A topicality condition for Arabic clauses
Date
2018
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This dissertation examines the relation between left-peripheral topics and the structure of Arabic clauses. It first introduces the Arabic topic-focus system following Rizzi’s (1997) cartographic framework and utilizing the notion of Information Structure. The study suggests a hypothesis on the formation of Contrastive Topics (CTs). Arabic CTs are topics generated within the left periphery and moved to focus position. The next part reviews preverbal subjects. The listed arguments assert that preverbal subjects are aligned with topics, which strengthens the status of VSO as the basic word order. The main part of the dissertation presents an analysis of some highly controversial constructions, which include verbless, equative and copular constructions (VECCs). The study suggests that VECCs must satisfy a proposed topicality condition. The fulfillment of the Topicality Condition follows certain processes in accordance with a proposed hierarchy. Equative sentences, for example, represent a special form of verbless constructions where both the subject and the predicate may equally satisfy the Topicality Condition. The analysis of VECCs extends to the preverbal topicalized arguments to show that they originate as subjects of Predicate Phrases which are then moved to a topic position. The study categorizes Arabic topics into predicative, which are obtained by fulfilling the Topicality Condition, and free topics, which are not related to the Topicality Condition. Predicative topics are selected by a functional projection (FP) which also hosts copular verbs but, F0 nature is not fully clear. Finally, the study examines what I called “embedded clause phenomena” where main clauses behave as if they are embedded. The research shows that (FP) could be responsible for these phenomena by checking peripheral particles leading to the embedding effects such as the emphatic inna particle.
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Keywords
Language, literature and linguistics, Cartography, Focus, Information structure, Topicality