intro

[Luuk Lagerwerf]

Hi Larry,

>     A:    Who was that on the telephone?
>         B1:    Mary.
>         B2:    That was Mary
>         B3:    ?It was Mary who called.
>         B4:    ??Mary was on the telephone.
>
> Some syntacticians cite B4 as the evidence that English favors syntax of
> discourse when it comes to information structure, but it seems to me to be
> questionable.  Have any of you worked with these issues?  I'd be
> interested in your thoughts.

I do not believe that B4 would be THE evidence for one standpoint
or the other. The question is presupposing that the person calling is
known to the speaker. Re-introducing that person as a discourse
referent would be confusing. So, my guess is that informations
structure is determining the acceptability judgments here.

If the question would not presuppose the discourse referent,
judgments change:

         A: Did you answer that phone call?
       B1: ??Mary
       B2: ?That was Mary
       B3: It was Mary who called
       B4: Mary was on the telephone

As there is no discourse referent introduced before answering the
question, B3 and B4 are more appropriate, for they introduce Mary
as a discourse referent first.

Luuk.

Luuk Lagerwerf
Language and Communication
University of Twente
+31 53 489 35 67 (office)
+31 34 351 38 81 (home)