Discourse and metadiscourse of Hebrew SOV in the heated parliamentary arena

This paper examines the syntactic, informational, discursive, and metadiscursive functions of the SOV construction in heated parliamentary dialogic discourse. Syntax and information structure coincide in the SOV construction, creating a tripartite structure, in which the initial subject is topicalized, the medially positioned object contains defocalized topical material, and the reduced object-less VP constitutes a narrowed down focus domain, containing the newsworthy element. Discursively, the subject and the newsworthy element stand in contrast with parallel elements in a paired sentence, which is often only implicit. Metadiscursively, the SOV construction is employed in the heated parliamentary arena for an emotively accentuated expression of propriety/impropriety.