Chapter published in:
When Data Challenges Theory: Unexpected and paradoxical evidence in information structure
Edited by Davide Garassino and Daniel Jacob
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 273] 2022
► pp. 57–90

Remarks on information structure marking asymmetries

The epistemological view on the micropragmatic profile of utterances

| University of Roma Tre | University of Rome “La Sapienza”

Asymmetries in topic-focus marking have extensively been discussed in recent typological contention, with a view to finding an interlinguistically viable definition of information structure units (Lazard 1994, Zimmermann & Onea 2011, Matić & Wedgwood 2013). In this paper I will address Zimmermann & Onea’s (2011) universal outline of focus as information unit indicating the presence of alternatives which are relevant for the interpretation of a sentence. To this view I will oppose an epistemically grounded profile of topic and focus according to which these two information units encode evidential meanings in conversation. Notably, it is argued that while focus encodes a meaning of individual evidentiality, topic bears a meaning of mutual evidentiality (Hintz & Hintz 2017).

Keywords: focus alternatives, illocution, topic, individual evidentiality, mutual evidentiality
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Incongruent topic-focus marking
    • 2.1Ambiguous prosodic signals
    • 2.2Syntactic asymmetries
    • 2.3Asymmetries in morphological marking
  • 3.Information structure, focus and alternatives projection
    • 3.1Zimmermann & Onea’s proposal: Focus, alternatives and possible worlds
    • 3.2Non-exclusive applicability of the alternatives-evoking function to focus
    • 3.3Contextual effects in the construal of alternatives
    • 3.4Uneconomic implications of alternatives’ representation as a precondition for focus interpretation
  • 4.Information structure, illocution and evidentiality
    • 4.1Information structure and illocutionary force
  • 5.The evidential perspective on information structure
    • 5.1Topic and focus as pragmatic markers of evidentiality
    • 5.2Utterances’ illocution and the evidentiality of information structure
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 February 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.273.02mas
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Cited by 3 other publications

Garassino, Davide & Daniel Jacob
2022. Introduction. When data challenges theory. In When Data Challenges Theory [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 273], ► pp. 2 ff. DOI logo
Lahousse, Karen
2022. Is focus a root phenomenon?. In When Data Challenges Theory [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 273], ► pp. 148 ff. DOI logo
Lombardi Vallauri, Edoardo
2022. Distinguishing psychological Given/New from linguistic Topic/Focus makes things clearer. In When Data Challenges Theory [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 273], ► pp. 40 ff. DOI logo

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