Editing Dislocation (syntax) (section)

==In Cantonese==
Colloquial [[Cantonese]] often uses right dislocation when afterthoughts occur after completing a sentence.<ref name=MatthewsYip>{{cite book | last = Matthews | first = Stephen |author2=Yip, Virginia | title = Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar | url = https://archive.org/details/cantonesecompreh00matt | url-access = limited | publisher = Routledge | year = 1994 | location = London | pages = [https://archive.org/details/cantonesecompreh00matt/page/n46 71]–4, 229, 239 | isbn = 0-415-08945-X}}</ref>  Because it is a [[pro-drop language]], no pronoun is used when a [[subject (grammar)|subject]] is dislocated, leading to an appearance of changed word order.  For instance, the normal word order is [[subject–verb–object]] (SVO):
{{fs interlinear|lang=yue|indent=3|glossing=link
|王生 返 咗 屋企。
|{wong4 saang1} faan1 zo2 {uk1 kei2}
|{Mr. Wong} return PFV home
|''Mr. Wong returned home.''}}

Dislocation can result in the appearance of [[verb–object–subject]] (VOS) word order because no pronoun is used:
{{fs interlinear|lang=yue|indent=3|abbreviations=SFP:sentence-final particle|glossing=link
|返 咗 屋企 喇, 王生。
|faan1 zo2 {uk1 kei2} laa3, {wong4 saang1} 
|return PFV home SFP, {Mr. Wong}
|''[He] returned home, Mr. Wong.''}}

At a [[deep structure|deep level]] though, the sentence is still SVO but only appears to be VOS due to dislocation and pronoun dropping. Often a [[sentence-final particle]] (SFP) is required after the main clause, otherwise the sentence would sound strange or unacceptable. Right dislocation in Cantonese can occur with [[auxiliary verb]]s, [[adverb]]s, and sometimes [[subordinate clause]]s in addition to subjects.<ref name="MatthewsYip"/>

Being a [[Chinese language]], Cantonese is also a topic-prominent language and thus features left dislocation.<ref name="MatthewsYip"/>  For instance:
{{fs interlinear|lang=yue|indent=3|glossing=link
|王生 已經 買 咗 奶。
|{wong4 saang1} {ji5 ging1} maai5 zo2 naai5 
|{Mr. Wong} already buy PFV milk
|''Mr. Wong already bought the milk.''}}

Topicalization can make this sentence appear to be [[object–subject–verb]] (OSV):
{{fs interlinear|lang=yue|indent=3|glossing=link
|奶 王生 已經 買 咗。
|naai5 {wong4 saang1} {ji5 ging1} maai5 zo2
|milk {Mr. Wong} already buy PFV
|''[As for] the milk, Mr. Wong already bought [it].''}}

Both left and right dislocation can even be featured in the same sentence:
{{fs interlinear|lang=yue|indent=3|abbreviations=SFP:sentence-final particle|glossing=link
|奶 已經 買 咗 喇, 王生。
|naai5 {ji5 ging1} maai5 zo2 laa3, {wong4 saang1}
|milk already buy PFV SFP, {Mr. Wong} 
|''[As for] the milk, [he] already bought [it], Mr. Wong''}}