The syntax of wh-phrases, narrow foci, and neg-words in Georgian

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20344294
AutoresLena Borise (0000-0002-6356-7472, ELTE Research Centre for Linguistics, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume40
Fascículo2
Páginas173-215
Data de publicação2023-06-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Linguistic Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0167-6318 • E-ISSN: 1613-3676
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/tlr-2023-2001
OpenAlexW4366998338
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas53

This paper demonstrates that narrow foci and wh-phrases, even in a language where they have (nearly-)identical surface distributions, do not have the same syntax – and, as such, are not a uniform category. Specifically, it shows that foci and wh-phrases in Georgian appear immediately preverbally but are derived differently. The evidence comes from standard syntactic tests and language-specific ones: I show that, in Georgian, neg-words can serve as a tool for determining the structural positions of other constituents, and foci and wh-phrases have different distributional properties with respect to neg-words. Based on this, I demonstrate that wh-phrases in Georgian undergo A-bar movement to the specifier of a dedicated projection, accompanied by verb raising. Preverbal foci remain in situ, while the material intervening between the narrow focus and the verb undergoes displacement. This demonstrates that what looks like unified preverbal placement of foci and wh-phrases corresponds to the outcomes of two independent syntactic processes. Additional support for this approach is provided by the analysis of the distribution of postverbal foci, also allowed in Georgian. The Georgian facts, I argue, support the hypothesis that syntactic/semantic notions (e.g., [+Q]) are encoded as syntactic features that drive movement. On the other hand, purely information-structural notions (e.g., semantically non-exhaustive focus) are not encoded syntactically, and, as such, cannot trigger syntactic movement – but can impose their own syntax-prosody mapping requirements onto the syntactic structure

Georgian · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Noun · Noun phrase · Physics · Prosody · Specifier · Syntax · Verb · Computer Science · Language and cultural evolution · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence