Stefan Sudhoff Libri

This study explores the grammar of focus particles in German. It gives a thorough description and analysis of focus particle constructions and links their syntactic, semantic, and information structural properties to their prosodic characteristics. The study also shows that focus particles present a particularly well-suited subject for the investigation of the modularity of grammar in general. The first part of the book deals with the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of focus particle constructions and results in a modular account of the relation between their word order, information structure, and meaning. The second part presents a corpus study and several speech production and perception experiments investigating the prosodic realization of the constructions. The integration of these two lines of research results in a comprehensive theory of focus particles and of the interaction of grammar and information structure in German.

This book contains a collection of cutting-edge papers on methodological aspects of prosody research. Current approaches to the gathering, treatment, and interpretation of prosodic data are discussed by experts in the field, illustrated by their own empirical research. Contributions focus on the choice and measurement of prosodic parameters, the establishment of prosodic categories, annotation structures for spoken-language data, and experimental methods for production and perception studies (including the construction of materials, modes of presentation, online vs. offline tasks, judgement scales, data processing, and statistical evaluation). The volume will serve as a handbook linking data collection and interpretation, allowing researchers in linguistics and related fields to make more informed decisions concerning their empirical work in prosody.

Die sogenannten „es“-Korrelate in Sätzen wie „Fred bedauert es, dass er krank ist“ stellen eines der diffizilsten Probleme der deutschen Grammatik dar. Ihre Auftretensbedingungen scheinen sich schlüssigen Regularitäten zu entziehen, und verschiedene Eigenschaften der entsprechenden Konstruktionen konfrontieren gängige Theorien zur deutschen Satzstruktur mit großen Schwierigkeiten. Die vorliegende Arbeit formuliert einerseits detaillierte Hypothesen zur Syntax komplexer Sätze des Deutschen und versucht andererseits zu zeigen, wie sich die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse für die Beantwortung der Frage nutzbar machen lassen, unter welchen Bedingungen „es“-Korrelate obligatorisch stehen, fakultativ auftreten oder nicht realisiert werden dürfen.