Universität zu Köln

Compensis, Paul ORCID: 0000-0003-3415-4844 (2017). Definiteness in Molise Slavic. Masters thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

This study is the first attempt to describe aspects of Molise Slavic information structure. Molise Slavic is a micro-language of Slavic (štokavian) descendance spoken only in three villages in Southern Italy. Claims have been made that in contrast to most Slavic languages Molise Slavic has articles: Indefiniteness is expressed with an article, while no overt article exists for the expression of definiteness. Consequently, the aim of this study is two-fold. First, it aims to provide a systematic overview of those modifiers that can impose definiteness on a nominal phrase. These markers are also investigated regarding typological peculiarities. It turns out that demonstratives and personal pronouns convey definiteness, but numerals and possessives only to some extent, whereas the long forms of adjectives and the genitive-accusative distinction do not trigger definiteness. Second, definiteness is seen as a semanto-pragmatic category that can be expressed by other means than morphosyntactic ones. The investigation shows a clear tendency for topics to be definite, and a restriction of topicalization strategies to definite referents. For the analysis of intonation, a ToBI annotation tool for Molise Slavic was developed that can also be used for future analyses of Molise Slavic intonation. The analysis shows that, while focus is clearly achieved by pitch variation, topic is not marked intonationally.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Compensis, Paul paul.compensis@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0003-3415-4844 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-616928
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Opera Slavica Coloniensia
Volume:	23
Date:	2017
ISSN:	2748-6060
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 5: Moderne Sprachen und Kulturen > Slavisches Institut
Subjects:	Language, Linguistics Other languages
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Molise Slavic; definiteness; information structure; topic; focus; topicalization; intonation; ToBI; language contact English
Date of oral exam:	2017
Referee:	Name Academic Title Bunčić, Daniel Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/61692