The Semantic Constraints and Textual Function of Clause-initial Temporal Adjuncts in English

Adjuncts are classified into three types of being experiential，interpersonal and textual.Experiential temporal adjuncts are usually put at the ending of a clause as circumstantial elements.The clause-initial temporal adjunct is amarked adjustment of word order，which is not arbitrary.Usually，it is the sentential adjunct that can bemoved into the initial position，but not the predicational adjunct，adjuncts modifying objects or existing in the dependent clause.As amarked theme and given information，the textual function of clause-initial temporal adjunct includes the anchoring of temporal setting，textual cohesion，information prominence and information contrast.