Inversion (linguistics)

In linguistics, inversion is any of several grammatical constructions where two expressions switch their canonical order of appearance, that is, they invert. There are several types of subject-verb inversion in English: locative inversion, directive inversion, copular inversion, and quotative inversion. The most frequent type of inversion in English is subject–auxiliary inversion in which an auxiliary verb changes places with its subject; it often occurs in questions, such as Are you coming?, with the subject you is switched with the auxiliary are. In many other languages, especially those with a freer word order than English, inversion can take place with a variety of verbs (not just auxiliaries) and with other syntactic categories as well. When a layered constituency-based analysis of sentence structure is used, inversion often results in the discontinuity of a constituent, but that would not be the case with a flatter dependency-based analysis. In that regard, inversion has consequences similar to those of shifting. In broad terms, one can distinguish between two major types of inversion in English that involve verbs: subject–auxiliary inversion and subject–verb inversion. The difference between these two types resides with the nature of the verb involved: whether it is an auxiliary verb or a full verb. Subject–auxiliary inversion The most frequently occurring type of inversion in English is subject–auxiliary inversion. The subject and auxiliary verb invert (switch positions): a. Fred will stay. b. Will Fred stay? - Subject–auxiliary inversion with yes/no question a. Larry has done it. b. What has Larry done? - Subject–auxiliary inversion with constituent question a. Fred has helped at no point. b. At no point has Fred helped. - Subject–auxiliary inversion with fronted expression containing negation (negative inversion) a. If we were to surrender, ... b. Were we to surrender, ...