Browsing by Author "Thrift, Erica"

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    Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 23, Spring 2001
    (University of Calgary, 2001-05) Dobrovolsky, Michael; Mezhevich, Ilana; Sheedy, Cory; Thormoset, David; Thrift, Erica
    The editors of this volume, Cory Sheedy, Ilana Mezhevich, Erica Thrift, David Thormoset, and Michael Dobrovolsky are pleased to present the twenty-third issue of the Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics published by the department of linguistics at the University of Calgary. The papers contained in this volume represent works in progress and as such should not be considered in any way final or definitive.
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    A reanalysis of Munster Irish stress
    (University of Calgary, 1997-01) Thrift, Erica
    Munster Irish exhibits stress patterns unlike other Modem Irish dialects. Rather than landing word-initially, primary stress occurs anywhere within the first three syllables of a word (Stress Window). Munster Irish is a quantity sensitive language, demonstrated by the attraction of main stress to heavy syllables. According to Doherty (1991), these patterns can be explained through the application of Bimoraic Trochees. I find that the data is better accounted for using a version of the metrical foot as proposed by Hammond (1986): the Revised Obligatory Branching foot. In addition to iambic-like foot construction, I propose the creation of a Word Tree Reversal rule. Evidence for this analysis comes from the assignment of primary stress to the second heavy syllable, when two heavy syllables occur contiguously. The application of Hammond's model in conjunction with the Word Tree Reversal rule provides a solid explanation for the Munster Irish data.
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    Topicalization and topic drop in Dutch
    (University of Calgary, 2001-05) Thrift, Erica
    Topic drop is a frequently overlooked phenomenon in Dutch syntax. However, its investigation provides valuable insight into the intricate interaction between syntax and pragmatics. This paper endeavours to bring together the results of a speech corpora study (Jansen 1981) and grammaticality tests to determine the restrictions on the distribution of null arguments in topic position. An earlier analysis (Balkenende 1995) is applied and extended to explain the data presented. The restrictions on topic drop will be shown to fall out from broader constraints on topicalization in Dutch.