clefts

My most recent publication to appear in print is the result of joint work with Tohru Seraku. We examined cleft constructions in Japanese and Rangi and developed an incremental parsing approach to the interpretation of these constructions. This work is articulated from the perspective of Dynamic Syntax, which we think draws out quite naturally the similarities  – and the crucial differences – between the two systems.

Japanese allows multiple foci whilst Rangi clauses contain a maximum of one focus. We show that the way in which multiple foci pattern in Japanese, and are prohibited in Rangi, follows as a natural result of the restriction on the amount of underspecified structure that is possible at any one point in the parsing process. Again, DS not only models this observation nicely, but is is actually able to predict these apparent idiosyncrasies on the basis of a universal constraint operative of processes of tree growth.