Startseite

Programm

Änderungen

Arbeitsgruppen

Anmeldung

Photos

Downloads

Unterkunft

Anreise

Lehrerinfoabend

Computerlinguistik

Doktorandenforum

Sponsoren

Verlage

Informationen

AG 9: Definiteness Effects

Raum: NG 701 (Nebengebäude, Erdgeschoss)
Donnerstag, 08.03.2012, 09.30 bis 10.00 Uhr

Dieser Text als PDF


Kordula de Kuthy & Detmar Meurers
Universität Tübingen
Definiteness effects as epiphenomena of information structure

Definiteness effects have been observed in connection with a number of word order phenomena in German. We here take a closer look at definiteness effects occurring with partial constituents. The first phenomenon under investigation is the NP-PP split (De Kuthy 2002) in which a PP occurs separate from its nominal head. It exhibits a definiteness effect resulting in unacceptable examples when the NP is definite (1).
(1) Über Syntax hat Max sich [ein/*das Buch] ausgeliehen.
About syntax has Max self a/the book borrowed
The ungrammaticality has been explained as a specificity effect (Müller 1996), a classical syntactic restriction on extraction, which leaves clear counterexamples (2) unexplained.
(2) Über Syntax hat Karl nur dieses, aber nicht jenes Buch gelesen.
on syntax has Karl only this but not that book read
The second instance of a partial constituent phenomenon showing a definiteness effect involves subject realized as part of a fronted non-finite verbal constituent (3) – a definiteness effect for which we again find counterexamples (4).
(3) [Ein/*Der Außenseiter gewonnen] hat hier noch nie.
annom/thenom outsider won has here still never
(4) Die Hände gezittert haben ihm diesmal nicht. (Höhle, 1997, p. 114)
the hands trembled have him this time not
We show that the definiteness effect occurring with the two partial constituent phenomena can be explained as an interaction of information structure requirements of those partial constituents and the general discourse properties of definite NPs. We show that the counter-examples to a syntactic explanation automatically follow from our information structure-based explanation.

De Kuthy, Kordula (2002): Discontinuous NPs in German. A Case Study of the Interaction of Syntax. Semantics and Pragmatics. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.

Müller, Gereon (1996): Incomplete Category Fronting. Tübingen, Universität Tübingen, Habilitationsschrift,. Published as SfS-Report 01–96.

Höhle, T. N. (1997): Vorangestellte Verben und Komplementierer sind eine natürliche Klasse. In: Dürscheid, C., Ramers K. H., Schwarz, M. (Hg.): Sprache im Fokus. Festschrift für Heinz Vater zum 65. Geburtstag, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 107–120.




letztes Update: 19.01.2012
by Webmaster - Impressum