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The agent-focus construction in Ixil Maya : a descriptive/formal analysis

This Master’s report describes the Agent Focus construction in Ixil Mayan discourse and proposes a bi-clausal analysis that is discussed within the framework of Lexical Functional Grammar (Bresnan, 2001; Dalrymple, 2001). Many previous analyses of the Agent focus construction have proposed a monoclausal analysis of this construction in other Mayan languages (Aissen, 1992 [Mayan languages in general], 1999 [Tzotzil]; Broadwell, 2000 [Kaqchikel]; Duncan, 2003 [Tzutujil]; Norman & Campbell, 1978 [Proto-Maya]). This analysis differs from these in that I assume the Agent focus construction is a complex, that is, bi-clausal cleft construction. Evidence for this analysis comes from a discussion of the Agent Focus construction in other Mayan languages, and facts about Ixil syntax, and the usage of the Agent Focus in Ixil discourse. I use Lambrecht’s (2001) framework of a cross linguistic typology of cleft construction to establish the function of the Agent Focus in Ixil. / text

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/19150
Date17 January 2013
CreatorsBlunk, William B.
Source SetsUniversity of Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Formatelectronic
RightsCopyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.

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