Discontinuity (linguistics)

In linguistics, "discontinuity" refers to a phenomenon where elements that are typically expected to be adjacent or in a contiguous structure are instead separated within a sentence or phrase. This can manifest in various ways, often involving grammatical constructions or syntactic movements that lead to gaps between related components. One common example of discontinuity occurs in the context of "discontinuous constituents," where elements that function together within the sentence are split apart, often by intervening phrases or clauses.