The clause, the root of [subject [verb object adjunct]].
Used by Answer.Licensed
Docs / Studies / Studies.Aremu2025b
The syntax of focus in Ìkálẹ̀
Aremu, D. (2025). In Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in Niger-Congo languages (pp. 13–50). Language Science Press
Ìkálẹ̀, a south-eastern dialect of Yorùbá, focuses a constituent in place with no marking, or fronts it and closes the clause with rín: Tolú Adé rí rín 'Adé saw TOLÚ', against Standard Yorùbá ni right after the focus. A focused subject must front and leaves the resumptive ó, a focused verb phrase stays in place, and only a fronted focus is contrastive. Aremu takes rín to head a head-final focus phrase whose specifier holds the fronted focus, so that it marks the focus itself, against an antisymmetric analysis that pied-pipes a phrase containing the focus.
Main definitions
Aremu2025b.Answer: an answer by its focus and whether it fronts it.Aremu2025b.Answer.reflexes,Aremu2025b.Answer.Licensed: its overt marking, and the conditions on fronting.
Implementation notes
Constituents are positions in the clause [subject [verb object adjunct]] with the containment
order on TreePath, as in Aremu2025a, which this file does not import: the two works appeared
a month apart and neither cites the other. The rows (2b), (16a) and (16b) are Standard Yorùbá.
TODO
- Embedded focus, the island tests by which subject and object focus both move, and the exclusive particle nùkàn, which pied-pipes with an argument associate.
References
- Aremu 2025b, The syntax of focus in Ìkálẹ̀
- Branan & Erlewine 2023, Anti-pied-piping formalized
Constituents
Answers and their reflexes
An answer records the focused constituent and whether it stays in place or is fronted.
- focus : Core.Order.TreePath
- strategy : Focus.Strategy
Used by Answer.reflexes, Answer.exactlyTargets_reflexes, Answer.Contrastive, Answer.instDecidableContrastive, Answer.Licensed, Answer.instDecidableLicensed, not_perceptible, Answer.ofRow?, Accepts, instDecidableAccepts
The overt reflexes of an answer. In place there are none; a fronted focus is displaced and marked by rín, and a fronted subject is resumed by ó.
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from
rín heads the focus phrase whose specifier holds the fronted focus, so every reflex is hosted by the focus itself.
Built from ,
Fronted focus is contrastive and focus in place is new information.
- a.Contrastive = (a.strategy = Focus.Strategy.exSitu)
Built from
Used by Answer.instDecidableContrastive
Built from ,
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from ,
A focus in place has no reflex in any channel, as Adé rí Tolú 'Adé saw TOLÚ' has none.
Built from , ,
The rows
The answer a row records, by its focus and whether it fronts it.
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from
Used by judgedFelicitous_iff
A row carries rín, a word glossed as the focus marker.
- Marked r = ((Yoruba.rin.form, "FOC") ∈ r.glossedTokens)
Used by instDecidableMarked, rin_last
- instDecidableMarked r = { decide := decide (List.elem (Yoruba.rin.form, "FOC") r.glossedTokens = true), reflects_decide := ⋯ }
Built from
A row carries the resumptive ó.
- Resumed r = ((Yoruba.Pronouns.ó.form, "RP") ∈ r.glossedTokens)
Used by instDecidableResumed
- instDecidableResumed r = { decide := decide (List.elem (Yoruba.Pronouns.ó.form, "RP") r.glossedTokens = true), reflects_decide := ⋯ }
Built from
The model accepts a row when its answer is licensed, carries rín exactly when it fronts, carries ó exactly when it fronts the subject, and is contrasted only when it is contrastive.
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from
Used by instDecidableAccepts, judgedFelicitous_iff
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from ,
The Ìkálẹ̀ rows.
- ikaleRows = List.filter (fun (x : Datum) => decide (x.language = Glottocode.ikale)) Examples.all
Used by judgedFelicitous_iff, rin_last
Every Ìkálẹ̀ row records an answer, which the model accepts exactly when the chapter judges the row felicitous.
Built from , ,
rín is the last word of every clause it marks, whatever has been fronted.
(r : Datum) :
r ∈ ikaleRows → Marked r → r.feature? "continuation" = none → r.surfaceTokens.getLast? = some Yoruba.rin.form
Built from ,
In the Standard Yorùbá (2b) ni follows the fronted eku.
The person of a focused subject the row records, third unless it says otherwise.
- person r = (r.parse? "person" [("first", Person.first), ("second", Person.second)]).getD Person.third
Used by resumptive_mem
A fronted subject is resumed by the singular subject pronoun of its person ((10b), (16a), (16b)).
(r : Datum) :
r ∈ [Examples.ex_10b, Examples.ex_16a, Examples.ex_16b] → ∃ p ∈ Yoruba.Pronouns.subject (person r) Number.singular, p.form ∈ r.surfaceTokens
Built from