[Lingtyp] copula as focus marker

Mon Mar 13 09:29:48 UTC 2023

Dear Eline, Christian, all,

As I see it, the characterization of the copula as a focus marker in 
such constructions is epiphenominal, and kind of misses what is at the 
heart of the construction, namely a nominalization or reification of the 
topical material, e.g. /Juan compró/ in Christian's original example.

In my analysis of colloquial Indonesian (which does not have a copula), 
i argue that a string such as

Jon beli buku
John buy book

may, in different discourse contexts, be associated with any of the 
three logically possible syntactic constituencies, one of which is the 
following:

[ Jon beli ] buku

The latter constituency is associated with an interpretation along the 
lines of "What John bought is a book", and ends up looking just like 
/Juan compró fue un libro/, except without the copula.

Now of course, different analyses may be appropriate for different 
languages, and it may indeed be the case that in some languages, a 
copula may be undergoing reanalysis as a focus marker.  However, as I 
see it, the diachronic source for such constructions is likely to be 
something involving a nominalization or reification of the topic 
expression, as in the Indonesian example.

Best,

David

On 13/03/2023 15:33, Eline Visser wrote:
> Hi Christian,
>
> Kalamang (kgv) has a word *me* that functions as the distal demonstrative, looks copula-like and is also a topic marker.
>
> Copula:https://paperhive.org/documents/items/e7TDfjRZRHtB?a=p:316
> Demonstratives:https://paperhive.org/documents/items/e7TDfjRZRHtB?a=p:253
> Topic marker:https://paperhive.org/documents/items/e7TDfjRZRHtB?a=pdfd:section.16.1
>
> I think I'm seeing something pretty similar in Uruangnirin (urn) but I haven't analysed my data yet.
>
> Maybe there's something about this in Kluge's Papuan Malay grammar as well, but I haven't checked. Or maybe David Gil has something to say about Malay (e.g. *itu itu* constructions).
>
> Eline
>
>
>
>
> ------- Original Message -------
> On Monday, March 13th, 2023 at 8:26 AM,lingtyp-request at listserv.linguistlist.org  <lingtyp-request at listserv.linguistlist.org>  wrote:
>
>
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>> than "Re: Contents of Lingtyp digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: copula as focus marker (Patrick Hall) 2. Re: 
>> copula as focus marker (Kofi Yakpo) 3. Re: copula as focus marker (G. 
>> Khan) 
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>> Message: 1 Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2023 17:18:53 -0400 From: Patrick Hall 
>> pathall at gmail.com To: Christian Lehmann 
>> christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de Cc: "LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"
>> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] copula as focus marker
>> Message-ID:
>> CAOzHVGbesSeFqRf1q2O9Z5s2+zioBoof=8=VcC8-a9PxnoEXBw at mail.gmail.com
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> Dear Christian,
>>
>> I have long wondered about this topic, and I remember hearing it in Brazil
>> years ago when I was there. I don?t have any formal articles on the topic,
>> but you might be interested in this page from the curiously documentary
>> textbook we used at Berkeley back in the 90?s, Ant?nio R.M. Sim?es? Com
>> Licen?a, which is, happily, now available on archive.org:
>>
>> https://archive.org/details/comlicencabrazil0000simo/page/169/mode/1up
>>
>> To read it there you?ll need an account, which allows you to check it out
>> for one hour periods.
>>
>> But here?s the relevant bit. Sim?es refers to the phenomenon as ?ser
>> intrusivo? ? for the benefit of other readers, something like ?intrusive
>> copula?. (Parenthesized forms are my own attempts to finish the homework,
>> about thirty years overdue!)
>>
>> 6.4.2 Ser Intrusivo
>>
>> Examples:
>>
>> Essa menina ? ? inteligente.
>> Ce n? besta, nao, ? cara! Eu vou ? por aqui mesmo.
>> Naquele tempo eu gostava era da Ernestina.
>>
>> Ser intrusivo, common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese and avoided in the
>> written language, sometimes can be replaced by mesmo or used with mesmo
>> (?? mesmo?) to reinforce an opinion.
>> A full description of how this particular use of ser works in Brazilian
>> Portuguese requires more space and research. In general, ser intrusivo
>> agrees with the preceding verb in its tense, when both verbs are adjacent:
>> ?Voc? ? ? bobo hein!?; ?Eu queria era sair logo dali.? Frequently, the
>> conjunction mas is inserted between both verbs, changing the degree of
>> emphasis sometimes: ?Voc? ? mas ? bobo, hein!? ?Eu queria mas era sair logo
>> dali.?
>>
>> Exercises
>>
>> Try using the ser intrusivo in the following sentences
>>
>> 1. Voce ? daqui dessa cidade. Que nada, che! Eu sou (?) do Rio Grande do
>> Sul.
>> 2. O cumpadre pensa que me engana. Ele disse que vai para Piracicaba, mas
>> ele vai (?) para Manhumirim.
>> 3. Esse capetinha ? mesmo ruim. Est? sempre provocando os outros.
>> 4. Inteligente nada! Voc? ? (?) burrinho mesmo.
>> 5. Naquela ?poca eu andava (era) descal?o pela rua.
>>
>> Answers to odd numbers: 1. ? 3. ? 5. era.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Patrick Hall
>>
>> Postdoc, Yale University
>> https://forum.docling.net
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 4:27?PM Christian Lehmann <
>> christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>
>>> the literature available to me adduces a Caribbean Spanish example of what
>>> I am looking for:
>>> Juan compr? fue un libro.
>>> John bought was a book
>>> 'A book is what John bought.'
>>>
>>> The copula here separates the topical portion of the clause from the
>>> comment portion, including importantly the focus (to which this portion
>>> reduces in the example). Different sources of such a construction are
>>> conceivable, for instance a pseudo-cleft:
>>> Lo que Juan compr? fue un libro.
>>> it that John bought was a book
>>> 'What John bought was a book.'
>>>
>>> What concerns me at the moment, however, is the bare copula in the
>>> function of a focus marker. I am sure I have seen or heard sentences like
>>> the following in Portuguese:
>>>
>>> O Jo?o comprou foi um livro.
>>>
>>> or with neutralization of tense and, thus, reduction to the default form
>>> of the copula:
>>>
>>> O Jo?o comprou ? um livro.
>>>
>>> However, I cannot seem to find evidence for this, neither primary data nor
>>> linguistic treatments of it. Could you please help me out? Both references
>>> to the linguistic literature and examples, preferably from Portuguese, but
>>> also from any other language (I do have data from Mandarin!) would be
>>> welcome.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> Christian
>>> --
>>>
>>> Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
>>> Rudolfstr. 4
>>> 99092 Erfurt
>>> Deutschland
>>> Tel.: +49/361/2113417
>>> E-Post:christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
>>> Web:https://www.christianlehmann.eu
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lingtyp mailing list
>>> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Pat
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>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2023 12:40:49 +0800
>> From: Kofi Yakpokofi at hku.hk
>>
>> To: Christian Lehmannchristian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de
>>
>> Cc:"LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"
>> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] copula as focus marker
>> Message-ID:
>> CAJFnxYJ4EcLvkyHpW9d6wE2eju8+i43LH=22H7xH5k-a8ypSXA at mail.gmail.com
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> Dear Christian,
>>
>> Focus and (identity-equative) copula interactions/isomorphy are also a
>> hallmark of much of Niger-Congo and has therefore been imposed in on many
>> (most?) Afro-European contact languages of Africa (e.g. Krio, Pichi, West
>> African Pidgin, Kriyol and the Americas (all English-lexifier Creoles,
>> Haitian, and many Spanish varieties spoken by African-descended majority
>> population.
>>
>> Here are two publications (and references there):
>> https://zenodo.org/record/5651783
>> http://www.acblpe.com/revista/volume-11-2021/construcciones-existenciales-en-el-continuo-afroiberorromanico
>>
>> best,
>> Kofi
>> ????
>> Dr Kofi Yakpo ? Associate Professor
>> Chair of Linguisticshttp://www.linguistics.hku.hk/  ? University of Hong
>>
>> Konghttp://arts.hku.hk/
>>
>> My publications @ zenodo
>> https://zenodo.org/search?page=1&size=20&q=yakpo&sort=-publication_date  ?
>>
>> My Pagehttp://hub.hku.hk/cris/rp/rp01715
>>
>>
>> Recently published:
>> Creole prosodic systems are areal, not simple
>> https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.690593
>>
>> Social entrenchment influences the amount of areal borrowing
>> https://zenodo.org/record/5651783
>>
>> Unidirectional multilingual convergence
>> https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2021.1978453
>>
>> Two types of language contact involving English Creoles
>> https://zenodo.org/record/6375868
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 4:27?AM Christian Lehmann <
>> christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>
>>> the literature available to me adduces a Caribbean Spanish example of what
>>> I am looking for:
>>> Juan compr? fue un libro.
>>> John bought was a book
>>> 'A book is what John bought.'
>>>
>>> The copula here separates the topical portion of the clause from the
>>> comment portion, including importantly the focus (to which this portion
>>> reduces in the example). Different sources of such a construction are
>>> conceivable, for instance a pseudo-cleft:
>>> Lo que Juan compr? fue un libro.
>>> it that John bought was a book
>>> 'What John bought was a book.'
>>>
>>> What concerns me at the moment, however, is the bare copula in the
>>> function of a focus marker. I am sure I have seen or heard sentences like
>>> the following in Portuguese:
>>>
>>> O Jo?o comprou foi um livro.
>>>
>>> or with neutralization of tense and, thus, reduction to the default form
>>> of the copula:
>>>
>>> O Jo?o comprou ? um livro.
>>>
>>> However, I cannot seem to find evidence for this, neither primary data nor
>>> linguistic treatments of it. Could you please help me out? Both references
>>> to the linguistic literature and examples, preferably from Portuguese, but
>>> also from any other language (I do have data from Mandarin!) would be
>>> welcome.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> Christian
>>> --
>>>
>>> Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
>>> Rudolfstr. 4
>>> 99092 Erfurt
>>> Deutschland
>>> Tel.: +49/361/2113417
>>> E-Post:christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
>>> Web:https://www.christianlehmann.eu
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lingtyp mailing list
>>> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
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>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:25:50 +0000
>> From: "G. Khan"gk101 at cam.ac.uk
>>
>> To: Christian Lehmannchristian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de,
>>
>> "LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"
>> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] copula as focus marker
>> Message-ID:
>> LO0P265MB5572E2F32511AEB37C518F22B5B99 at LO0P265MB5572.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM
>>
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> Dear Christian,
>> Copulas acting as focus markers without a relative particle are common in Semitic, see:
>>
>> Goldenberg, Gideon. 1973. 'Imperfectly-Transformed Cleft Sentences'. In Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies, 1:127-33. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies.http://www.jstor.org/stable/23515560.
>> Khan, Geoffrey. 2018. 'Remarks on the Syntax and Historical Development of the Copula In North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Dialects'. Aramaic Studies 16: 234-69.
>> Khan, Geoffrey. 2019. 'Copulas, Cleft Sentences and Focus Markers in Biblical Hebrew'. In Ancient Texts and Modern Readers: Studies in Ancient Hebrew Linguistics and Bible Translation, edited by Gideon R. Kotz?, Christian S. Locatell, and John A. Messarra, 14-62. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
>>
>> I am attaching them here.
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Geoffrey
>>
>> Geoffrey Khan
>> Regius Professor of Hebrew
>> University of Cambridge
>> Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
>> Sidgwick Avenue
>> Cambridge CB3 9DA, UK
>>
>> From: Lingtyplingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org  On Behalf Of Christian Lehmann
>>
>> Sent: 12 March 2023 20:27
>> To:LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> Subject: [Lingtyp] copula as focus marker
>>
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> the literature available to me adduces a Caribbean Spanish example of what I am looking for:
>> Juan compr? fue un libro.
>> John bought was a book
>> 'A book is what John bought.'
>>
>> The copula here separates the topical portion of the clause from the comment portion, including importantly the focus (to which this portion reduces in the example). Different sources of such a construction are conceivable, for instance a pseudo-cleft:
>> Lo que Juan compr? fue un libro.
>> it that John bought was a book
>> 'What John bought was a book.'
>>
>> What concerns me at the moment, however, is the bare copula in the function of a focus marker. I am sure I have seen or heard sentences like the following in Portuguese:
>>
>> O Jo?o comprou foi um livro.
>>
>> or with neutralization of tense and, thus, reduction to the default form of the copula:
>>
>> O Jo?o comprou ? um livro.
>>
>> However, I cannot seem to find evidence for this, neither primary data nor linguistic treatments of it. Could you please help me out? Both references to the linguistic literature and examples, preferably from Portuguese, but also from any other language (I do have data from Mandarin!) would be welcome.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Christian
>> --
>>
>> Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
>> Rudolfstr. 4
>> 99092 Erfurt
>> Deutschland
>> Tel.:
>> +49/361/2113417
>> E-Post:
>> christianw_lehmann at arcor.demailto:christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
>>
>> Web:
>> https://www.christianlehmann.euhttps://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianlehmann.eu%2F&data=05|01|gk101%40universityofcambridgecloud.onmicrosoft.com|6c5ed16846234b00c49308db23382fcb|49a50445bdfa4b79ade3547b4f3986e9|1|0|638142496452989485|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|3000|||&sdata=FsR77%2FcV930q6QeShsQ%2FHKFxti1ZTIpL25N%2F5SNtGAg%3D&reserved=0
>>
>>
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-- 
David Gil

Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

Email:gil at shh.mpg.de
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
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