Syntactic Interactions with Information Structure in Squliq Atayal
Date
2017
Authors
Liu, Kun-Long
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Abstract
The present thesis investigates the syntactic interactions with
information structure in Squliq Atayal, an Austronesian language
in Taiwan. Information structure (i.e. i-structure) is a
representation of discourse-pragmatic information at the sentence
level in accordance with addressers’ mental states in given
discourse-pragmatic contexts. By observing the interactions
between syntax and information structure through both
quantitative and qualitative evidence, the present thesis
discovers that the syntactic structures of both unmarked and
marked clauses in Squliq Atayal are formed not only for pure
morphosyntactic motivations but also for discourse-pragmatic
ones.
The present thesis is composed of ten chapters. Chapter 1 is a
brief introduction to the ethnic background of Squliq Atayal and
the research questions of the present thesis. Chapter 2 reviews
the research on information structure, topic, focus and
topicality, as well as the studies on Squliq Atayal. In addition,
this chapter elaborates the methodology of the present thesis,
including data sources, the orthography and our theoretical
framework, Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG).
Chapter 3 presents the basics of grammar of Squliq Atayal, which
include the rigid word order Verb-Object/Oblique-Subject, case
markers and multiple voices, with related theoretical discussion
on the internal structure of c-structure and the lexically
determined mapping between a-structure and f-structure. In
Chapter 4, the theoretical model of feature-based discourse
functions is proposed. There are four discourse features:
givenness, aboutness, prominence and contrast, the values of
which constitute twelve discourse functions in i-structure. In
addition, the proposal of one-to-many mapping benefits the
incorporation of gradience into LFG. Chapter 5 focuses on
discourse evidence from topicality and information chaining. The
former studies the topicality of subject, object, and oblique
with the measurement proposed in Givón’s works. The latter
looks into how a piece of information connects two adjacent
sentences. It shows that new information is highly restricted by
syntax.
Chapter 6 identifies what discourse functions in i-structure the
grammatical functions of subject, object and oblique correspond
to. The conflict between quantitative discourse evidence from
topicality and qualitative syntactic evidence from
question-answer tests verifies the one-to-one general mapping
between subject and continuing topic with the application of the
conversion function, which further proves that Squliq Atayal is a
quasi-f-structural language and that the multiple voice system in
Squliq Atayal belongs to both the role-remapping voice system and
the information-salience one in linguistic typology. Chapter 7
and 8 offer a general description of the properties of
grammaticalized topics and grammaticalized foci respectively.
Despite the complexity of the one-to-many mapping from
grammatical functions to discourse functions, it is explained by
the Informational Mapping Theory proposed in the present thesis,
which directly establishes the mapping between f-structure and
i-structure.
Chapter 9 takes a diachronic perspective on the emergence of
split-subjecthood in the Austronesian languages. By comparing
Squliq Atayal and Tsou, it is hypothesized that split-subjecthood
emerged from the shift of primary continuing topic from
nominative subjects to oblique actors in NAV clauses. Chapter 10
summarizes the contributions of the present thesis and points out
some issues for further research.
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Keywords
syntax, information structure, Squliq Atayal, Austronesian languages, discourse features, Lexical Functional Grammar, word order, voice alternation, topicalization and topicalisation, pseudo-clefting, VOS, split-subjecthood
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