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Specificational sentences and the influence of information structure on (anti-)connectivity effects.
- Source :
-
Journal of Linguistics . Mar2009, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p139-166. 28p. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- This paper argues that the difference between connectivity and anti-connectivity effects in specificational copular sentences is heavily influenced by semantics and information structure. It shows that anti-connectivity effects with respect to binding disappear when the influence of information structure is neutralized, whereas anti-connectivity effects with respect to scope result from the semantics of specificational sentences. These data lead to the conclusion that anti-connectivity effects cannot be used as evidence against a syntax-based approach to specificational sentences and binding, that the analysis of specificational sentences should include both a syntactic and a semantic device, and that the syntactic analysis of specificational sentences should rely crucially on their information structure. I present and adopt Heycock & Kroch's (2002) analysis for specificational sentences, in which connectivity effects result from the assembling of ground and focus. The fact that connectivity effects are also exhibited by verb-object-subject word order in French and Spanish, which is marked for the ground-focus partition, is presented as an important piece of independent evidence in favor of this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00222267
- Volume :
- 45
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Linguistics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 40420671
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226708005549