May 10, 2005

Petra Hendriks, Groningen

Abstract: Many studies of focus particles either concentrate on the semantic and pragmatic properties of focus particles, or on their syntactic and prosodic properties. In my talk I will present the first steps towards an integrated production/comprehension model of focus particles. As I will argue, focus projection need not be posited as a separate mechanism. Rather, the effects of focus projection can be derived from the interaction between conflicting constraints governing the placement of stress, the distribution of focus particles, and the selection of focus.