left periphery
noun1
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences The part of a syntactic tree above the inflectional phrase(s) (expressing tense, aspect, and/or mood), where topic, focus, illocutionary force, etc. are expressed.
- Four kinds of elements typically occurring in the left periphery will be taken into account: interrogative and relative pronouns, topics and focalized elements.1997, Luigi Rizzi, “The Fine Structure of the Left Periphery”, in Liliane Haegeman, editor, Elements of Grammar: Handbook in Generative Syntax, Dordrecht: Springer, →ISBN, page 281:
- The polar-question particle sheds useful light on the syntax of the BH [Biblical Hebrew] left periphery. [...] With an overt Force head and the obligatory movement of the finite verb to the Topic head, the structure of the left periphery becomes more visible.2017, Elizabeth Cowper, Vincent DeCaen, “Biblical Hebrew: A formal perspective on the left periphery”, in Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, volume 38, page 14: