Focus, checking theory and fronting strategies in Romanian
1998; Wiley; Volume: 52; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/1467-9582.00035
ISSN1467-9582
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity
ResumoChecking theory allows only formal features to have syntactic relevance. Focus has an impact on syntax although it is semantic. This paper argues that [focus] features enter the grammar in conjunction with [wh] and [tense]. Complex [wh/focus] and [tense/focus] features induce contrastive configurations and crosslinguistic variation. Romanian constructions with preverbal focus are compared with English clefts, and point to a parametric approach: languages display different strategies for overt movement to focus according to their parametric setting for [wh/focus] or [tense/focus]. The analysis of [focus] as syntactically dependent on [wh]/[tense] provides a uniform treatment for important variation in focus constructions (e.g. preposing through clitic doubling chains versus clefting) and in interrogative clauses (e.g. presence versus absence of V2 effects in embedded interrogatives).
Referência(s)