How alternatives are created
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Malte Rosemeyer
Abstract
Standard theories of focus expressed by cleft structures, for instance (Beaver & Clark 2008; Krifka 2007), assume that the motivation for the use of focus is discourse relevance: focus establishes an answer to the question under discussion (Roberts 2004: 216). This account, however, lacks a theory of how alternative sets are generated in real discourse. We present a study in the non-cumulative self-paced reading moving-window paradigm that tackles this problem by measuring how manipulating the context preceding German es-clefts influences alternative generation. Our results illustrate the interplay between discourse relevance and individual relevance in this process, in that cleft sentences only receive a contrastive focal reading in contexts where the readers are in a position to previously generate an alternative set.
Abstract
Standard theories of focus expressed by cleft structures, for instance (Beaver & Clark 2008; Krifka 2007), assume that the motivation for the use of focus is discourse relevance: focus establishes an answer to the question under discussion (Roberts 2004: 216). This account, however, lacks a theory of how alternative sets are generated in real discourse. We present a study in the non-cumulative self-paced reading moving-window paradigm that tackles this problem by measuring how manipulating the context preceding German es-clefts influences alternative generation. Our results illustrate the interplay between discourse relevance and individual relevance in this process, in that cleft sentences only receive a contrastive focal reading in contexts where the readers are in a position to previously generate an alternative set.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction. When data challenges theory 1
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Part I. Theoretical studies
- Distinguishing psychological Given/New from linguistic Topic/Focus makes things clearer 39
- Remarks on information structure marking asymmetries 57
- Alternatives to information structure 91
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Part II. Case studies
- How alternatives are created 115
- Is focus a root phenomenon? 147
- The curious case of the rare focus movement in French 183
- To be or not to be focus adverbials? 203
- Unmarked use of marked syntactic structures 239
- Translation as a source of pragmatic interference? 271
- Index 305
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction. When data challenges theory 1
-
Part I. Theoretical studies
- Distinguishing psychological Given/New from linguistic Topic/Focus makes things clearer 39
- Remarks on information structure marking asymmetries 57
- Alternatives to information structure 91
-
Part II. Case studies
- How alternatives are created 115
- Is focus a root phenomenon? 147
- The curious case of the rare focus movement in French 183
- To be or not to be focus adverbials? 203
- Unmarked use of marked syntactic structures 239
- Translation as a source of pragmatic interference? 271
- Index 305
