The Expression of Information Structure

A documentation of its diversity across Africa

Editors
 | Humboldt University, Berlin
 | Humboldt University, Berlin & James Cook University, Cairns
HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027206725 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00
 
e-Book
ISBN 9789027288424 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00
 
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This book analyzes the different patterns found across subsaharan Africa to express information structure. Based on languages from all four African language phyla, it documents the great diversity of linguistic means used to encode information-structural phenomena and is therefore highly relevant for some of the most pertinent questions in modern linguistic theory. The special contribution of this volume is the perspective on a variety of information-structurally related phenomena which go far beyond classical notions such as focus and topic. Detailed investigations are dedicated to so far less discussed focal subcategories, like focus on verbal operators or the thetic-categorical distinction. Finally, the information-structural configuration of unmarked, canonical sentence structures is recognized. The papers provide evidence that the formal means to encode information-structural categories range from means such as morphological markers or syntactic operations, famous in linguistics, to less well-known strategies, such as defocalization rather than focalization.
[Typological Studies in Language, 91] 2010.  xii, 383 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 13 April 2010
Table of Contents
“Through its presentation of studies of information structure in languages from all of the major indigenous language phyla of Africa this volume makes a significant contribution to this increasingly important area of linguistic theory and analysis. Of particular interest are the investigations of special verb-focus marking in several languages, a phenomenon to which insufficient attention has been paid in the past. This volume is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the typological variation in information structure across languages.”
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Vydrina, Alexandra
2020. Operator focus in discourse and grammar: The two perfectives in Kakabe. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 41:1  pp. 99 ff. DOI logo
H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019. The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, DOI logo
H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019. A History of African Linguistics, DOI logo
Fernandez-Vest, M.M.Jocelyne & Helle Metslang
2017. Perspectives on questions, answers, and information structuring: An introduction. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 70:3  pp. 385 ff. DOI logo
Güldemann, Tom
2016. Maximal backgrounding = focus without (necessary) focus encoding. Studies in Language 40:3  pp. 551 ff. DOI logo
Mihas, Elena
2016. Contrastive focus-marking and nominalization in Northern Kampa (Arawak) of Peru. Studies in Language 40:2  pp. 414 ff. DOI logo
Güldemann, Tom, Sabine Zerbian & Malte Zimmermann
2015. Variation in Information Structure with Special Reference to Africa. Annual Review of Linguistics 1:1  pp. 155 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects

Main BIC Subject

CFK: Grammar, syntax

Main BISAC Subject

LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
ONIX Metadata
ONIX 2.1
ONIX 3.0
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2009050676 | Marc record