Information Structure and Sentence FormLinguistics 5450Spring 2003I. Why are there different ways of saying the same thing in agiven language?(1) a. Harry ate the LEFTOVERS.b. It’s HARRY who ate the leftovers.c. The leftovers were EATEN (by Harry).d. HARRY, he ate the LEFTOVERS.II. The theory of information structureA. Propositions are structured pragmatically.B. They are ‘packaged’ according to the speaker’s assumptions about whatthe hearer knows.C. They are divided into focused and presupposed portions.D. This division is done in terms of a small number of focus categories.E. These are conceptual categories.F. This division is reflected in distinct grammatical forms in a givenlanguage.• Context I. Woman slowly gets on bus, laden with grocery bags. Apologizing todisgruntled fellow passengers, she says:FrenchItalianEnglishJapaneseJ’ai ma voiturequi est en panne.Mi si è rotta lamacchina.My CAR brokedown.Kuruma gakoshoo-shi-ta.• Context II. Speaker is asked by a friend to lend her car. Speaker responds:FrenchItalianEnglishJapaneseMa voiture, elleest en panne.Si è rotta.It broke DOWN.Kuruma wakoshoo-shi-ta.2III. How does the placement of primary accent reflect the contextin which that sentence is uttered?IV. An iconic approach to sentence accent (Bolinger 1954)A. Place the sentence accent in (2a-j)(2) Why didn’t she come to work today?a. Her husband is sick.b. Her husband made a scene.c. Her husband is to blame.d. Her husband fell off a ladder.e. Her husband broke his neck.f. Her husband had an accident.g. Her husband died.h. Her husband is responsible.i. Her husband is irresponsible.j. Her husband is in jail.3(3) Subject-Accenteda. Her HUSBAND is sick.c. Her HUSBAND is to blame.g. Her HUSBAND died.h. Her HUSBAND is responsible.(4) Predicate-Accentedb. Her husband made a SCENE.d. Her husband fell off a LADDER.e. Her husband broke his NECK.f. Her husband had an ACCIDENT.i. Her husband is IRRESPONSIBLE.j. Her husband is in JAIL.We can say that the prosodic stress...marks the ‘point’ of the sentence,where there is the greatest concentration of information, that which thehearer would be least likely to infer without being told. Prosodic stressdoes not have to fall as I have described it. The heart of the matter isthis very freedom to fall now here, now there, with the speaker’sattitude determining where it will fall. A mechanical rule demands thatwe predict directly where it will fall. A functional rule predictsindirectly: it will fall here, or there, if the meaning is such-and-such;instead of automatism, we have meaning. (Bolinger 1954: 152)B. Bolinger’s explanations for the accent patterns in (3-4):1. (3c), (3h): “the predicates are only repetitions of the initial question‘why’”.2. (3a), (3g): “[these predicates] do give some information. The informationthat they give however, is of a hackneyed sort—sickness and death aremajors causes of absenteeism, and one or the other could almost beexpected as an excuse for absence. The real information lies in theidentity of the person who is sick or who died”.3. (4): “The...predicates all relate to some occurrence which is out of theordinary—making a scene, falling off a ladder, landing in jail”.4C. Problems1. Why should dying be construed as an ordinary event, compared tomaking a scene or falling off a ladder?2. If accent is equated with the information point of the sentence, we wouldbe forced to conclude that in (5-6), the speaker assumes that the speakerpresupposes variously:x is sickx diedHer husband fell off xHer husband broke xHer husband underwent x3. Can we use the information-point analysis in the case of (7-9)?(a) [Friend looks horrified, and then says:]My wallet’s missing!(b) A: Are your contacts bothering you?B: I’m not wearing my contacts.(c) A: What did you put in your hair?B: I put some gardenias in my hair.(d) A’: How did you wear your hair?B’: I put some gardenias in my hair.4. Bolinger too narrowly equates the prosodic peak with the informationpoint of the sentence.5V. A way out of Bolinger’s quandaryA. Recognize that there are three distinct focus constructions in (3-4).B. For (4), recognize mechanisms called FOCUS PROJECTION andDEFAULT ACCENTUATION.C. Three focus categories1. Some useful definitions• Presupposition. The set of propositions evoked by the words and/or structure of asentence, which the speaker assumes the hearer already knows or believes or is readyto take for granted at the time of the utterance.• Assertion. The proposition expressed by a sentence which the hearer is expectedto know or take for granted as a result of hearing the utterance.• Focus. The component of a proposition which distinguishes (1) and (2).• Topic. The denotatum which the utterance is taken to be about. The topic isnecessarily either an ACTIVE or ACCESSIBLE referent:A: Remember my friend MOE?B: Yeah. He was my attorney.B’: Yeah. His WIFE was my ATTORNEY.D. Differences which concern the domain of the focus:Focus TypesSubject in FocusPredicate in FocusPredicate Focus-+Argument Focus+-Sentence Focus++(a) Her husband fell off a LADDER.(b) Her HUSBAND is responsible.(c) Her HUSBAND died.6E. Representations1. Information Structure of a Predicate-Focus Sentence• Context Proposition: Why didn’t she come to work today?SentenceHer husband fell off a LADDER.Presupposition‘the woman’s husband is a topic for comment x’Assertion‘x=had an accident’Focus‘had an accident’Focus portionVP2. Information Structure of an Argument-Focus Sentence• Context Proposition: Why didn’t she come to work today?SentenceHer HUSBAND is responsible.Presupposition‘x is responsible’Assertion‘x=her husband’Focus‘her husband’Focus portionNP3. Information Structure of a Sentence-Focus Sentence• Context Proposition: Why didn’t she come to work today?SentenceHer HUSBAND died.PresuppositionNONEAssertion‘the woman’s husband died’Focus‘the woman’s husband diedFocus domainSNote: Although both the verb and the subject are in focus, accent falls on the subject.F. Homonyms1. Is this a SF or AF sentence?Your MOM called.2. Is this a SF or AF sentence?Your MOM called Harry.73. Is this an AF or PF sentence?I put some GARDENIAS in the vase.VI. Focus projection