SYNTAX: TOPIC AND PLEONASM

1. Catalan is, like most Romance tongues, a language enjoying a certain freedom of movement of all its components within the sentence. Despite being a so-called SVO language, i.e., its component order tends to be SUBJECT + VERB (PREDICATE) + OBJECT, there are moments when one of these components is to be found in a different position. The reason for that is basically emphasis, i.e., when an item with the sentence is remarked among the others.

2. English is a language that does not tolerate brusque movements of its components into the beginning of the sentence, but Catalan does accept it. English would rather use other procedures, such as the so-called cleft sentences. Observe the comparison between Catalan and English in the following examples, where the first one is a neutral sentence keeping the usual order of the sentence components:

na Maria ha vist en Joan al carrer	Mary has seen John on the street
(A)  en Joan, na Maria l’ha vist al carrer	it’s John who Mary has seen on the street
al carrer, na Maria ha vist en Joan	it’s on the street where Mary has seen John

3. The new position of the emphasized elements is called topic. Actually almost any item can be focalised by placing it into the beginning of the sentence. However, when focalising objects, Catalan, the same as many other Romance languages, require a clitic “reminding” the origin of the displaced element. The process by which a clitic marks out the origin of a moved object is called pleonasm.

4. Let’s see a few examples of these movements leftwards

4.1. Movement of a Direct Object containing a Noun Phrase with a definite article:

en Joan	es compra	el pollastre	al supermercat
John	buys	chicken	at the shop
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

turns out:

al/el pollastre,	en Joan	se’l compra	el pollastre	al supermercat
it’s the chicken what	John	buys		at the shop
TOPIC	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

4.2. Movement of a Direct Object containing a Noun Phrase with an indefinite article or no article at all:

en Joan	es compra	pollastre	al supermercat
John	buys	chicken	at the shop
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

turns out:

De pollastre,	en Joan	se’n compra	pollastre	al supermercat
It’s the chicken what	John	buys		at the shop
TOPIC	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

Observe also the preposition de in the focus.

4.3. Movement of an Indirect Object, usually referring to people:

En Joan	contava	acudits	a en Pere
John	told	jokes	to Peter
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	DIRECT OBJECT	INDIRECT OBJ.

turns out:

A en Pere,	en Joan	li contava	acudits	a en Pere
It’s to Peter that	John	told	jokes
TOPIC	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	DIRECT OBJ.	INDIRECT OBJ.

4.4. Adjuncts and other objects may also be topicalised, leaving different clitics as a reminder.

A place adjunct

En Joan	plantava	enciam	al jardí
John	planted	lettuces	in the garden
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

turns out:

Al jardí,	en Joan	hi plantava	enciam	al jardí
It’s in the garden where	John	planted	lettuces
TOPIC	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

A place object

En Joan	viu	a la muntanya	amb na Sara
John	lives	in the mountains	with Sarah
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

turns out:

A la muntanya,	en Joan	hi viu	a la muntanya	amb na Sara
It’s in the mountains where	John	lives		with Sarah
FOCUS	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT

A prepositional object

En Joan	parlava	de futbol	amb mi
John	used to talk	about football	to me
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	DIRECT OBJECT	ADJUNCT

turns out:

De futbol,	en Joan	en parlava	de futbol	amb mi
It’s about football that	John	used to talk		to me
TOPIC	SUBJECT	PREDICATE	OBJECT	ADJUNCT