rightnode
Rightnode, in linguistic terminology often referred to as right node raising (RNR), is a syntactic phenomenon in which material located at the right edge of a sentence serves as the shared tail of two coordinated constituents. In sentences exhibiting RNR, the same material is interpreted as belonging to both conjuncts, even if it is not repeated in full within each conjunct on the surface.
- The rightmost phrase or clause is interpreted as common to multiple preceding conjuncts.
- The shared material may appear as a single right node at the sentence end, with the preceding
- RNR is frequently discussed in the context of coordinate structures, ellipsis, and information-structure (theme-comment) considerations.
- A schematic example can be shown as two coordinated clauses sharing a right node: John bought
- Syntactic sharing analyses treat the right node as structurally linked to each conjunct, often invoking movement
- Ellipsis or sluicing analyses explain RNR as a case where the right node is present in one
- Some accounts emphasize information structure, suggesting the right node carries the focus or given/new information that
- RNR has been observed in English and many other languages, though its acceptability, preferred configurations, and
- The phenomenon has been discussed since the late 20th century within generative and functional approaches to