This thesis examines the syntax of Focus constructions in Rausa within a Principles and ParameterslMinimalist framework. An analysis is presented to account for the properties of Focus-fronting constructions in Rausa as well as of 'copular' constructions which are also shown to have Focus properties. It is argued that the 'copula' found in both Focusfronting and 'copular' constructions in Rausa is not a verbal or inflectional element as argued by McConvell (1973) and Tuller (1986a) respectively, but instead the spellout of a functional category F(ocus) in the sense of Brody (1990). Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the main syntactic characteristics of Rausa, including word order, inflectional properties and case, and data surrounding Focus and related constructions. Chapter 2 presents a general introduction to the phenomenon of Focus, including typological and comparative discussion to show the various crosslinguistic syntactic manifestations of Focus. The theoretical framework is established and and pre-Minimalist literature surrounding Focus is reviewed. Chapter 3 presents the analysis, which argues for a Focus Phrase (FP) structure for Focus-fronting constructions in Rausa and discusses the advantages ofthis approach on the basis of empirical and theoretical considerations. In chapter 4 the analysis is extended to 'copular' constructions in Rausa; these apparently unrelated constructions are shown to have Focus properties and the FP analysis is argued to account for this fact in a straightforward and principled manner. Chapter 5 considers the FP analysis from a cross-linguistic perspective to see how it might account for Focus and copular constructions in a range of languages related to Rausa, and it is shown that although some languages present challenging cases for an FP analysis, there is considerable support for an approach of this nature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:265837 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Green, Melanie Jane |
| Publisher | SOAS, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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