DO, the participants were less likely to switch the order, leaving it as S-IO-DO. This suggests that Japanese speakers have a bias towards placing longer phrases before shorter ones. Heavy NP shift in German German word order is variable and flexible and relies on a rich inflectional system. Rearrangements of an NP and PP can take place similar to English i.e. [NP PP V] or [PP NP V]. German does not allow a direct object NP to the right of a final verb. The examples below show the rearrangement of a heavy NP and a PP. Either order is acceptable in German as word order variation is not as strict as it is in other languages such as English. Analyses of heavy NP shift Movement analyses of heavy NP shift For analyses that treat heavy NP shift as movement, there are two kinds of shifts when considering heavy NPs: one involves rightward movement, the involves leftward movement. Heavy NP shift as rightward movement The first, and most traditional, is when a "heavy" object NP is shifted rightward to the end of the utterance. According to one theory a complex NP will be shifted rightward if it does not cross over a verb. Another theory proposes a leftward movement of a "light" indirect object. According to this theory an indirect object is moved leftward independently of verb movement to a higher specifier position, next to the verb and before the direct object, leaving the heavy NP in situ. This syntax tree shows an example of rightward movement of a heavy NP. The entire constituent my rich uncle from Detroit has 'shifted' from its position as a complement to the verb to an adjunct of the VP. This tree has been created using a particular style of syntax, mainly X-bar Theory. Heavy NP shift as leftward movement The syntax tree below shows an example of leftward movement of a 'light' indirect object. The constituent on the street has 'shifted' from its position in a small clause environment past the direct object to a higher functional specifier position leaving the 'heavy NP' in situ. This syntax tree has been created using a particular style of syntax, mainly X-bar Theory. Processing analyses of heavy NP shift Psycholinguists want to understand when speakers resort to shifting heavy NPs to the end of a phrase. A study of printed corpus material found that different verbs exhibit