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The purpose of this study is to explore the interactions between word orders and particles in Japanese transitive sentences in terms of information structure. To this end, a series of corpus analyses within the framework of the Givónian approach were conducted. Based on the present corpus analyses, I propose that scrambling is chosen when the scrambled object is anaphorically prominent but cataphorically non-prominent, and that topicalization is selected when the direct object is anaphorically and cataphorically prominent. Additionally, I arrive at the conclusion that word order permutations in Japanese are applied to intermediately accessible referents. In other words, word order changes are neither used with highly accessible referents, nor completely new information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, we give a new semantics to the notion of additivity as embodied by several discourse markers and particles in French: et, de plus and d’ailleurs. The common property of these different elements is the notion of independence of their arguments. We show that existing accounts of additive particles fail to do full justice to this notion of independence, and we propose a new semantics for and that captures this notion in a Bayesian fashion. We then evaluate the applicability of this analysis to de plus and d’ailleurs and show that, unlike et, these elements are strongly argumentative: they make an explicit reference to an external issue that is disputed in the current conversation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this article we investigate the syntax of Italian emphatic replies in which a polarity particle is followed by an embedded clause introduced by the declarative complementizer che, which we label sì che/no che sentences. We propose that the relation between the polarity particle and the clause introduced by che is mediated by the presence of a null operator, which binds a variable inside the clause, and that this operator is what makes other movement operations impossible (along the lines of Haegeman, 2007, 2009, 2010b,a). We further suggest that sì che/no che sentences contain two copies of the triggering utterance: a null one in the Hanging Topic position and an overt one in the clause introduced by che, thus accounting for the observation that these sentences (a) cannot be embedded and (b) exhibit restrictions on their content. The effect of emphasis is thus seen as stemming from a syntactic configuration that involves reduplication. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the syntactic analysis of emphatic polarity particles (EPPA) in Spanish and Catalan and shows that these elements fall under a more complex paradigm than previously assumed. It is proposed that EPPA split into a high and a low pattern. We provide evidence in favour of the claim that EPPA are polar elements with an added emphatic value, and present a syntactic analysis where (i) High EPPA are merged with PolP and move to FocusP; (ii) High EPPA display WH-operator properties; (iii) The occurrence of high EPPA is constrained to root and embedded clauses that have a full-fledged left periphery, as predicted by the proposed analysis. Further understanding of EPPA syntactic hierarchy can be attained by assuming that the topmost projection of the CP domain, ForceP, is also involved in the distribution of EPPA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies the expression of emphatic positive polarity in Hungarian, providing evidence for an affirmatively specified polarity projection in the left periphery, PolP. The evidence comes from the realm of two ellipsis phenomena: TP-ellipsis flanked by a sentence internal affirmative particle igen and V-stranding ellipsis in polarity contexts, whose syntactic licensor is the head specified for positive polarity. The contexts in which PolP can be diagnosed involve the expression of conversational moves such as affirmative confirmations and reversing reactions given to default assertions and polar questions, and clauses expressing contrasting polarity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper discusses the semantics of the connective but. Two trends of analyses are compared: ones based on a notion of formal contrast and others that are inferential. First, the formal contrast approaches are evaluated with respect to a certain number of problematic examples. I argue that they encounter insurmountable issues, and that an inferential account is needed. However, the way the inference required in those latter accounts is drawn needs to be defined in a restricted way. I propose to use the probabilistic interpretation of the notion of argumentation to carry this out. It is argued that to be interpreted, but needs an argumentative goal that is debated by its conjuncts. In the absence of an explicit goal or one that can be deduced by world-knowledge, the goal must be abduced from the content of the but conjuncts alone by taking their information structure into account. My proposal for but is then shown to interact with that of other particles: too, only and yet. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The German particle noch (‘still’) has an additive reading which differs significantly in meaning and use from the standard German additive particle auch (‘also’/‘too’). In the paper, a semantic and pragmatic analysis will be presented focusing on three core characteristics distinguishing additive noch from auch: (i) alignment with discourse time, (ii) association with deaccented focus, and (iii) continuation of the question-under-discussion. The analysis will be based on the notion of focus alternatives and make use of a question-based discourse model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper presents a corpus-based information-structural analysis of the German discourse particles aber and auch in the so-called post-initial position, i.e. between the pre-field constituent and the finite verb in main clauses. Based on corpus data, I argue that aber and auch in this position mark the boundary between the focus and the background of the sentence that hosts them. By doing this, they essentially contribute to identifying relevant alternatives involved in focus interpretation and discourse interpretation in general. In this way, the placement of particles in post-initial position facilitates interpretation by providing processing instructions to the reader/hearer and by ruling out ambiguities. The analysis thus argues against existing accounts of the discourse function of post-initial particles in terms of indicating association with topic and topic shift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Additive particles are peculiar in that they are often obligatory, although they do not increase the information content of the sentence in context. Two strands of analyses have been proposed to capture this feature, one in terms of exhaustivity implicatures, and one in terms of Heim''s “Maximize Presupposition” principle (MP). The article reviews both kinds of approaches, and offers experimental evidence in favor of an MP-based analysis. What remains to be understood is the fact that these particles—unlike other MP-ruled expressions—can also be omitted in certain contexts. The last part of the paper proposes to view MP as a principle which forces the speaker to signal the level of reliability of information in the specific text. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A wide-spread view is that the distribution of too falls apart in just two cases: either too can appear and then it must appear or it is not allowed to appear and then it is forbidden. In the first case, the context supplies a proper antecedent for too, in the second case it does not. The paper argues that there are also optional uses and cases where there is a proper antecedent, but too is better avoided. The paper discusses the problems these observations pose to existing theories about the production and interpretation of additive particles like too and suggests some solutions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Most scholars investigating the evolution of language subscribe to the hypothesis that protolanguage occurred as an intermediate stage between the speechless state of our remote ancestors and modern language. But some scholars – Noam Chomsky and fellow biolinguists, Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva, and others – have expressed serious doubts about the existence of protolanguage. The present article investigates the cause of this disagreement and what it reveals about the nature of influential modern work on language evolution. It does this by analysing the case made by Derek Bickerton for the existence of protolanguage, as well as Noam Chomsky''s case against the existence of protolanguage. Both cases are shown to be weak, resting on a range of implicit and/or contentious assumptions. Invoking a conceptual distinction illustrated by physicists’ hunt for the “God particle”, the article argues that the case for the existence of protolanguage has not been strengthened by recent work attributing specific properties to protolanguage. To conclude, the article discusses the conceptual means needed for shoring up the assumption that evidence for the existence of protolanguage can be derived from so-called living linguistic fossils. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]