Focus and Extraction in Complex Constructions and Islands (A07)

• Subject Area: Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
• Term: from 2009 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 75650358

The project investigates the role of focus and givenness in extraction out of island configurations (ICs) and other complex constructions (CCs), which are frequently judged to be marked or ungram-matical (Freezing Effect). In phase II, the project investigated extraction from focus constructions and identified factors that play a role in resistance to extraction, as well as information-structurally (InfS) controlled contexts that improve these constructions. Based on these results, the project will extend its empirical coverage to ICs and CCs. We will investigate the InfS conditions on extraction and the degree of context adaptivity determined by the specific weight of construction-specific and InfS complexity factors.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 833: Emergence of Meaning: The Dynamics and Adaptivity of Linguistic Structures
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Jutta M. Hartmann, until 6/2017; Professorin Dr. Susanne Winkler