Revisiting the information structure of English verbo-nominal prepositional phrases in predication

The theory of functional sentence perspective (FSP) is centred on communicative dynamism and its distribution among communicative units, i.e. individual sentence elements (Firbas, 1996; 1999). When a context-dependent subject is further specified by more dynamic elements, the sentence follows the Quality Scale; conversely, if a context-independent subject is the most dynamic element, it follows the Presentation Scale. This corpus-based study, building on Adam & Headlandová Kalischová (2009), examines English sentences with prepositional predications of the pattern BE + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (specifically, be at fault, be at large, be in full swing, be in place, be on guard, be on display). Unlike the 2009 study, which categorized these structures based on semantic interpretation and paraphrasing potential, the present analysis explores their textual, syntactic, and information-structure characteristics irrespective of typological classification. The aim is to determine whether, and under what circumstances, these predicates express existence or appearance on the scene. The findings suggest that the FSP status of verbo-nominal prepositional structures is best understood as a continuum, ranging from predominantly presentational to primarily qualitative, rather than a strict binary categorization.