Focus particles with direct objects in Miyako dialect of Ryukyuan

Unlike standard Japanese, Ryukyuan dialects have special focus particles. Focus particles with direct objects in Miyako dialect can mark two types of information structure: a narrow focus limited to the direct object itself or a broad focus including the whole predicative constituent. However, an overt marking of the direct object in focus is a rare pattern due to the principle of economy. On the other hand, if a direct object does NOT belong to the focus domain it is overtly marked by the particle ba:. Finally, there are also syntactic, semantic and pragmatic factors that can influence the usage of a focus particle besides the information structure of the sentence.