Information structure and the choice of adjectival predicates in Miyako-Hirara dialect of Ryukyuan

コロスコワユリア(東京大学大学院)

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the form of an adjectival predicate in Miyako-Hirara dialect is determined by its status in the information structure of the sentence. If the existence of property denoted by the adjective is asserted in the sentence, i.e. if the adjectival predicate is in the focus domain, nominal strategies (adjectival stem + munu, reduplicated forms) are used. If the existence of such a property is presupposed, i.e. the speaker assumes it to be familiar to or likely to be taken for granted by the hearer, the verbal strategy (-kaZ forms) is employed.