29.3610, Books: Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian languages: Riesberg, Shiohara, Utsumi (eds.)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3610. Wed Sep 19 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.3610, Books: Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian languages: Riesberg, Shiohara, Utsumi (eds.)

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Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2018 15:06:35
From: Sebastian Nordhoff [Sebastian.Nordhoff at langsci-press.org]
Subject: Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian languages: Riesberg, Shiohara, Utsumi (eds.)

 


Title: Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian languages 
Series Title: Studies in Diversity Linguistics  

Publication Year: 2018 
Publisher: Language Science Press
	   http://langsci-press.org
	

Book URL: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/201 


Editor: Sonja Riesberg
Editor: Asako Shiohara
Editor: Atsuko Utsumi

Electronic: ISBN:  9783961101085 Pages: 440 Price: Europe EURO 0 Comment: Open Access


Abstract:

Information structure is a relatively new field to linguistics and has only
recently been studied for smaller and less described languages. This book is
the first of its kind that brings together contributions on information
structure in Austronesian languages. Current approaches from formal semantics,
discourse studies, and intonational phonology are brought together with
language specific and cross-linguistic expertise of Austronesian languages.
The 13 chapters in this volume cover all subgroups of the large Austronesian
family, including Formosan, Central Malayo-Polynesian, South Halmahera-West
New Guinea, and Oceanic. The major focus, though, lies on Western
Malayo-Polynesian languages. Some chapters investigate two of the largest
languages in the region (Tagalog and different varieties of Malay), others
study information-structural phenomena in small, underdescribed languages. The
three overarching topics that are covered in this book are NP marking and
reference tracking devices, syntactic structures and information-structural
categories, and the interaction of information structure and prosody. Various
data types build the basis for the different studies compiled in this book.
Some chapters investigate written texts, such as modern novels (cf. Djenar’s
chapter on modern, standard Indonesian), or compare different text genres,
such as, for example, oral narratives and translations of biblical narratives
(cf. De Busser’s chapter on Bunun). Most contributions, however, study natural
spoken speech and make use of spoken corpora which have been compiled by the
authors themselves. The volume comprises a number of different methods and
theoretical frameworks. Two chapters make use of the Question Under Discussion
approach, developed in formal semantics (cf. the chapters by Latrouite &
Riester; Shiohara & Riester). Riesberg et al. apply the recently developed
method of Rapid Prosody Transcription (RPT) to investigate native speakers’
perception of prosodic prominences and boundaries in Papuan Malay. Other
papers discuss theoretical consequences of their findings. Thus, for example,
Himmelmann takes apart the most widespread framework for intonational
phonology (ToBI) and argues that the analysis of Indonesian languages requires
much simpler assumptions than the ones underlying the standard model. Arka &
Sedeng ask the question how fine-grained information structure space should be
conceptualized and modelled, e.g. in LFG. Schnell argues that elements that
could be analysed as “topic” and “focus” categories, should better be
described in terms of ‘packaging’ and do not necessarily reflect any pragmatic
roles in the first place.

This book is available for collaborative reading at
https://paperhive.org/documents/items/qi7VIUXr6kOQ
 



Linguistic Field(s): Phonetics
                     Phonology
                     Syntax
                     Typology

Language Family(ies): Austronesian


Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=129973




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