ABSTRACT
Inthischapter,previousfunctionalstudiesofpreposingarereviewedandshownto
beunsatisfactoryononeormoreofthefollowingcounts:
•theinvestigationhasbeenrestrictedtoparticularphrasalconstituents,e.g. 'Topicalization'(NPpreposing),orVPFronting,thusfailingtocapturesignificantpragmaticgeneralizations;
•thediscoursestatusofthepreposedconstituenthasbeentheprimaryfocus ofattention,attheexpenseoftherestofthesentenceoutofwhichthat constituentispreposedandwhichwillbeshowntoplayacrucialroleinthe analysisofpreposing;
•itisunclearwhetheritisthepreposedconstituentitselforthe referent/denotationofthatconstituentthatisrelevantforpreposing;
•termswhichareinvokedasfunctionalexplanationsareeitherpoorly defined(ifdefinedatall)orinadequateinaccountingforacorpusof naturallyoccurringdata;
•certaintypesofpreposinghavenotbeeninvestigated.
