Institut für Sprachwissenschaft Universität zu Köln Topics, Presuppositions, and Theticity: An Empirical Study of Verb-Subject Clauses in Albanian, Greek, and Serbo-Croat Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades vorgelegt der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln von Dejan Matić April 2003 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Sasse Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Fritz Serzisko Contest 1. Introduction__________________________________________________ 7 2. State of the art_______________________________________________ 10 2.1. Lexical properties____________________________________________________ 11 2.2. Given and new ______________________________________________________ 14 2.2.1. Grades of newness_________________________________________________ 15 2.2.2. All-new utterances_________________________________________________ 19 2.3. Discourse functions __________________________________________________ 23 2.4. Semantic integration _________________________________________________ 27 2.5. Theticity research and related approaches _______________________________ 29 2.5.1. Ancient history: Brentano and Marty __________________________________ 29 2.5.2. Conceptualist approaches to theticity __________________________________ 33 2.5.3. Semantics and theticity _____________________________________________ 36 2.5.4. Discourse-pragmatic reinterpretation of theticity _________________________ 38 2.6. Topic and focus: presupposition/assertion-based approach _________________ 43 2.6.1. New topics_______________________________________________________ 44 2.6.2. Sentence focus____________________________________________________ 46 2.6.3. Spatio-temporal argument as topic ____________________________________ 52 2.7. Skeptics ____________________________________________________________ 57 Appendix: VS order in generative grammar _________________________________ 60 3. Aims and announcements _____________________________________ 65 3.1. Forms and functions__________________________________________________ 65 3.2. VsX-construction ____________________________________________________ 68 3.3. Inversion ___________________________________________________________ 70 3.4. vS-construction______________________________________________________ 71 4. Information structure: presupposition, assertion, topic and focus ____ 76 4.1. The incremental model of communication________________________________ 76 4.2. Presupposition and assertion___________________________________________ 78 4.2.1. Basic issues ______________________________________________________ 78 4.2.2. Two notes on presupposition_________________________________________ 87 4.2.3. Two kinds of presuppositions ________________________________________ 88 4.2.4. Sources of presuppositions __________________________________________ 90 4.2.5. Definitions_______________________________________________________ 94 4.3. Topic ______________________________________________________________ 95 4.3.1. Basic issues ______________________________________________________ 95 4.3.2. Discourse properties of topics_______________________________________ 102 4.3.3. Some formal properties of topics ____________________________________ 106 4.3.4. Definitions______________________________________________________ 109 4.4. Focus _____________________________________________________________ 110 4.4.1. Basic issues _____________________________________________________ 110 4.4.2. Types of foci ____________________________________________________ 115 4.4.3. Some formal properties of focus _____________________________________ 121 4.4.4. Definition ______________________________________________________ 126 4.5. Terminological issues ________________________________________________ 126 4.5.1. Four levels______________________________________________________ 126 4.5.2. Focus domains and indirect topics ___________________________________ 129 4.6. Why is information structure formally marked? _________________________ 132 5. Preliminaries _______________________________________________ 136 5.1. Preliminary notes on Albanian, Modern Greek and Serbo-Croat ___________ 136 5.2. Heaviness and cataphoric relevance____________________________________ 141 5.3. Some technical details _______________________________________________ 143 5.4. Corpus ____________________________________________________________ 145 5.5. Preliminary statistics ________________________________________________ 148 5.5.1. General statistics and cross-linguistic variation _________________________ 148 5.5.2. Intralinguistic variation ____________________________________________ 151 5.5.3. Clause types and VS order _________________________________________ 152 5.4.4. Summary _______________________________________________________ 156 6. VsX construction____________________________________________ 157 6.1. Statistics___________________________________________________________ 158 6.2. Ratified topics, discourse frames, and the Balkan syntax __________________ 160 6.3. Formal properties of VsX construction and information structure __________ 163 6.3.1. Length and intonation _____________________________________________ 163 6.3.2. Elements of the construction________________________________________ 165 6.3.2.1. Verb and preverbal elements ____________________________________ 165 6.3.2.2. Subject and other postverbal elements_____________________________ 166 6.3.2.2.1. Serbo-Croat ______________________________________________ 167 6.3.2.2.2. Albanian and Modern Greek _________________________________ 168 6.3.2.3. Complex predicate forms _______________________________________ 171 6.3.2.4. Formal properties and information structure: A summary______________ 173 6.4. Semantic and informational features of subjects and verbs ________________ 174 6.4.1. Subject_________________________________________________________ 174 6.4.2. Verb___________________________________________________________ 179 6.5. Discourse functions of VsX construction ________________________________ 182 6.5.1. Polarity focus____________________________________________________ 183 6.5.1.1. Polarity focus in illocutionary contexts ____________________________ 184 6.5.1.2. Polarity focus as a text-cohesion device ___________________________ 191 6.5.2. Focus domain: broad and narrow foci_________________________________ 193 6.5.3. Discourse functions of VsX construction: Summary and conclusion_________ 203 6.6. Non-structural factors influencing the use of VsX ________________________ 205 6.6.1. Albanian and Serbo-Croat__________________________________________ 206 6.6.2. Modern Greek ___________________________________________________ 209 6.7. VsX: Conclusion ____________________________________________________ 210 7. Inversion: Introduction ______________________________________ 216 8. Focal Inversion _____________________________________________ 218 8.1. Quotation Inversion _________________________________________________ 218 8.1.1. Syntax and prosody _______________________________________________ 220 8.1.1.1. Basic features ________________________________________________ 220 8.1.1.2. Elements of the construction ____________________________________ 221 8.1.1.2.1. General tendencies _________________________________________ 221 8.1.1.2.2. Independent elements_______________________________________ 223 8.1.1.2.3. Dependent elements ________________________________________ 224 8.1.1.2.4. Lexical solidarities _________________________________________ 227 8.1.1.2.5. Elements of the construction: Summary ________________________ 230 8.1.1.3. Complex predicate forms and complex sentences ____________________ 232 8.1.1.4. Summary ___________________________________________________ 235 8.1.2. Information structure and discourse function ___________________________ 236 8.1.3. Semantics of quotation inversion and the syntactic status of the quote _______ 241 8.1.4. Alternatives to quotation inversion ___________________________________ 246 8.1.5. Discourse-pragmatic differences between Alb., MG, and SC ______________ 249 8.1.6. Conclusion______________________________________________________ 250 8.2. Wh-inversion_______________________________________________________ 251 8.2.1. The pragmatic role of question words_________________________________ 252 8.2.2. Syntax, prosody, and information structure ____________________________ 256 8.2.2.1. General rules ________________________________________________ 256 8.2.2.2. All-ratified constituent questions _________________________________ 258 8.2.2.3. Constituent questions with non-ratified elements ____________________ 262 8.2.2.4. Complex predicate forms and complex sentences ____________________ 266 8.2.2.5. Ratified and non-ratified, short and long: A summary_________________ 269 8.2.3. Alternatives to wh-inversion ________________________________________ 272 8.2.4. Discourse-pragmatic differences between Alb., MG, and SC ______________ 274 8.2.5. Conclusion______________________________________________________ 275 8.3. Fronted focus inversion (ff-inversion) __________________________________ 276 8.3.1. Syntax, prosody, and information structure ____________________________ 277 8.3.2. Meaning of fronted narrow focus expressions __________________________ 280 8.3.2.1. Semantic and informational features of fronted narrow foci ____________ 281 8.3.2.2. Discourse functions of fronted narrow foci _________________________ 287 8.3.2.3. Summary ___________________________________________________ 298 8.3.3. Alternatives to ff-inversion _________________________________________