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Disambiguating the Information Structure Model of the Lexical Functional Framework
(2019-09-18) Abubakari, H.
This study aims at disambiguating the Information-Structure (I-structure) model in the analysis of focus constructions within the Lexical Functional Grammar Framework. It is observed that there are mismatches between the C-structure and the I-structure projections of focus constructions. This leads to instances of ambiguities in the interpretations of mostly contrastive focus constructions as opposed to information focus constructions. The I-structure is argued to be inadequately resourced to capture the different subtypes of focus constructions in Kusaal and most other African languages. In addressing this problem, the study provides alternative suggestions by building on the proposals of King (1996), Choi (1996), Butt (2014), and Abubakari (2018). It is suggested that an additional predicate attribute referred to as discourse type (DTYPE), with a value that subcategorizes subtypes of focus and topic notions be introduced in the I-structure. The study will be carried out using empirical data from the Kusaal language.