Double focus is a possible extension of the capabilities of focus particles in Toaq. The practical problem it exists to solve is: how do you say "I see you too" or "I love you too" in Toaq?
Explanation
Generally, focus is about evoking alternatives. The statement "I am hungry too" claims that I am hungry, and additionally someone other than me is hungry. There are two parts to this: the focused phrase 'I', which represents myself along with some possible alternatives to myself, and the focusing adverb 'too' which associates with the focused phrase (or rather, with the focus effect) to make some claim about these alternatives.
In English, a focusing adverb can even associate with multiple focused phrases at once. For example, in "I see you too", the focusing adverb 'too' associates with both 'I' and 'you' to claim that I see you, and additionally some alternative to me sees some alternative to you. This is only possible because focusing adverbs can appear "above" multiple focused phrases in syntax.
The situation in Toaq is different: focusing adverbs can never be separated from their focused phrase, which seems to makes this kind of "double focus" impossible. We can try a couple of ways of translating "I see you too", but none of them have quite the right meaning:
(Kaq máo jí súq.)
I see you, and additionally someone other than me sees you.
(Kaq jí máo súq.)
I see you, and additionally I see someone other than you.
(Juna máo, ꝡä kaq jí súq.)
It's true that I see you, and additionally some alternative fact is true (like, maybe I also hear you).
The last one admittedly comes close and will work in a pinch, but it's a paraphrase with broader, less satisfying truth conditions. Luckily, there is one more option:
(Kaq máo jí máo súq.)
Conventional Toaq wisdom says that the first (máo) would have to scope over the second (máo) so that this means "I see you, and additionally I see someone other than you, and additionally someone other than me sees you, and additionally that person sees someone other than you". But this seems like a highly unlikely thing to want to say. What if we instead decided to give this the double focus reading?
(Kaq máo jí máo súq.)
I see you, and additionally someone other than me sees someone other than you.
You can imagine that the focusing adverbs being 'echoed' causes them to fuse together into a single focus effect.[1] If you really want to access the reading in which the first (máo) scopes over the second (máo), you can still do so with the help of a scope island:
(Máo jí nä kaq hóa máo súq.)
I see you, and additionally I see someone other than you, and additionally someone other than me sees you, and additionally that person sees someone other than you.
Notes
- ↑ Maybe this works similarly to double negation in natlangs.