Project B1
2nd Phase - Phonology and Syntax of Focusing and Topicalization
After getting an overview picture of the information structural category focus in Gur and Kwa during the first phase of our project, the project is now concerned with a total of four subject-matters, which are of special interest from a cross-linguistic and a theoretical point of view. On the one hand, we research the syntactically marked focus construction with features of narratives sentences, which are widespread in Gur and Kwa, with regard to their structure and motivation. In addition, we are concerned with verb-related kinds of focus including focussing of logical value, for which there are special means in Gur and Kwa. The third of our key activities is the identification of systematic focus-topic-interfaces, which, under specific conditions, can be observed in coincidence with both information structural roles in sentence-initial nominal constituents. Finally, the findings concerning information structure in the selected ca. 20 African languages of the Gur and Kwa language groups are evaluated typologically. The questions raised by the project serve the superordinate goal of expanding our knowledge of linguistically relevant information structural categories regarding less-known languages as well as the interaction between information structure, grammar and language type.
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1st Phase - Focus in Gur and Kwa languages
As part of the SFB dedicated to research on the diversity of information structure from various perspectives, this project investigates the phenomenon of focus in Gur and Kwa languages. On the basis of new data, it aims at investigating the precise means of expressions and functions of the universal pragmatic category focus in two genetically related neighbouring West African language groups.
Our primary objective is to provide an elaborate inventory of all linguistic means used to express focus in the selected languages and to investigate the relation between its form and function. Cross-linguistic deduction of the semantic/pragmatic features relevant for information structure will serve to develop a focus typology of Gur and Kwa languages. The comparison of closely related dialects and languages will be of assistance in following up the grammaticalization paths of focus structures and possibly to ascertain typological and areal traits. A major aim of this project is to isolate the language-typological and areal features of focus structures in Gur and Kwa languages which are located on a continuum between isolating to agglutinative language types.
The results of our study of focus in typologically diverse languages will contribute to the establishment of a universal focus typology - one of the SFB's ultimate purposes.
Our investigation will mainly be based on oral data to be collected in the field. This implies that our methodological approaches differ from those of theoretically and experimentally oriented projects within the SFB. Data collection from primarily oral language societies as well as the divergent linguistic structures of the investigated West African languages put special demands on the SFB's central questionnaire (D2). By this, our work will contribute to its constant optimization relying on mutual stimulation between empiric results and theory.
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Principal Investigators
- Prof. Dr. Manfred Krifka (2nd Phase)
- Dr. Katharina Hartmann (2nd Phase)
- Prof. Dr. Brigitte Reineke (1st Phase)
Former Staff Members
- Dr. Ines Fiedler
- Dr. Anne Schwarz
Activities
| August 2009 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: The Semantic-Pragmatic Features of Head-internal Relative Clauses in some Gur Languages. | 39th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL 39) Universität Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands. |
| August 2009 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Predication focus in Gbe. | WOCAL 6, Universität Köln. |
| August 2009 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Principles of Information Packaging in Baatonum (Gur). | WOCAL 6, Universität Köln. |
| July 2009 | Poster | Fiedler, I.: Possessive Constructions in Gbe. | Eighth Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology (ALT 8), University of California, Berkeley, USA. |
| July 2009 | Poster | Schwarz, A.: The Thetic/Categorical Distinction and its Impact on Nominal Predication - A Study Across Ghanaian Languages. | Eighth Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology (ALT 8), University of California, Berkeley, USA. |
| March 2009 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Ex situ and in situ focus in Kwa. A text-based study on Anii. | 31st Annual Meeting Linguistics Acssociation of Germany (DGfS) : Workshop "Focus marking strategies and focus interpretation", Universität Osnabrück. |
| March 2009 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: When focus markers rather link topic and comment. | 31st Annual Meeting Linguistics Acssociation of Germany (DGfS) : Workshop "Focus marking strategies and focus interpretation", Universität Osnabrück. |
| January 2009 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: 'One-head' and 'Big-mouth' - Adjectives in Buli. | Colloquium 2009 of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project: Languages of the Volta Basin, Universität von Ghana, Legon. |
| November 2008 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Preddicate and predication focus in Gbe. | Vortrag: predicate Focus, Verum Focus, Verb Focus: Similarities and Differences. |
| November 2008 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: A verb-focus typology in Buli (Gur). | Vortrag: predicate Focus, Verum Focus, Verb Focus: Similarities and Differences. |
| August 2008 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (Gur). | Vortrag auf der Special WOCAL 6, São Paulo, Brazil. Website of: Special WOCAL 6 |
| August 2008 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Some aspects of information structure in Anii. | International Workshop on the Ghana-Togo-Mountain (GTM) Languages. Bishop Konings Social Centre, Ho, Ghana. |
| August 2008 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Where subject-verb agreement fails. | International Workshop on the Ghana-Togo-Mountain (GTM) Languages. Bishop Konings Social Centre, Ho, Ghana. |
| August 2008 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Verb focus in Aja. | 26th West African Linguistics Congress (WALC). University of Education, Winneba Campus, Ghana. |
| August 2008 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: What is it about? The TOPIC in some Ghanaian Gur grammars. | 26th West African Linguistics Congress (WALC). University of Education, Winneba Campus, Ghana. |
| July 2008 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Contrastive topic marking in Gbe. | Vortrag auf der 18th International Congress of Linguists. Seoul, Korea. |
| February 2008 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: On topic marking in some Gur languages (West Africa). | Topicality, Workshop at the 30th annual meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft (DGfS), Bamberg. |
| December 2007 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Reciprocals in Gur languages. | Reciprocals cross-linguistically, Berlin. |
| August 2007 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Conjoint and Disjoint Verbs in Yom? | 37th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL 37), Universiteit Leiden, Niederlande. |
| August 2007 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Presentational constructions in Buli. | 37th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL 37), Universiteit Leiden, Niederlande. |
| July 2007 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Expansion im Aja. | Afrikanistentag 2007, Universität Wien. |
| July 2007 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Focus marking in questions and answers in Konkomba. | Afrikanistentag 2007, Universität Wien. |
| June 2007 | Invited talk | Schwarz, A.: Ja, sind der Uhr denn Flügel gewachsen? - Herausforderungen bei der Elizitierung von Informationsstruktur. | Institut für Ethnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster. |
| May 2007 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Aspekte des Yom-Verbsystems. | Linguistic Colloquium am Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| March 2007 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: The Syntax of Lelemi Predicates. | Round Table Conference on the Languages of the Volta Basin (West Africa), Leiden University, Niederlande. |
| March 2007 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Conjoint and disjoint verbs in Yom. | 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ACAL 2007, Gainesville, University of Florida. |
| March 2007 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: The particles le and la in the grammar of Konkomba. | 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ACAL 2007, Gainesville, University of Florida. |
| December 2006 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Schwarz, A. Die Guang-Sprachen am Beispiel des Efutu (Ghana) und Foodo (Bénin). | Linguistic Colloquium am Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| September 2006 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Information structural reflections in the tone system of Buli and some related Gur languages of Northern Ghana. | Second TIE Conference on the Typology of Tone and Intonation, TIE2, Berlin, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) und Universität Potsdam.. |
| August 2006 | Talk | Jannedy, S & Fiedler, I.: Prosody of Focus Marking in Ewe. | 36th Colloquium on African Languages Linguistics, Leiden University, Niederlande. |
| August 2006 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Focus Expressions in Foodo. | 25. Congress of the West African Linguistic Society, Ouidah, Benin, Université d'Abomey Calavi. |
| August 2006 | Talk | Reineke, B.: Predication focus in Byali. | 25. Congress of the West African Linguistic Society, Ouidah, Benin, Université d'Abomey Calavi. |
| July 2006 | Talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Focal aspects in the Lelemi verb system. | The description and documentation of Ghana-Togo-Mountain Languages. Ho, Ghana, University of Ghana (Legon). |
| June 2006 | Invited talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Fokussierungsstrategien in Gur- und Kwasprachen. | Colloquium am Institut für Afrikanistik, Universität Leipzig. |
| June 2006 | Poster | Fiedler, I., Reineke, B. & Schwarz, A.: Focus in Gur and Kwa. | International Conference of the SFB 632: Information Structure between linguistic theory and empirical methods, Universität Potsdam. |
| June 2006 | Talk | Fiedler, I., Hartmann, K., Reineke, B., Schwarz, A. & Zimmermann, M.: Subject Focus in West African Languages. | International Conference of the SFB 632: Information Structure between linguistic theory and empirical methods, Universität Potsdam. |
| June 2006 | Poster | Petrova, S. & Schwarz, A.: Discourse Structure and Information Packaging in Cross-linguistic Perspective. | International Conference of the SFB 632: Information Structure between linguistic theory and empirical methods, Universität Potsdam. |
| June 2006 | Poster | Jannedy, S. & Fiedler, I.: Prosody of Focus Marking in Ewe. | International Conference of the SFB 632: Information Structure between linguistic theory and empirical methods, Universität Potsdam. |
| April 2006 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Vom GURren und KWAken und anderen Zungen. | Wissenschaftliches Colloquium zur Verabschiedung von Frau Prof. B. Reineke, Berlin, Germany. |
| February 2006 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Fokus im Foodo. | Afrikanistentag 2006, Universität München. |
| February 2006 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Sentence-medial Adverbials in Buli (A North Ghanaian Gur Language). | Afrikanistentag 2006, Universität München. |
| October 2005 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Schwarz, A. Aktuelle Forschungsschwerpunkte des Projekts B1. | Workshop. 5. SFB-Workshop, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin. |
| October 2005 | Talk | Fiedler, I.: Focus Expressions in Yom. | Gur Conference: Between Tone and Text, Universität Bayreuth. |
| October 2005 | Keynote talk | Reineke, B.: Focus et topique dans les langues gur. | Gur Conference: Between Tone and Text, Universität Bayreuth. |
| October 2005 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Narrative and Copulative Patterns in the Focus Constructions of some Oti-Volta Languages. | Gur Conference: Between Tone and Text, Universität Bayreuth. |
| October 2005 | Talk | Schwarz, A.: Predication Focus and ‚Affirmative Markers’ in Gur. | Focus in African Languages, Berlin, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| December 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I: & Schwarz, A.: Fokus- oder Narrativkonstruktion? Markierte Fokuskonstruktionen in einigen Gur- und Kwasprachen. | Linguistic Colloquium am Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| December 2004 | Talk | Reineke, B.: Identificational Operation as Focus Strategy in Byali. | Topic and Focus: Information Structure and Grammar in African Languages, University of Amsterdam. |
| December 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I: & Schwarz, A.: Focus or Narrative Constructions? Morphosyntactically Marked Focus Constructions in some Gur and Kwa Languages. | Topic and Focus: Information Structure and Grammar in African Languages, University of Amsterdam. |
| Winter | Main seminar | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Informationsstruktur in afrikanischen Sprachen. | Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| October 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Diversität der Fokusmarkierung in verschiedenen Gur- und Kwasprachen und ihre Beziehungen zu anderen syntaktischen Konstruktionen. | SFB-Workshop, Gülpe. |
| October 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Some Elements of QUIS. | D2 Workshop: Tutorial on Tools for Eliciting Information Structure, Golm. |
| May 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Questionnaire für Informationsstruktur (QUIS). | SFB-Colloquium, Nikolassee. |
| May 2004 | Talk | Reineke, B.: Fokus im Byali. | Colloquium. Universität Wien. |
| February 2004 | Talk | Fiedler, I. & Schwarz, A.: Informationsstruktur in Gur- und Kwasprachen. | Linguistic Colloquium am Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. |
| December 2003 | Talk | Reineke, B.: Fokus in Gur- und Kwasprachen. | Colloquium. Universität Bayreuth. |
| September 2003 | Talk | Fiedler, I., Reineke, B. & Schwarz, A.: Fokus in Gur- und Kwasprachen. | 16. Afrikanistentag, Universität Leipzig. |
| August 2003 | Talk | Fiedler, I., Reineke, B. & Schwarz, A.: Let's Focus It! - Presentation of the Research Project on Focus in Gur and Kwa Languages. | 33rd Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics, Leiden University, Niederlande. |