Information Structure in Somali. Evidence from the syntax-phonology interface

The correspondence between grammatical categories and prosodic events is widely acknowledged in the literature and a number of recent works have investigated the syntax-prosody interface and its relation to information structure. In this area of research, this paper provides an analysis of broad and narrow Focus constructions in Somali, based on a corpus of semi-spontaneous conversations between three native speakers of Somali. Evidence is thus provided for a partition of the utterance into two major domains, one including the so-called Verbal Complex and the other the left periphery of the sentence two interpretive domains that basically correspond to the vP- and CP-phase, consistent with Minimalist claims (Chomsky 2008). From a cartographic viewpoint, prosodic investigation supports the existence of a hierarchical organization of discourse-grammar categories in the C-domain. However, some internal refinement is required. In particular, functional heads concerning Focus and (different types of) Topic are shown to be fully part of the C-domain, while Fin(iteness) P - the functional projection connected with tense and agreement specifications (cf. Rizzi 1997) - belongs to the clausal domain. A reconsideration of what counts as the Complement of C (used as a cover term of the CP-phase) is therefore needed. Finally, intonation strongly supports a cleft-like analysis of narrow Focus constructions in languages like Somali. In particular, evidence is given for a predicative merge of the focused DP in a Small Clause construction and for the topicalized status of the (presupposed) relative DP. Attention is also paid to the intonation of yes-no questions, showing the necessity of different functional projections to activate interrogative force, according to scopal requirements.