Stavros Skopeteas:
Information structure vs. salience in
spatial descriptions: a production experiment in dialogical interaction
Abstract
The relation between the localized object and the reference object of a
spatial expression is asymmetric in two respects. With respect to information
structure, the localized object is prototypically a given and topical unit
with non-given location in space, whereas the reference object is some accessible
and nontopical entity with accessible location in space. The relation of
these two entities is furthermore asymmetric in terms of salience, the localized
object being more salient than the reference object (figure vs. ground).
Aim of this paper is to inspect the impact of information structure and salience
(a) on the choice of thematic roles in a spatial expression and (b) on word
order. The discussed data comes from a production experiment simulating dialogue
interaction which has been performed in five languages: German, Greek, Georgian,
Yucatec Maya, and Prinmi (Tibetan).
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