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Information structure in a spoken corpus of Cameroon Pidgin English

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posted on 2023-06-09, 08:44 authored by Melanie GreenMelanie Green, Gabriel Ozón
We explore information structure in a spoken corpus of Cameroon Pidgin English, addressing the broad question of how far the corpus method addresses the needs of research in this area. Focusing on marked pronouns used in focus/topic constructions and the copula/focus marker na, we detail a method for investigating information structure in the corpus. Corpus analysis not only confirms but elaborates an emergent description allowed by the elicitation stage, demonstrating that while elicitation reveals what is possible, corpus analysis reveals what is preferred. However, we conclude that qualitative analysis is still required to identify instances of focus in the absence of marked morphosyntactic features, as well as interpretations governed by context.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Publisher

John Benjamins

Volume

199

Page range

329-356

Pages

456.0

Book title

Information structure in lesser-described languages: studies in prosody and syntax

Place of publication

Amsterdam

ISBN

9789027263810

Series

Studies in Language Companion Series

Department affiliated with

  • English Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Editors

Katharina Haude, Evangelia Adamou, Martine Vanhove

Legacy Posted Date

2017-11-09

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-11-08

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