How bizarre! A non-syntactic constraint on idiom syntax

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that syntax-external factors at the level of pragmatics are responsible for certain constraints on word order variation in phrasal idioms. I propose a new constraint in this context by referring to the fact that idioms can be distinguished by the criterion of having either a plausible or a ‘bizarre’ literal reading. Since this constraint on topicalization of subparts of idiomatic strings cannot be accounted for in syntactic terms, this paper contributes to an understanding of how to approach marked word order options from a pragmatic perspective in general.