The syntax-pragmatics interface of focus phenomena in Greek
The present thesis is dedicated to the study of information structure and more specifically the notion of focus with particular reference to the Greek language. Within the context of the cross-linguistic variation pertaining to the means that languages employ to encode focus, this study offers a rethinking of information structure phenomena in Greek relating to the means of encoding focus and focus interpretation contained in word order variation. In particular, amongst the mechanisms that languages employ to encode focus, I propose that the encoding of focus amid word order variation in Greek is subject to prosodic-discourse mechanisms, rather than syntactic ones: focus in Greek is associated at the level of prosody and interpreted off in a discourse context; specifically, a direct mapping from prosody to discourse. I reason the above arguing that prosody encodes information about the information structure of the sentence; it directly aims to 'anchor' the sentence into its context, providing the link between the meaning of the utterance and its appropriateness in discourse. To account for the above proposal, I offer a model of componential mapping between syntax, prosody and discourse that facilitates the
Haidou, Konstantina
The syntax-pragmatics interface of focus phenomena in Greek. The present thesis is dedicated to the study of information structure and more specifically the notion of focus with particular reference to the Greek language. Within the context of the cross-linguistic variation pertaining to the means that languages employ to encode focus, this study offers a rethinking of information structure phenomena in Greek relating to the means of encoding focus and focus interpretation contained in word order variation. In particular, amongst the mechanisms that languages employ to encode focus, I propose that the encoding of focus amid word order variation in Greek is subject to prosodic-discourse mechanisms, rather than syntactic ones: focus in Greek is associated at the level of prosody and interpreted off in a discourse context; specifically, a direct mapping from prosody to discourse. I reason the above arguing that prosody encodes information about the information structure of the sentence; it directly aims to 'anchor' the sentence into its context, providing the link between the meaning of the utterance and its appropriateness in discourse. To account for the above proposal, I offer a model of componential mapping between syntax, prosody and discourse that facilitates the
syntax pragmatics interface focus phenomenon greek present dedicate study information_structure specifically notion focus particular_reference greek language within_context cross_linguistic variation mean language employ encode focus study offer rethink information_structure phenomenon greek relating mean encode focus focus interpretation contain word_order variation particular amongst mechanism languages employ encode focus propose encode focus amid word_order variation greek subject prosodic discourse mechanism rather syntactic focus greek associate level prosody interpreted discourse context specifically direct mapping prosody discourse reason argue prosody encode information information_structure sentence directly aim anchor sentence context provide link mean utterance appropriateness discourse account proposal offer model componential mapping syntax prosody discourse facilitates