Configuring topic in the left periphery : a case of chicheŵa split nps

  • Chicheŵa, a Bantu language of East Central Africa, displays mixed properties of configurationality such as the existence of VP, on the one hand, and discontinuous constituents (DCs), on the other. In the present work we examine the discourse and syntactic properties of DCs, and show that DCs in Chicheŵa arise naturally from the discourse-configurational nature of the language. We argue that the fronted DCs in Chicheŵa are contrastive topics that appear in a leftdislocated external topic position, with the remnant part of the split NP in the right-dislocated topic position. Once the precise discourse functions of DCs are properly integrated into the syntactic analysis, all the facts and restrictions observed in Chicheŵa DCs can be explained in a straightforward fashion.

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Metadaten
Author:Sam A. Mchombo, Yukiko Morimoto
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-309051
URL:http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/193.html?&L=0%20order%20by%201000%20--
ISSN:1435-9588
ISSN:0947-7055
Parent Title (English):Proceedings of the Dislocated Elements Workshop : ZAS Berlin, November 2003 / Ed.: Benjamin Shaer ... , Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung, Berlin, 2004; ZAS papers in linguistics Vol. 35
Publisher:Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung
Place of publication:Berlin
Document Type:Part of a Book
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2013/11/14
Year of first Publication:2004
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2013/11/14
GND Keyword:Generative Transformationsgrammatik; Strukturelle Grammatik; Pragmatik; Syntax; Diskontinuität; Informationsstruktur; Konfiguration <Linguistik>; Wortstellung; Chewa-Sprache
Volume:35
Page Number:27
First Page:347
Last Page:373
HeBIS-PPN:381234290
Sammlungen:Linguistik
Linguistik-Klassifikation:Linguistik-Klassifikation: Syntax
Linguistik-Klassifikation: Grammatikforschung / Grammar research
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte:ZAS papers in linguistics : ZASPiL / ZASPiL 35 = Proceedings of the Dislocated Elements Workshop : ZAS Berlin, November 2003
:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-306777
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht