Semantics of Focus Particles in Korean

2015 ◽  
Vol null (73) ◽  
pp. 335-373
Author(s):  
임동훈
Keyword(s):  
Focus Particles

scholarly journals Correlative Adverbs in Germanic Languages

Nordlyd ◽  
10.7557/12.24 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Bondi Johannessen
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Focus Particles ◽  
Covert Movement ◽  
Germanic Languages

Correlative words like <em>either, both</em> and <em>neither</em> have not been adequately discussed in the literature. Schwarz (1999) and Larson (1985) give an account of some of them (mainly <em>either</em>) in terms of reduction and movement, respectively, but their theories, as they stand, cannot account for data from Germanic languages. Instead, there is evidence for Hendriks's (2002, 2001a, 2001b) idea that correlatives are focus particles. This paper presents a syntactic analysis which includes both overt movement and covert movement (akin to QR), inspired by Larson (1985) as well as Bayer (1996). It is central for the account that correlative particles are akin to adverbs, and can be analysed in terms of adverbial positions in a Cinquean way. Included in the paper will also be a presentation of differences between correlatives with respect to V2 in and across languages.

‘Only’ in Nguni: A Phrase-Final Particle Meets Antisymmetry Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Carstens ◽  
Jochen Zeller
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Complex Topography ◽  
Focus Particles ◽  
Final Particle ◽  
English Only ◽  
Final Particles

This article investigates the syntax of the phrase-final focus particles kuphela and qha ‘only’ in Zulu and Xhosa (Nguni; Bantu). We show that kuphela’s and qha’s associations with a focused constituent respect the complex topography of information structure in Nguni and, like English only, a surface c-command requirement. However, unlike English only, the Zulu and Xhosa particles typically follow the focus associate they c-command, a fact that poses a serious challenge for Kayne’s (1994) antisymmetry theory. We demonstrate that the Nguni facts are incompatible with recent Linear Correspondence Axiom–inspired approaches to phrase-final particles in other languages and, after weighing the merits of several approaches, we conclude that kuphela is an adjunct and that syntax is only weakly antisymmetric: adjuncts are not subject to the LCA.

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