Left Dislocation in Arabic : the complexity of form and meaning

Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch University, Department of General Linguistics
Abstract
This paper studies the complexity of L(eft) D(islocation). It demonstrates that the function that is crosslinguistically associated with LD is conveyed in Arabic by a set of LD constructions. In the analyzed corpus, these constructions belong to two main types: Clitic LD and Subject LD. Some LD constructions formally and/or functionally overlap with other grammatical categories, especially with fronting. Overall, the absence of a feature proposed for the LD prototype does not imply that a new category, different from LD, must be postulated. The overlap between LD and fronting is explained as a typical effect of language complexity, which can be dealt with if the system of forms and meanings is understood as fuzzy.
Description
CITATION: Andrason, A. 2016. Left Dislocation in Arabic : the complexity of form and meaning. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 50:111-138, doi:10.5842/50-0-719.
The original publication is available at http://spilplus.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Arabic language -- Grammar, Grammar, Comparative and general -- Prepositional phrases, Dislocation -- Syntax, Left Dislocation, LD, Arabic grammar, Comparative and general -- Clitics -- Dislocation -- Syntax
Citation
Andrason, A. 2016. Left Dislocation in Arabic : the complexity of form and meaning. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 50:111-138, doi:10.5842/50-0-719.