• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

Information Focus Movement and Emphasis: In View of Main Clause Phenomena in English

Research Project

Project/Area Number 20K13065
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section Basic Section 02080:English linguistics-related
Research InstitutionUniversity of Miyazaki (2021-2023)
Yokohama College of Commerce (2020)

Principal Investigator

Honda Masatoshi  宮崎大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (20554827)

Project Period (FY) 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Keywords生成統語論 / 対照言語学 / 対比的/非対比的焦点 / 極度性(extremeness) / 極性焦点(polarity focus) / 直示倒置(deictic inv.) / 引用句倒置(quotative inv.) / 二項名詞句(binoninal NPs) / 程度強調詞so / so ... that節 / 数量詞繰り上げ / LF移動 / 作用域 / 与格交替 / 情報構造 / 対比焦点/非対比的情報焦点 / 極性焦点 / 累加焦点 / so倒置文/so too倒置文 / 場所句倒置文 / 直示的倒置文 / 引用句倒置文 / (非対比的)情報焦点/対比焦点 / 極性 (Polarity) / Verum Focus / 累加焦点 (Additive Focus) / カートグラフィー (Cartography) / 否定倒置文 / so倒置文 / 情報焦点 / Preposing around Be / 二項名詞句(Binominal NPs) / 提示機能 / 極度性(Extremeness) / 段階性(Gradability) / 焦点移動 / 対比焦点/情報焦点 / 強調
Outline of Research at the Start

本研究の目的は、語順交替を伴う英語の主文現象の文法的・意味的特性を焦点移動の観点から考察することである。従来、焦点移動は先行文脈上の誤った情報を訂正する対比焦点機能を担い、新情報を提供する情報焦点機能は持たないとされてきた。一方、近年では、ロマンス諸語の焦点関連現象の観察に基づき、「焦点移動には、対比焦点移動に加えて、非対比的強調を伴う情報焦点移動が存在する」という仮説が新たに提案されている。本研究では、当該仮説を英語の主文現象に拡張し、その妥当性を容認性判断調査やコーパスデータに基づいて検証する。本研究の成果は、話し手―聞き手間の効率的な情報伝達を可能にする文法能力の解明に資するものである。

Outline of Final Research Achievements

On the basis of his observations on focus-related linguistic phenomena in Romance languages, Cruschina (2011) proposed a new hypothesis that focus movement is divided into two types: contrastive focus movement and non-contrastive focus movement. By exploring the syntactic and information-structural semantic properties of the following focus-related linguistic phenomena in English, this research project aimed to provide additional support on Cruschina's hypothesis with the emphasis of research on the latter type of focus movement: polarity-related inversion sentences (i.e. negative inversion and so-inversion), quotative inversion, and binominal NPs. The empirical findings of this research project demonstrated that these linguistic phenomena syntactically realize non-contrastive focus by means of fronting operations.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

Cruschina (2011)は、ロマンス諸語の焦点移動現象の観察に基づき、「焦点移動は対比的焦点移動と非対比的焦点移動の2種類に分かれる」という新仮説を提唱していたが、他言語から当該仮説を支持する経験的証拠は十分に提出されていなかった。本研究プロジェクトでは、極性焦点移動現象(否定倒置文とso倒置文)、述部倒置文、直示倒置文、引用句倒置文、2項名詞句を主な考察対象とし、非対比的焦点移動の存在を裏付ける独立した証拠を提出した。本プロジェクトは、Cruschinaを中心とする統語と焦点の写像関係を扱った理論の妥当性を支持するとともに、新たな言語事実を発掘した点で現象記述面での貢献にも寄与した。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • 2020 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (13 results)

All 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020

All Journal Article (10 results) (of which Peer Reviewed: 8 results,  Open Access: 5 results) Presentation (3 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 2 results)

  • [Journal Article] A Note on the Syntax and Semantics of the Degree Modifier So and Its Dependent Clause2024

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Tsukuba English Studies

      Volume: 42 Pages: 25-39

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] 情報構造に基づく中学校英語検定教科書の質的分析 ―与格交替の予備的事例研究―2024

    • Author(s)
      本多 正敏
    • Journal Title

      宮崎大学教育学部紀要

      Volume: 102 Pages: 9-26

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Open Access
  • [Journal Article] A Corpus-Based Analysis of the Semantic Function of the Complex Operator So Too in So-Inversion2023

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Tsukuba English Studies

      Volume: 41 Pages: 1-18

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Notes on Deictic Inversion and Quotative Inversion in English2023

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi HONDA
    • Journal Title

      宮崎大学教育学部紀要

      Volume: 100 Pages: 21-40

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Open Access
  • [Journal Article] On the Syntax and Information Structure of Polarity Inversion in English: A Reconsideration from the Viewpoint of Additive Focus2022

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Tsukuba English Studies

      Volume: 40 Pages: 231-252

    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] A Note on the Syntax and Semantics of Additive Focus in So-Inversion2022

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Data Science in Collaboration (DaSiC) Volume 5

      Volume: 5 Pages: 154-164

    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] The Syntax and Information-Structural Semantics of Negative Inversion in English and Their Implications for the Theory of Focus2021

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Current Issues in Syntactic Cartography: A Crosslinguistic Perspective (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today)

      Volume: 267 Pages: 27-52

    • DOI

      10.1075/la.267.03hon

    • ISBN
      9789027208903, 9789027259776
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] A Reconsideration of Gradability in the Nominal Domain2021

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      Data Science in Collaboration (DaSiC) Volume 4

      Volume: 4 Pages: 17-26

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Clause Typing and Presentationals: Further Evidence from Participle Preposing in English2021

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      神田外語大学大学院紀要 言語科学研究第27号 長谷川信子先生退任記念号

      Volume: 27 Pages: 125-143

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] The Role of Extremeness in English Binominal NPs and Its Theoretical Implications2021

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Journal Title

      JELS (Papers from the Thirty-Eighth Conference November 7-8, 2020 and from the Thirteenth International Spring Forum of The English Linguistic Society of Japan)

      Volume: 38 Pages: 16-22

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Presentation] A Note on the Syntax and Semantics of Additive Focus in So-Inversion2022

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Organizer
      Tsukuba Global Science Week 2021/Data Science in Collaboration (DaSiC) 2021
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] 英語の 2 項名詞句における極度性の役割とその理論的示唆2020

    • Author(s)
      本多正敏
    • Organizer
      日本英語学会第 38 回大会
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] A Reconsideration of Gradability in the Nominal Domain2020

    • Author(s)
      Masatoshi Honda
    • Organizer
      Tsukuba Global Science Week 2020/Data Science in Collaboration (DaSiC) 2020
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research

URL: 

Published: 2020-04-28   Modified: 2025-01-30  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi