Languages like English and French defy rules in ordering contrastive elements.
The article looks at how different languages order contrastive elements like subjects and objects. Some languages, like English and French, allow a contrastive subject to come before a contrastive object, while others, like Italian and Japanese, don't. The researchers suggest a new version of Contiguity Theory to explain this pattern. They argue that their explanation is better than other possible explanations and is supported by evidence.