a sentence like Bob hat ein Flugzeug stabil konstruiert (‘Bob has a plane solidly constructed’) the object NP cannot receive an existential (indefinite) reading while the sentence Bob hat ein Flugzeug kunstvoll bemalt (‘Bob has a plane artistically painted’) seems to be able to refer to a previously unmentioned plane.

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