Imagiration of People in Libya
Newcastle Working Papers in Linguistics 18 (2012)
Algryani
STRIPPING & NEGATIVE CONTRAST IN LIBYAN ARABIC* ALI ALGRYANI (Newcastle University) Abstract This study discusses two cases of clausal ellipsis referred to as stripping and negative contrast in Libyan Arabic (LA)1. The paper argues that both constructions can be derived by focus movement of the remnant out of TP plus deletion of that TP (Merchant 2003). The behaviour of the remnant with respect to preposition stranding, binding and locality effects can be taken as an argument in favour of this analysis. However, despite the fact that both stripping and negative contrast involve TP ellipsis, the two differ with respect to interaction with information structure, that is, while the remnant in stripping is perceived as new informational focus, the remnant in negative contrast is interpreted contrastively. 1. Introduction This paper discusses two types of clausal ellipsis referred to as stripping and negative contrast with special focus on their syntactic properties and distribution, on the one hand, and interaction with information structure on the other. The paper is organised as follows: section 1 introduces stripping from a crosslinguistic perspective. Section 2 presents cases of stripping and negative contrast in Libyan Arabic, while section 3 discusses stripping in syntactic theory and reviews previous analyses of the phenomenon. Section 4 discusses the interaction between ellipsis and information structure. Section 5 provides an account for stripping and negative contrast. Finally, section 6 presents the conclusion. 1.1. Stripping: a crosslinguistic perspective Hankamer and Sag (1976: 409) define stripping as ‘a rule that deletes everything in a clause under identity with corresponding parts of the preceding clause, except for one constituent, (and sometimes a clause-initial adverb or negative).’ Stripping, which is also referred to as ‘bare argument ellipsis’ (BAE), is widespread
Algryani
STRIPPING & NEGATIVE CONTRAST IN LIBYAN ARABIC* ALI ALGRYANI (Newcastle University) Abstract This study discusses two cases of clausal ellipsis referred to as stripping and negative contrast in Libyan Arabic (LA)1. The paper argues that both constructions can be derived by focus movement of the remnant out of TP plus deletion of that TP (Merchant 2003). The behaviour of the remnant with respect to preposition stranding, binding and locality effects can be taken as an argument in favour of this analysis. However, despite the fact that both stripping and negative contrast involve TP ellipsis, the two differ with respect to interaction with information structure, that is, while the remnant in stripping is perceived as new informational focus, the remnant in negative contrast is interpreted contrastively. 1. Introduction This paper discusses two types of clausal ellipsis referred to as stripping and negative contrast with special focus on their syntactic properties and distribution, on the one hand, and interaction with information structure on the other. The paper is organised as follows: section 1 introduces stripping from a crosslinguistic perspective. Section 2 presents cases of stripping and negative contrast in Libyan Arabic, while section 3 discusses stripping in syntactic theory and reviews previous analyses of the phenomenon. Section 4 discusses the interaction between ellipsis and information structure. Section 5 provides an account for stripping and negative contrast. Finally, section 6 presents the conclusion. 1.1. Stripping: a crosslinguistic perspective Hankamer and Sag (1976: 409) define stripping as ‘a rule that deletes everything in a clause under identity with corresponding parts of the preceding clause, except for one constituent, (and sometimes a clause-initial adverb or negative).’ Stripping, which is also referred to as ‘bare argument ellipsis’ (BAE), is widespread
References: I follow Kolokonte (2008) and assume that there are two focus projections in the left periphery; one is occupied by new focus, while the other is designated for contrastive focus. Newcastle Working Papers in Linguistics 18 (2012) Algryani 22 Newcastle Working Papers in Linguistics 18 (2012)