On the edge-feature of particles, interjections, and short answers

The paper investigates the interface legibility and processability of minimal syntactic elements that play an important role in the interpretation and typing of the associated clause. It is argued that elements like interjections, shorts answers and sentential particles are endowed with an edge-feature that associates them with a clause. The paper discusses the syntactic conditions under which the associated clause can be left unpronounced and proposes a more fine-grained mapping of the high part of the split left periphery of the clause. This exercise allows us to better understand clausal typing processes and the pragmatic features that can be encoded in syntactic structure.

Published online: 23 June 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.156.07mun