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Recursive focus prosody

Ishihara, Shinichiro LU orcid and van de Weijer, Joost LU orcid (2024) In Studies in East Asian Linguistics p.183-208
Abstract
This paper presents results of a production experiment testing the recursivity of prosodic realization of focus in Tokyo Japanese. Tokyo Japanese wh-questions obligatorily exhibit focus prosody, which starts from a wh-phrase (WH) and continues until the question particle (Q) that binds the wh-phrase (Deguchi and Kitagawa 2002; Ishihara 2002, 2003). The current study examines the case where one WH–Q dependency is embedded inside the scope of another WH–Q dependency (namely, a matrix wh-question containing an indirect wh-question, e.g., Who remembers what John drank?). The results confirmed a claim that focus prosody can be realized recursively, while they also showed inter-speaker variation as to the availability of such recursive focus... (More)
This paper presents results of a production experiment testing the recursivity of prosodic realization of focus in Tokyo Japanese. Tokyo Japanese wh-questions obligatorily exhibit focus prosody, which starts from a wh-phrase (WH) and continues until the question particle (Q) that binds the wh-phrase (Deguchi and Kitagawa 2002; Ishihara 2002, 2003). The current study examines the case where one WH–Q dependency is embedded inside the scope of another WH–Q dependency (namely, a matrix wh-question containing an indirect wh-question, e.g., Who remembers what John drank?). The results confirmed a claim that focus prosody can be realized recursively, while they also showed inter-speaker variation as to the availability of such recursive focus prosody. The paper discusses theoretical implications on recursivity of prosodic structure as well as recursivity of information structure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
focus, prosody, prosodic recursion, wh-question, syntax–prosody interface, Japanese
host publication
Linguistic Interfaces in East-Asian Languages : A Festschrift in Honor of Yoshihisa Kitagawa - A Festschrift in Honor of Yoshihisa Kitagawa
series title
Studies in East Asian Linguistics
editor
Ting, Jen and Hsu, Yu-Yin
pages
183 - 208
publisher
Springer Nature
ISSN
2522-5103
2522-5111
ISBN
978-981-19-4444-4
978-981-19-4447-5
978-981-19-4445-1
DOI
10.1007/978-981-19-4445-1_9
project
The phonology of subordinate clauses and syntactic processing in Japanese
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2386e944-e61c-4fba-afe6-bb648ad122b8
date added to LUP
2023-02-01 13:49:57
date last changed
2024-08-14 03:00:00
@inbook{2386e944-e61c-4fba-afe6-bb648ad122b8,
  abstract     = {{This paper presents results of a production experiment testing the recursivity of prosodic realization of focus in Tokyo Japanese. Tokyo Japanese wh-questions obligatorily exhibit focus prosody, which starts from a wh-phrase (WH) and continues until the question particle (Q) that binds the wh-phrase (Deguchi and Kitagawa 2002; Ishihara 2002, 2003). The current study examines the case where one WH–Q dependency is embedded inside the scope of another WH–Q dependency (namely, a matrix wh-question containing an indirect wh-question, e.g., Who remembers what John drank?). The results confirmed a claim that focus prosody can be realized recursively, while they also showed inter-speaker variation as to the availability of such recursive focus prosody. The paper discusses theoretical implications on recursivity of prosodic structure as well as recursivity of information structure.}},
  author       = {{Ishihara, Shinichiro and van de Weijer, Joost}},
  booktitle    = {{Linguistic Interfaces in East-Asian Languages : A Festschrift in Honor of Yoshihisa Kitagawa}},
  editor       = {{Ting, Jen and Hsu, Yu-Yin}},
  isbn         = {{978-981-19-4444-4}},
  issn         = {{2522-5103}},
  keywords     = {{focus; prosody; prosodic recursion; wh-question; syntax–prosody interface; Japanese}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{183--208}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Studies in East Asian Linguistics}},
  title        = {{Recursive focus prosody}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4445-1_9}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-981-19-4445-1_9}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}