The morphology and syntax of topic and focus : minimalist inquiries in the Quechua periphery

260 Pages·2010·5.56 MB·English

by  Liliana Sánchez

The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA)
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA) provides a platform for original monograph
studies into synchronic and diachronic linguistics. Studies in LA confront empirical
and theoretical problems as these are currently discussed in syntax, semantics,
morphology, phonology, and systematic pragmatics with the aim to establish robust
empirical generalizations within a universalistic perspective.
General Editors
Werner Abraham Elly van Gelderen
University of Vienna / Arizona State University
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Advisory Editorial Board
Josef Bayer Christer Platzack
University of Konstanz University of Lund
Cedric Boeckx Ian Roberts
ICREA/Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Cambridge University
Guglielmo Cinque Lisa deMena Travis
University of Venice McGill University
Liliane Haegeman Sten Vikner
University of Ghent University of Aarhus
Hubert Haider C. Jan-Wouter Zwart
University of Salzburg University of Groningen
Terje Lohndal
University of Maryland
Volume 169
The Morphology and Syntax of Topic and Focus. Minimalist inquiries
in the Quechua periphery
by Liliana Sánchez
The Morphology and Syntax
of Topic and Focus
Minimalist inquiries in the Quechua periphery
Liliana Sánchez
Rutgers University

John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sánchez, Liliana.
  The morphology and syntax of topic and focus : minimalist inquiries in the Quechua
periphery / Liliana Sánchez.
p. cm. (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, issn 0166-0829 ; v. 169)

Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.  Quechua language--Grammar. 2.  Quechua language--Morphology. 3.  Quechua lan-
guage--Syntax. 4.  Minimalist theory (Linguistics)  I. Title. II. Series.
PM6303.S36 2010
498’.3235--dc22 2010036642
isbn 978 90 272 5552 5 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 8752 6 (Eb)
© 2010 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
In memory of César C. Sánchez Montenegro
To my loved ones: José, Yésica and Lucía Camacho and Irma Alvarado, Irma
Sánchez and María del Carmen Sánchez.

Table of contents
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
chapter 1
Introduction: Peripheral domains and agreement in Southern Quechua 1
1.1 Peripheral domains 1
1.2 The syntax/morphology and the syntax/PF interfaces at the edges 7
chapter 2
An overview of Southern Quechua morphology and syntax 9
2.1 The Quechua family of languages: Geographical and demographic
information 9
2.2 A brief outline of Quechua morphosyntax 10
2.3 Basic sentence structure and canonical word order 12
2.4 The internal structure of VP and TP 13
2.5 The CP- layer 16
2.6 Subject and object agreement 18
2.7 Licensing and identification of null subjects 22
2.8 Licensing and identification of null objects 26
chapter 3
Morphology, syntax, an d informational structure in Quechua 29
3.1 Morphological markings on the left edge 29
3.2 Morphological markings and PF phenomena at the right edge 36
3.3 Minimalist assumptions 40
3.1.1 Defining topic, focus, and contrast in Quechua 42
3.3.1.1 Topic 42
3.3.1.2 Focus 47
3.4 An Agree-based proposal 50
 Syntax of Topic and Focus in Quechua
chapter 4
Agree, morphological syncretism, and peripheral constituents 53
4.1 Morphological syncretism and the ordering of functional categories 53
4.2 Agree and move 57
4.2.1 Focus/evidentiality and topicalization 59
4.2.2 Polar interrogatives, negation, focus, and intervention effects 73
4.2.3 More evidence of intervention effects: Impressive -má, emotive -yá,
and topic -rí 83
4.2.4 Quantified expressions, focus, and the suffix -chu 87
4.3. Morphology and the right periphery 90
4.3.1 Are topic particles syncretic? 91
4.3.2 Topic particles to the right 93
4.3.3 Other PF strategies: Breathy voice 98
chapter 5
Clausal analyses and the left and right peripheries of DPs 99
5.1 Strong person agreement in NP 105
5.1.1 NomP and AgrP/DP 108
5.1.2 Floated quantifiers 111
5.1.3 Discontinuous DPs 118
5.1.4 NP-ellipsis 122
5.1.5 Nominalizations 123
5.2 Articulating the C and D-domains: movement from the D-periphery to the
C-periphery 126
5.2.1 Wh-extraction 126
5.2.2 Focalization out of nominalizations 128
5.3 Evidentiality and focus morphology inside DP: The limits of syncretic
morphology 130

chapter 6
The limits of agree in the left-periphery: wh-words, polarity items, and
intervention effects 133
6.1 The syntactic distribution of wh-words 134
6.2 Polarity sensitive items 136
6.3 Agree with non-veridicality operators 139
6.4 Scope relations and intervention effects 148
Table of contents 
chapter 7
The limits of syncretism: wh-movement 153
7.1 The typology of wh-movement 153
7.2 Wh-fronting in main and subordinate clauses in Southern Quechua 156
7.2.1 Wh-fronting in main clauses 158
7.2.2 Wh- in situ and wh-fronting in subordinate clauses 163
7.3 Multiple wh-questions 168
chapter 8
The left and the right periphery in narrative discourse 175
8.1 Evidential/focus markers and the left periphery 182
8.2 Continuity of topics and right detached material 186
8.3 Morphology, intonational patterns, and word order 218
8.3.1 Intonational pattern in left fronted structures without
morphological marking 221
8.3.2 Intonational patterns in left fronted structures with
morphological marking 222
8.3.3 Intonational patterns in right fronted structures with
morphological marking 225
8.3.4 Intonational patterns in right fronted structures with no
morphological marking 226
chapter 9
Concluding remarks 229
Index 241