The syntax of topic, focus, and contrast : an interface-based approach / edited by Ad Neeleman, Reiko Vermeulen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Neeleman, Ad.

Vermeulen, Reiko.

Series:

Studies in generative grammar 113

Studies in generative grammar, 0167-4331 ; 113

Studies in Generative Grammar [SGG] ; 113

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Morphology.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (316 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin : De Gruyter Mouton, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Syntactic Expression of Information Structure / Neeleman, Ad / Vermeulen, Reiko

Chapter 2. Towards a Unified Encoding of Contrast and Scope / Neeleman, Ad / Koot, Hans van de

Chapter 3. Word order variation and information structure in Japanese and Korean / Vermeulen, Reiko

Chapter 4. Encoding focus and contrast in Russian / Titov, Elena

Chapter 5. Against FP Analyses of Clefts / Reeve, Matthew

Chapter 6. Focus movement can be destressing, but it need not be / Szendrői, Kriszta

Chapter 7. Types of Focus and their Interaction with Negation / Neeleman, Ad / Vermeulen, Reiko

Chapter 8. Concluding Remarks / Neeleman, Ad / Vermeulen, Reiko

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781614511458

1614511454

OCLC:

827211974