Varying word order for stylistic effect


Sometimes, for stylistic or rhetorical effect, one wants to delay mentioning a
word/concept until the end of a sentence. For example, it's often best to save
the punchline for the very end:

> I was happy to discover that my ex was sentenced to life in prison for
> [arson, murder, and
> **jaywalking**](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArsonMurderAndJaywalking).

If we directly translate into a Japanese-style word order—

> ((My ex)-NOM (Arson, murder, and **jaywalking** )-for ((life in prison)-to
> sentenced) was) that I discover happy was.

—the utterance hemorrhages much of "jaywalking"'s comic effect into the bog of
unnecessary background and framing information.

Whereas English word order naturally places the word where we want it, if we
instead wanted to place it somewhere else, English makes available alternative
or periphrastic phrasings, such as "x did y." → " **It was y** that x did."

So likewise: **what techniques or periphrastic constructions are available in
Japanese to move words or clauses?**




[Anastrophe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastrophe) exists in Japanese:

> Usual order: 前の彼女が放火、殺人、信号無視の罪で終身刑になったと知って安心した。  
>  Anastrophe: 前の彼女が終身刑になったと知って安心した。放火、殺人、信号無視の罪で。

(Note about the word 終身刑: Strictly speaking, 終身刑 means life imprisonment
_without parole_ , and the usual life imprisonment with a possibility of
parole is technically called
[無期刑](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%84%A1%E6%9C%9F%E5%88%91). However, in
nontechnical context, 終身刑 often means both.)

