Riesberg, Sonja (2018). Optional ergative, agentivity and discourse prominence - Evidence from Yali (Trans-New Guinea). Linguist Typol., 22 (1). S. 17 - 51. BERLIN: WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH. ISSN 1613-415X

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Abstract

A phenomenon often termed optional ergative marking is found in a number of genetically unrelated languages. Yali, a Trans-New Guinea language spoken in West Papua, shows striking similarities to optional ergative systems as described in the literature. This paper focuses on the relation between agentivity and discourse prominence, and argues in favour of a systematic distinction between semantic and syntactic contexts as conditioning factors for optional ergative marking. It further provides new evidence for the close interplay of ergative marking and what has been termed discourse prominence in descriptions of some other languages and shows that in Yali, optional ergative marking operates on both the global and the local level of discourse.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Riesberg, SonjaUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-187067
DOI: 10.1515/lingty-2018-0002
Journal or Publication Title: Linguist Typol.
Volume: 22
Number: 1
Page Range: S. 17 - 51
Date: 2018
Publisher: WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
Place of Publication: BERLIN
ISSN: 1613-415X
Language: English
Faculty: Unspecified
Divisions: Unspecified
Subjects: no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:
KeywordsLanguage
INFORMATION-STRUCTURE; MARKING; FOCUSMultiple languages
Linguistics; Language & LinguisticsMultiple languages
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/18706

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