Bridging strength, monotonicity, and word order choices in Catalan
Brunetti, Lisa (Université de Paris)
Mayol, Laia (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Villalba, Xavier 1969- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Filologia Catalana)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Three experimental studies are presented testing the choice of a left or a right dislocation in Catalan, depending on the bridging relation between the dislocate and its antecedent. We make the hypothesis that the stronger the anaphoric link between the dislocate and its antecedent, the more appropriate a right dislocation is, whereas the opposite is true for left dislocation. The results of two acceptability judgment experiments partially support our hypothesis: Ratings with right dislocation decrease proportionally to the strength of the anaphoric link; however, it is ratings of canonical sentences (without dislocation at all), rather than of left dislocation, that display the opposite direction. For left dislocation, the picture is more complex and reflects the pragmatic function of this construction as a topic shifter or marker of contrast. A third experiment tests the monotonicity hypothesis, according to which a left dislocation is chosen when the anaphoric relation with the antecedent is either downward monotonic or nonmonotonic, whereas a right dislocation is preferred with an upward monotonic relation. The results partially support such a hypothesis but also further support the importance of taking the pragmatic function of left dislocation into account to explain its choice in discourse by speakers.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-634 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PGC2018-094029-A-I00 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad FFI2017-82547-P
Note:	Altres ajuts: ANR-10-LABX-0083
Note:	Altres ajuts: ANR-18-IDEX-0001
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Anaphora ; Right-dislocation ; Topicalization ; Communication ; Language and linguistics ; Linguistics and language
Published in:	Discourse processes, Vol. 57, núm. 8 (2020) , p. 703-724, ISSN 1532-6950

DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2020.1768623

Post-print 36 p, 409.8 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Arts and Humanities > Center for Theoretical Linguistics (CLT)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles