Locative inversion and optional features

Abstract

Some locative PPs in English can be optionally fronted in a certain environment, as the following examples show: 1 ( 1) a. John rolled down the hill b. Down the hill rolled JOHN Note that in (lb) the logical subject and the verb are inverted. Example (lb) is called a locative inversion construction. One of the controversial issues in locative inversion is the location of the inverted PP in (1 b) (see, for example, Stowell 1981, Coopmans 1989, Hoekstra and Mulder 1990, Bresnan 1994, Watanabe 1994, Collins 1997, and Jang 1997). Recently, this construction has been given more attention by Collins (1997) with respect to global vs. local economy. In this paper, I explore the locative inversion construction in English within a minimalist framework (cf. Chomsky 1995). In section 2, I review CoUins' (1997) analysis of locative inversion, while section 3 provides an alternative analysis. Lastly, in section 4, I discuss its theoretical implications on the economy of grammar.