Information Structure in DPsInformation Structure in DPs

The Syntax/Information Structure Interface in DPs: Internal Syntactic Properties and their

Informational Correlates

Anja Kleemann, MPhil in Linguistics

Research projectResearch project

• comparison of English and German DPs

• internal structure of DPs

• information structure of DPs

• Correlation between information structural and internal structure

• syntax/information structure interface

What’s information structure?

• Formal properties of expressions cannot be fully understood without looking at the context in which they are used.

• information structure is a determining factor in the formal structuring of expressions

Domain of Inquiry: DPs

• Determiner phrases in naturally occurring conversations in English and German

What’s the Syntax/Semantics interface in DPs?

• Nur der gute Wein

• Der nur gute Wein

Methodology

• informant judgement technique– Questionnaire for native speakers of English

and German

• analysis of English and German corpora Findings in the corpora will be used as an

inductive base upon which to find hypotheses about the syntax and function of DP-internal elements

Results so far

• Focus structure in sentences and DPs

• Focus particles in sentences and DPs

• Semantics of focus particle nur/only

• Next: Syntax of focus particle nur/only

ConclusionsConclusions

German nur …• behaves differently in DPs• has a scalar interpretation• Overrides the scale of the scalar adjective• associates with a scalar adjective without

focal accent• cannot be interpreted in terms of alternatives

Next steps in my projectNext steps in my project

• Development of information judgment tasks on the interpretation of nur in German

• Focus structure and Syntax of DPs

• Focus structure and argument structure in DPs

• Topic structure in DPs