Disharmony, Antisymmetry, and the Final‐over‐Final Constraint

Abstract

This chapter addresses the crucial issue of how hierarchical structure relates to linear order, and provides evidence that the two are universally mediated by a version of Kayne’s (1994) Linear Correspondence Axiom (LCA). The discussion focuses on new data in support of the Final-over-Final Constraint (FOFC), an apparent gap in disharmonic word orders. The data in question relate to the embedding of various types of clauses in OV languages. Almost universally, the FOFC-violating order (*[VP [CPC TP] V]) fails to surface, and what we see instead is extraposition, i.e. superficially: [VP V [CP C TP]]. Based on these data, the chapter argues that: (i) in such cases, obligatory extraposition comes about as an indirect result of FOFC; (ii) any adequate explanation of FOFC and its effects will need to refer to the LCA; and (iii) the pattern provides evidence for the independently proposed idea that certain CPs can be embedded under nominal structure.