Focus particles and variation

Focus

A constituent in a sentence that is emphasized to highlight new or contrastive information. Focus can be marked prosodically, syntactically, or morphologically.
Examples:

• Prosodic: We saw a TIGER on the road.

• Syntactic reordering: It was a TIGER that we saw on the road.

Ambiguity of Focus

The meaning of a sentence can change depending on which constituent is focused.
Example:

• Katie only introduced Yasu to James.

  • Focus on YASU → Katie didn’t introduce anyone else to James.

  • Focus on JAMES → Katie didn’t introduce Yasu to anyone else.

Focus Marking Scope

Focus can have different sizes, affecting what question it answers.
Example:

• Mary bought a book about BATS.

  • Focus on NP (BATS) → “What did Mary buy a book about?”

  • Focus on PP (about BATS) → “What kind of book did Mary buy?”

  • Focus on NP (a book about BATS) → “What did Mary buy?”

  • Focus on VP (bought a book about BATS) → “What did Mary do?”

  • Focus on TP (Mary bought a book about BATS) → “What’s happening?”

Focus Marking Across Languages

Definition: Languages use different strategies to mark focus:

• Prosody: English uses pitch accent. We saw a TIGER.

• Morphology: Gur’untum (Nigeria) uses the focus marker ‘a’.

• Syntactic reordering: Hungarian places the focused constituent before the verb.

• Mixed strategies: Slavic languages, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Finnish.
  Example:

• Hungarian: MISI ébresztette fel FIFIT. → “MISI woke up Fifi.”

Focus and Alternatives

A focused element introduces a set of alternatives—different possible propositions that replace the focused element.
Examples:

• MARY likes Sue. → Alternatives: Anne likes Sue, Bella likes Sue…

• Mary likes SUE. → Alternatives: Mary likes Anne, Mary likes Bella…

Constraints on Alternatives

Alternatives must:

1. Have the same syntactic type.

2. Have the same semantic type.

3. Be contextually salient.
   Example:

• Focus: MARY likes Sue.

  • ✅ Alternatives: Anne likes Sue

  • ❌ Not alternatives: He runs likes Sue, An umbrella likes Sue, Shakespeare likes Sue

Variation of Focus Particles

Focus particles indicate how alternatives are interpreted.

• Exclusives (only, just, merely): All other alternatives are false.

  • Katie only introduced YASUF to James. → Katie didn’t introduce anyone else to James.

• Additives (also, too, even): Some alternative is true.

  • Katie introduced YASUF to James, too. → Katie introduced others to James as well.

Focus and Levels of Meaning

Focus interacts with different levels of meaning:

• Asserted meaning: The explicit content of the sentence.

• Presupposed meaning: Backgrounded information assumed as true.
  Example:

• Mary is reading War and Peace again.

  • Asserted: Mary is reading it now.

  • Presupposed: Mary has read it in the past.

Summary of Focus Effects

Focus affects:

1. Which alternatives are relevant.

2. The felicity of the sentence in a context.

3. The literal or implied meaning when combined with focus-sensitive particles.
   Example:

• Katie only introduced YASUF to James. → Restricts alternatives (exclusive).

• Katie introduced YASUF to James, too. → Adds alternatives (additive).

Presupposition

An implicit assumption or background belief tied to an utterance, not explicitly stated but taken for granted in discourse.
Example: "Guillaume quit smoking." → Presupposition: Guillaume used to smoke.

Exclusive Focus Particles

• Presupposes its prejacent (the sentence it modifies).

• Asserts that no other alternatives are true.
  Example: "Only Katie danced."

• Presupposition: Katie danced.

• Assertion: No one else danced.

(e.g., only)

Additive Focus Particles

• Presupposition: Someone else did the same.

• Assertion: The focus entity did it too.
  Example: "Katie danced too."

• Presupposition: Someone other than Katie danced.

• Assertion: Katie danced.

(e.g., too, also)

Negative Additive Particles

• Only used in negative contexts.

• Presupposition: Someone else didn’t do it.

• Assertion: The focus entity didn’t do it.
  Example: "Katie didn’t dance either."

• Presupposition: Someone else didn’t dance.

• Assertion: Katie didn’t dance.

(e.g., either)

Scalar Additive Particles

• Triggers additive presupposition: someone else did it.

• Triggers scalar presupposition: the focus entity was unlikely to do it.

• Assertion: The focus entity did it.

  • Example: "Even Katie danced."

• Additive: Someone else danced.

• Scalar: Katie was unlikely to dance.

• Assertion: Katie danced.

(e.g., even)

Focus Particle Functions

• Attach to focus (new, contrastive, or important info).

• Highlight alternatives (what could have happened).

• Categories:

  1. Exclusives → exclude alternatives

  2. Additives → indicate other alternatives are true

• Languages mark focus via prosody, word order, or markers.