Preferred Argument Structure

Preferred Argument Structure is a term introduced by Du Bois (1987) for a set of universal statistical tendencies of (or "constraints on") argument distribution in discourse (see also Du Bois et al. (ed.) 2003). The four tendencies/constraints identified by Du Bois are listed below.

Preferred Argument Structure constraints

 * a.	Avoid more than one lexical core argument (One Lexical Argument Constraint)
 * b.	Avoid lexical A (Nonlexical A Constraint)
 * c.	Avoid more than one new core argument (One New Argument Constraint)
 * d.	Avoid new A (Given A Constraint)

(Du Bois 1987:829, Du Bois 2003:34)

Origin
The term was introduced by Du Bois (1987) and quickly picked up by others (e.g. Durie 1988).

other languages
German bevorzugte Argumentstruktur