Asymmetries in the Syntax and Prosody of Verb-Initial Interpolated Clauses

The interpolation of verb-initial clauses in German has been analyzed as extraction of a constituent from the embedded clause to the matrix clause in most earlier generative analyses following Thiersch (1978). Reis (1995) argues for a parenthetical analysis instead, based on similarities between alleged matrix clauses and uncontroversial parentheticals. This paper presents new prosodic and syntactic evidence for an extraction account both for the interpolation of true matrix clauses and a newly identified set of verb-initial clauses that serve as evidential adverbials. Differences in prosody between the two types of clauses are linked to differences in their syntactic structure.