Focus and alternative sensitivity in Ngamo (West-Chadic)

The main research question of this thesis concerns the relation between focus interpretation, focus realization, and association with focus in the West Chadic language Ngamo. Concerning the relation between focus realization and interpretation, this thesis contributes to the question, cross-linguistically, what factors influence a marked realization of the focus/background distinction. There is background-marking rather than focus-marking in Ngamo, and the background marker is related to the definite determiner in the language. Using original fieldwork data as a basis, a formal semantic analysis of the background marker as a definite determiner of situations is proposed. Concerning the relation between focus and association with focus, the thesis adds to the growing body of crosslinguistic evidence that not all so-called focus-sensitive operators always associate with focus. The thesis shows that while the exclusive particle yak('i) (= "only") in Ngamo conventionally associates with focus, the particles har('i) (= "even, as far as, until, already"), and ke('e) (= "also, and") do not. The thesis provides an analysis of these phenomena in a situation semantic framework.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Potsdam

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Grubic, Mira

Contributors dc:contributor

• Zimmermann, Malte

• focus
• focus-sensitivity
• formal semantics
• African languages
• definiteness
• situation semantics
• Fokus
• Fokussensitivität
• formale Semantik
• Situationssemantik
• afrikanische Sprachen

Statement dc:rights

• CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International

Repository record source_url

https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/8166

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:8166