Word Order and Incremental Update

This paper argues for incremental updates based on topological word order rather than syntactic hierarchy, even in languages with free word ordering. This hypothesis is formalized using Seven-sorted Logic of Change with Centering and is tested on both Kalaallisut, a polysynthetic language with free word order, and English. It will be argued that semantic composition in both free and rigid word orders can be viewed as topologically based anaphoric bridging, which explains cross-linguistic facts about prominence-guided anaphora, centering and the context-setting role of word order.