Abstract: This book presents a detailed model of syntax-information structure interaction. It presents clear empirical arguments that this interaction takes place at the phase level, with a privileged role for the edge of the phase. The phenomena discussed in this book are mostly taken from the Romance languages: dislocations, focus fronting, p-movement, accusative A and clitic doubling, with some discussion of Germanic scrambling and object shift as well as other relevant phenomena. Careful analyses of these constructions show that notions such as “topic” and “focus”, as usually defined, yield no predictions and instead a feature system based on the notions “discourse anaphor” and “contrast” is proposed.

Keywords: syntax,, minimalism,, information structure,, dislocations,, focus,, contrast,, scrambling,, p-movement.