Preposition stranding

Preposition stranding or p-stranding is the syntactic construction in which a so-called stranded, hanging or dangling preposition occurs somewhere other than immediately before its corresponding object; for example, at the end of a sentence. The term preposition stranding was coined in 1964, predated by stranded preposition in 1949.[1][2] Linguists had previously identified such a construction as a sentence-terminal preposition[3] or as a preposition at the end.[4]

Preposition stranding is found in English and other Germanic languages,[5][6][7][8] as well as in Vata and Gbadi (languages in the Niger–Congo family), and certain dialects of French spoken in North America.[citation needed]

P-stranding occurs in various syntactic contexts, including passive voice,[9] wh-movement,[10][11] and sluicing.[10][11]

  1. ^ "preposition stranding". Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  2. ^ "stranded preposition". Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Webster was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fowler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A Student's Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0-521-61288-8. pages 137–38.
  6. ^ Roberts, Ian G. (2007). Diachronic Syntax. Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 978-0-19-925398-2. page 238.
  7. ^ Maling, Joan; Zaenen, Annie (1985). "Preposition-Stranding and Passive". Nordic Journal of Linguistics. 8 (2): 197–209. doi:10.1017/S0332586500001335. S2CID 145476590. page 197.
  8. ^ Michael Nguyen (19 October 2021). "Hvornår er præpositionsstranding i dansk umuligt?". Ny Forskning i Grammatik (in Danish) (28). doi:10.7146/NFG.VI28.128787. ISSN 2446-1709. Wikidata Q109265906.
  9. ^ Rohdenburg, G (2017). "Formal asymmetries between active and passive clauses in Modern English: The avoidance of preposition stranding with verbs featuring omissible prepositions". Anglia. 135 (4): 700–744. doi:10.1515/ang-2017-0068. S2CID 165895615.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Alaowffi, Nouf Yousef; Alharbi, Bader Yousef (2021-06-24). "Preposition stranding under sluicing: Evidence from Hijazi Arabic". Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. 17 (2): 941–957. doi:10.52462/jlls.65. ISSN 1305-578X. S2CID 237819725.