ABSTRACT
In this chapter we look at the effects on meaning of the choice and location of certain syntactic constituents relative to one another, though we begin in §7.2 by examining the focusing effect of prosodic stress. Of course, the written medium cannot use a prosodic device for focusing; instead, focus is indicated by the order of constituents - which brings us back to the main topic of the chapter. In §7.3 we turn to scope relations. In the course of this book we have often referred to the notion of scope relations and their effect on meaning - most significantly in §5.4 - and in §7.3 we take a more detailed look at scope relations in English. In §7.4 we identify some of the general effects on language of the light-heavy alternation that is thought to facilitate cognitive processing for both speaker and hearer, and which is consequently the most significant determinant of the informational structure of an utterance. It is well established that the most salient position in an utterance is initial, and the second most salient position is utterance final; so §7.5 discusses FCs (first constituents), defining a FC as the first propositional constituent of a clause or utterance; and the topic of §7.6 is the EC (the end constituent) - the last propositional constituent in a clause or utterance. Sentence subjects seem to demand special consideration in a discussion of information structure, and in §7.7 we look at the criteria for choosing SUs. §7.8 is on the function of constituent order as a determinant of NP roles. And §7.9 gets to the heart of information structure with a study of discourse topic and the ways in which it is indicated in a text. §7.10 looks briefly at the correlation between the temporal order of events and the order of their presentation in a text. Up to this point we have been concerned with the meaningful effects of the relative location of utterance constituents with respect to one another; §7.11 shifts to the effects on meaning of the choice of constituents in the utterance. In §7.11.1 we discuss the
vexed question of definiticity and the meaning of definiteness and indefiniteness. In §7.11.2 we look at generics. And in §7.11.3 at referentiality. There is a summary discussion on informational aspects of the utterance in §7.12.
