TY - BOOK ID - 77933660 TI - Focus structure in generative grammar PY - 2004 SN - 1423766393 9786612254451 9027295603 1282254456 9781423766391 9027227926 9789027227928 1588115038 9781588115034 PB - Amsterdam Philadelphia John Benjamins Pub. DB - UniCat KW - Focus (Linguistics) KW - Generative grammar. KW - Grammar, Comparative and general KW - Semantics. KW - Intonation (Phonetics) KW - Language and languages KW - Linguistics KW - Pitch (Phonetics) KW - Phonetics KW - Prosodic analysis (Linguistics) KW - Tone (Phonetics) KW - Oral interpretation KW - Formal semantics KW - Semasiology KW - Semiology (Semantics) KW - Comparative linguistics KW - Information theory KW - Lexicology KW - Meaning (Psychology) KW - Syntax KW - Grammar, Generative KW - Grammar, Transformational KW - Grammar, Transformational generative KW - Transformational generative grammar KW - Transformational grammar KW - Psycholinguistics KW - Discourse analysis KW - Syntax. KW - Intonation KW - Derivation KW - Topic and comment KW - Focus (Linguistics). KW - Intonation (Phonetics). KW - Philology KW - Grammar, Comparative and general Syntax UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77933660 AB - The notion of focus structure in this work refers to the distinction between categorical, thetic and identificational sentences. The central claim is that the syntactic representation of every sentence has to encode which of these types of focus structure is realized. This claim is discussed in great detail with respect to syntax, intonation and semantics within the framework of the Minimalist Program. It is shown that the incorporation of focus structure into syntax offers new perspectives for a solution of vexing problems in syntax and semantics. For example, fronting (preposing, 'topicalisation') is treated as a syntactic operation which clearly belongs to core grammar, i.e. is not optional or 'stylistic'; the semantic notion of quantifier raising is dispensed with in favour of a focus structural treatment of phenomena which gave rise to it. The book appeals to generative linguists and to functional linguists who do not believe in an unbridgeable gap between the formal and functional analysis of language. ER -