Floating agreement and information structure: the case of Sanzhi Dargwa

Forker, Diana (2016) Floating agreement and information structure: the case of Sanzhi Dargwa. Studies in Language, 40 (1). 1. pp. 1-25.

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Abstract

This paper investigates the morphosyntactic and pragmatic properties of floating person agreement in Sanzhi Dargwa (Nakh-Daghestanian, Russia). Person agreement enclitics can occur on the verb or on other constituents (NPs, adverbs, or pronouns). In the latter case, they seem to function like constituent focus markers because they emphasize their host, but this effect is limited to elicited sentences. Floating agreement in Sanzhi Dargwa is compared to similar constructions in other Nakh-Daghestanian languages (Udi, Lak) which have been analyzed as synchronic in situ clefts or as diachronically arising from clefts. The paper shows that a synchronic cleft analysis for floating agreement in Sanzhi must be rejected, and it is argued that diachronically they originate from identificational copula constructions.

Item ID: 47321
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1569-9978
Keywords: floating agreement, person marking, focus, cleft, Nakh-Daghestanian
Funders: Feodor Lynen Fellowship
Date Deposited: 28 Feb 2017 23:21
FoR Codes: 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4704 Linguistics > 470409 Linguistic structures (incl. phonology, morphology and syntax) @ 100%
SEO Codes: 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture @ 100%
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