Multiple foci in Japanese clefts revisited: a semantic incrementality account

• Tohru Seraku ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Oxford

     University of Oxford

     Oxford District, Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Lingua: International review of general linguistics, ISSN 0024-3841, Nº 137, 2013, págs. 145-171
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • There are two types of Japanese clefts, depending on the presence of a case particle attached to a focus item: multiple foci are possible only in clefts with case-marked foci. Despite attention in the literature, what has been overlooked is the possibility of mixed cases with the last focus item in multiple foci lacking a case particle. Multiple foci data pose a challenge to previous studies within Mainstream Generative Grammar, and in particular these partially case-marked multiple foci data. In this article, I show that a more dynamic conception of language, reflecting semantic incrementality as a core design feature of the grammar, can unify the two types of clefts and a range of further issues, including the partially case-marked foci data. Finally, the analysis is extended to long-distance clefts