Meredith Landman
Rodrigo Ranero
2018-05-23
<p>This paper examines focus marking in Kuria. We propose an account of the syntax/semantics<br>
of the prefix /ne-/. This prefix displays a varied syntactic distribution, posing a puzzle as to<br>
what semantically unifies all of its uses. In focus constructions, /ne-/ obligatorily appears<br>
on a fronted (i.e. focused) phrase, whereas in simple declaratives, /ne-/ obligatorily appears<br>
pre-verbally. Following previous analyses of similar markers in Bantu (Schwarz 2007 for<br>
Kikuyu and Abels & Muriungi 2008 for Kiitharaka), we analyze /ne-/ uniformly as a focus<br>
marker that arises in a focus phrase in the left periphery. We support this account of /ne-<br>
/ by presenting novel data that suggest that even when /ne-/ occurs pre-verbally, it still<br>
marks focus (VP focus or sentential focus.) We also show how /ne-/ differs syntactically<br>
from similar markers in other languages. For example, Kuria allows for the focus marker to<br>
appear internal to the focused constituent, in contrast with data from Kiitharaka (Abels &<br>
Muriungi 2008) and other languages (see Hartmann & Zimmermann 2009 for Guruntum).<br>
This paper thus discusses a range of data patterns relating to the Kuria prefix /ne-/, offering<br>
insight into a syntax/semantic puzzle as well as cross-linguistic variation in the realization<br>
of focus.</p>
<p> </p>
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1251754
oai:zenodo.org:1251754
eng
Language Science Press
https://zenodo.org/communities/africarxiv
https://zenodo.org/communities/langscipress
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1251753
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
Focus marking in Kuria
info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPart