Focus–cleft merger: Difference between revisions

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This {{proposal}}, which may colloquially be termed the {{class|kü}} proposal, wishes to merge ~~three~~ features ~~of the language~~:

This {{proposal}}, which may colloquially be termed the {{class|kü}} proposal, wishes to merge these seemingly heterogeneous features together: [[focus, topic, cleft]]s. In short, it does this by allowing focus markers to conjugate into clefts ({{class|kú}} → {{class|kü}}), and then runs the logic the opposite way to arrive at {{t|bí}}.

* [[~~Focus marker~~]]s, ~~like~~ {{t|kú}} ~~(pure focus),~~ {{t|~~máo~~}} ~~‘also’~~ and ~~{{t|tó}} ‘only’.~~

* [[Cleft]]s using {{t|nä}}, like {{t|Máoja nä chuq jí hóa}} ‘I eat the ~~bananas’.~~

* [[Topic|Topic phrases]], introduced by {{t|bï}}, like {{t|~~Báq maoja bï, he bu cho jí hóa~~}} ~~‘As far as bananas go, I don’t like them’~~.

== Focus marker clefts ==

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:‘Only rabbits can slip through this hole’

:{{t|Ní chuao tö deq peo báq kanı hóa}}

:{{t|Ní chuao jüaq deq peo báq kanı hóa}}

:[= {{t|Tó ní chuao nä deq peo báq kanı hóa}}]

:[= {{t|Júaq ní chuao nä deq peo báq kanı hóa}}]

:[= {{t|Deq peo báq kanı tó ní chuao}}]

:[= {{t|Deq peo báq kanı júaq ní chuao}}]

:‘It is ~~just~~ this hole that rabbits are able to pass’

:‘It is even this hole that rabbits are able to pass’

:{{t|He râo báq kıachaq bëı loı jí tú}}

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: {{t|{{small caps|phrase}} bï, {{small caps|phrase}} nä {{small caps|clause}}}}.

In other words, the focused (or should I say topicked?) clause is reasserted (kept intact), but also raised/copied as the topic. So for {{t|Fa jí bí râo níchaq}}, instead of ‘As for [something being] today, I go’ (see reference), we should expect ‘As for [something being] today, I go today’.

== {{t|ná}} ==

One silly consequence of running the {{done|2}} ↔︎ {{done|3}} logic both ways is that we may arrive at {{t|ná}}. {{t|ná}}’s definition (denotation) would literally be “do nothing” (more formally, λ𝑓𝑥.𝑓𝑥), so what use could it have? The one use I can think of is grammatical clarity: you can use it like a spoken comma or bracket or fence/signpost to make your long sentences easier to stomach:

{{t|Jeq suao {{orange|ná, ꝡé do súq jí hóa,}} {{green|ná, ꝡé do jí súq hóa}} da.}}

<i>{{orange|The things you’ve given me}} are equally important as {{green|the things I’ve given you}}.</i>

</poem></blockquote>

==References==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This {{proposal}}, which may colloquially be termed the {{class|kü}} proposal, wishes to merge three features of the language:
+This {{proposal}}, which may colloquially be termed the {{class|kü}} proposal, wishes to merge these seemingly heterogeneous features together: [[focus, topic, cleft]]s. In short, it does this by allowing focus markers to conjugate into clefts ({{class|kú}} → {{class|kü}}), and then runs the logic the opposite way to arrive at {{t|bí}}.
-* [[Focus marker]]s, like {{t|kú}} (pure focus), {{t|máo}} ‘also’ and {{t|tó}} ‘only’.
-* [[Cleft]]s using {{t|nä}}, like {{t|Máoja nä chuq jí hóa}} ‘I eat the bananas’.
-* [[Topic|Topic phrases]], introduced by {{t|bï}}, like {{t|Báq maoja bï, he bu cho jí hóa}} ‘As far as bananas go, I don’t like them’.
 == Focus marker clefts ==
@@ Line 19: / Line 16: @@
 :‘Only rabbits can slip through this hole’
-:{{t|Ní chuao tö deq peo báq kanı hóa}}
+:{{t|Ní chuao jüaq deq peo báq kanı hóa}}
-:[= {{t|Tó ní chuao nä deq peo báq kanı hóa}}]
+:[= {{t|Júaq ní chuao nä deq peo báq kanı hóa}}]
-:[= {{t|Deq peo báq kanı tó ní chuao}}]
+:[= {{t|Deq peo báq kanı júaq ní chuao}}]
-:‘It is just this hole that rabbits are able to pass’
+:‘It is even this hole that rabbits are able to pass’
 :{{t|He râo báq kıachaq bëı loı jí tú}}
@@ Line 47: / Line 44: @@
 : {{t|{{small caps|phrase}} bï, {{small caps|phrase}} nä {{small caps|clause}}}}.
 In other words, the focused (or should I say topicked?) clause is reasserted (kept intact), but also raised/copied as the topic. So for {{t|Fa jí bí râo níchaq}}, instead of ‘As for [something being] today, I go’ (see reference), we should expect ‘As for [something being] today, I go today’.
+== {{t|ná}} ==
+One silly consequence of running the {{done|2}} ↔︎ {{done|3}} logic both ways is that we may arrive at {{t|ná}}. {{t|ná}}’s definition (denotation) would literally be “do nothing” (more formally, λ𝑓𝑥.𝑓𝑥), so what use could it have? The one use I can think of is grammatical clarity: you can use it like a spoken comma or bracket or fence/signpost to make your long sentences easier to stomach:
+<blockquote><poem>
+{{t|Jeq suao {{orange|ná, ꝡé do súq jí hóa,}} {{green|ná, ꝡé do jí súq hóa}} da.}}
+<i>{{orange|The things you’ve given me}} are equally important as {{green|the things I’ve given you}}.</i>
+</poem></blockquote>
 ==References==
 <references/>