Events
SIL talk: Lieke Hendriks
The next SIL lecture will be given by Lieke Hendrix (Georg-August University Göttingen).
Title: Split Topicalization in Southern Dutch: accounting for Microvariation
Abstract Split Topicalization (ST) as in (1) refers to the phenomenon in which one constituent seems to have been broken up into two parts: a topicalized part and a remnant. Generally, the topicalized part must be indefinite and must evoke a ‘kind’ interpretation, while the remnant is freer in its make-up. Roughly, the remnant in ST can be a quantifier (as in (1)), an adjective, or a noun.
Topicalized part Remnant
(1) Boeken van Chomsky heb ik twee gelezen.
Books of Chomsky have I two read
‘As for books by Chomsky, I have read two.’
Literature on West-Germanic languages has given much attention to the paradoxical nature of ST, but much less attention has been given to the variation that one can find amongst West-Germanic varieties. For example, there is interspeaker variation with regards to ST in Dutch as only Southern Dutch dialects spoken in the Netherlands allow for the construction. That is not all, though. In addition to interspeaker variation in Dutch dialects, intraspeaker variation can be observed as well. That is, speakers vary regarding what the remnant can consist of. An implicational hierarchy can be detected: quantifiers > adjectives > nouns. This talk will explore the (intraspeaker) variation found in ST, and will propose an analysis that can capture the new observations.
Participation
If you are already a member of the Team or affiliated with UU click this link to participate.
If you are not already a member of the Syntax Interface Lectures team and are affiliated to the UU, please use this link to become a member of the team. If you need to join the team and are not affiliated to the UU, please email us (syntax.interface@uu.nl) so that we can add you. Once you are a member of the team, you can use the meeting link above to join the meeting itself.