The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus
Title | The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus PDF eBook |
Author | Liliana Sánchez |
Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing |
Pages | 261 |
Release | 2010 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 9027255520 |
This book presents an innovative analysis that relates informational structure, syntax and morphology in Quechua. It provides a minimalist account of the relationship between focus, topic, evidentiality and other left-peripheral features and sentence-internal constituents marked with suffixes that have been previously considered of a pragmatic nature. Intervention effects show that these relationships are also of a syntactic nature. The analysis is extended to morphological markers that appear on polarity sensitive items and wh-words. The book also provides a brief overview of the main characteristics of Quechua syntax as well as additional bibliographical information.
The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus
Title | The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus PDF eBook |
Author | Liliana Sánchez |
Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing |
Pages | 258 |
Release | 2010-11-25 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 902728752X |
This book presents an innovative analysis that relates informational structure, syntax and morphology in Quechua. It provides a minimalist account of the relationship between focus, topic, evidentiality and other left-peripheral features and sentence-internal constituents marked with suffixes that have been previously considered of a pragmatic nature. Intervention effects show that these relationships are also of a syntactic nature. The analysis is extended to morphological markers that appear on polarity sensitive items and wh-words. The book also provides a brief overview of the main characteristics of Quechua syntax as well as additional bibliographical information.
The Syntax of Topic, Focus, and Contrast
Title | The Syntax of Topic, Focus, and Contrast PDF eBook |
Author | Ad Neeleman |
Publisher | Walter de Gruyter |
Pages | 316 |
Release | 2012-12-06 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 1614511454 |
This book addresses how core notions of information structure (topic, focus and contrast) are expressed in syntax. The authors propose that the syntactic effects of information structure come about as a result of mapping rules that are flexible enough to allow topics and foci to be expressed in a variety of positions, but strict enough to capture certain cross-linguistic generalisations about their distribution. In particular, the papers argue that only contrastive topics and contrastive foci undergo movement and that this is because such movement has the function of marking the scope of contrast. Several predications are derived from this proposal: such as that a focus cannot move across a topic – whether the latter is in situ or not. Syntactic and semantic evidence in support of this proposal is presented from a wide range of languages (including Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian) and theoretical consequences explored. The first chapter not only outlines its theoretical aims, but also provides an introduction to information structure. As a consequence, the book is accessible to advanced students as well as professional linguists.
Issues in Morphosyntax
Title | Issues in Morphosyntax PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Ackema |
Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing |
Pages | 325 |
Release | 1999-05-15 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 9027282250 |
Of particular interest to morphologists and syntacticians Issues in Morphosyntax aims to contribute to the discussion on the question whether there exists a separate morphological module in the grammar, distinct from the other modules, with special focus on the connection of morphology with syntax. The view that is defended is that morphological operations do not take place in syntax, but that they are governed by the same principles that govern syntax. There are morphological categories distinct from syntactic categories, which appear in their own domain, below the zero X-bar level, so in this sense there is a morphological module. However, this module is not distinct from the syntactic one, in the sense that the same principles apply equally to the morphological and the syntactic domain. Specific topics of discussion include Noun Incorporation, past participle constructions in Germanic (passives, perfects, and auxiliary selection) and Lexical Integrity effects.
Aspects of the Grammar of Focus
Title | Aspects of the Grammar of Focus PDF eBook |
Author | Przemysław Tajsner |
Publisher | Peter Lang |
Pages | 404 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | English language |
ISBN | 9783631579558 |
The book examines the aspects of focus within the recent minimalist paradigm. Focus is viewed here as a grammar's response to the requirements of the systems external to (narrowly defined) language. Thus, the properties of focus are explored at the two interfaces: syntax-phonology and syntax-semantics. The book surveys some recent views on the interface and left-periphery status of focus. With respect to the semantics of focus, the book argues for its tripartite division into: information, non-exhaustive identification, and exhaustive identification. It further contains a proposal of the phase-based derivation of sentences featuring focus in English, and finally, offers an account of Polish, in which focus interestingly correlates with the phenomenon of scrambling.
The Dynamics of Focus Structure
Title | The Dynamics of Focus Structure PDF eBook |
Author | Nomi Erteschik-Shir |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 298 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 0521592178 |
Develops a new theory of focus structure, exploring the role of focusing in natural language sentence.
The Syntax of Topic, Focus, and Contrast
Title | The Syntax of Topic, Focus, and Contrast PDF eBook |
Author | Reader in Linguistics Ad Neeleman |
Publisher | |
Pages | 307 |
Release | 2013-03-08 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9781614511465 |
Main description: This book addresses how core notions of information structure (topic, focus and contrast) are expressed in syntax. We propose that the syntactic effects of information structure come about as a result of mapping rules flexible enough to allow topics and foci to be expressed in a variety of positions, but strict enough to capture certain cross-linguistic generalisations about their distribution. We discuss syntactic and semantic evidence from a range of languages. This book is of interest to professional linguists as well as advanced students.