Lauseliike

Lauseliike is a Finnish term formed from lause (clause, sentence) and liike (movement, action). In linguistic and rhetorical discussions, lauseliike refers to processes in which a clause shifts position within a sentence or across discourse boundaries, often to achieve emphasis, cohesion, or information structure.

The term is not universally standardized and appears mainly in descriptive discussions of Finnish syntax and rhetoric. In practice, lauseliike can describe phenomena such as clause fronting (topicalization) or other rearrangements that alter the normal order of clauses for pragmatic effect. Because Finnish has relatively free word order compared to some languages, lauseliike is sometimes used as a label for analyses that treat clause movement as a systematic operation rather than a stylistic choice.

Usage can vary: some sources reserve lauseliike for moves that affect information structure, while others use it more broadly to include any syntactic relocation of clauses in discourse. As a niche term, it appears mainly in Finnish-language texts and discourse about syntax and rhetoric. In non-Finnish contexts, the concept is usually described with terms such as topicalization or clausal fronting rather than with the label lauseliike. The concept helps to discuss how speakers guide attention and coherence through clause order.