Information Structure and Agreement

This collection consists of thirteen contributions focusing on the latest trends of information structure and agreement, couched in the most current developments of Minimalism, Cartography, and Optimality. Some chapters focus on the syntax of information structure in relation with the position occupied by different constituents in the CP domain and their interpretation such as the distinction between contrastive and corrective focus; the inclusion of given information in focus; the interplay of information structure and binding; the relative position of complementisers; and discourse-based constituents in the left periphery. Information structure is also analysed with regards to prominence phenomena at word level. Other chapters deal with the notion of agreement and its role in the syntax of specific constructions such as applicatives, correlatives, or different types of CP like relatives or embedded interrogatives. This selection of papers was originally presented at the 21st Colloquium on Generative Grammar, held at the University of Seville in April 2011.

Shigeru Miyagawa, MIT:
Just as the study of semantics, long neglected, fundamentally transformed linguistic theory, the study of the interaction between syntax and information structure, though in its infancy, is starting to show genuine results that ultimately may very well have the same effect in changing the direction of linguistic theory. This volume contains a number of studies that hint at how that might happen. With Rizzi’s work often forming the frame for exploration, each article shows a way to reveal something about the structure of a sentence by making reference to the informational structure of the expression. There are articles that focus on other matters, such as agreement, but anyone serious about studying syntax with information structure in mind should find this volume enormously helpful and interesting.