※ 清華語言所新021次專題演講公告 ※

講者：Judith Aissen (University of California, Santa Cruz)

題目：Deriving VOS in Mayan: Right Edge Topics in Tsotsil

日期：2016年11月2日 (星期三)

時間：中午12時30分 開始

地點：語言所研討室(人社院 B305 室)

摘要：

All Mayan languages are verb-initial. However, they divide into two groups: a `rigid' group which permits only VSO order and a more `flexible' group which permits both VOS (the more frequent order) and VSO. An unresolved question has been the derivation of the two orders and the relation between them. Recent work (L. Clemens and J. Coon 2016, `Deriving verb-initial order in Mayan', ms) proposes that all Mayan languages are underlying VSO, with VOS derived via three possible routes: prosodic incorporation of a '`light' O into the phonological phrase containing the verb; Heavy NP Shift of S; and movement of a topical S to a right-edge topic position. This talk addresses the possibility of a right-edge topic position in Mayan. Drawing on data from Tsotsil, a flexible language, I present a number of structural arguments for such a position, including ones based on coordination and separability of constituents.  Having established the plausibility of a right-edge topic position, I compare right-edge topics with the better known left-edge topics in this language, showing that the two contrast both prosodically and pragmatically.

國立清華大學語言學研究所 研究生 陳盈安 敬上