Operator focus in discourse and grammar

The two perfectives in Kakabe

Bibliographic Data

ID21466101
AuthorsAlexandra Vydrina (0000-0001-8563-718X, Langues et civilisations à tradition orale (LACITO)-CNRS , 7, rue Guy Môquet (bât. D), 94801 Villejuif Cedex , France, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume41
Issue1
Pages99-145
Publication date2020-08-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Languages and Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0167-6164 • E-ISSN: 1613-3811
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jall-2020-2005
OpenAlexW3094720194
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited48

This study investigates how focus on a TAM and polarity value, known in the literature as operator (Dik 1989, Watters 2010) or auxiliary focus (Hyman & Watters 1984), is manifested in natural speech in Kakabe, a Mande language. I show that the opposition between the two perfective auxiliaries attested in Kakabe is best analyzed in terms of operator focus and therefore extend this notion to Mande languages for the first time. This study analyzes operator focus on the perfective in natural speech. It leads to the discovery of new contexts relevant for the description of focused perfectives, such as performative speech acts and utterances with mental state predicates. Finally, I propose a new approach to the distribution of inflectional markers in narratives, based on an account of the main story line as structured by one overarching Question under Discussion

Grammar · Linguistics · Narrative · Performative utterance · Physics · Political science · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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