Andreas Trotzke (PU ; Université de Constance & Université de Cologne)

Information structure and expressivity

This talk explores the similarities, differences, and interactions between expressivity and the domain of information structure. I will propose a distinction between ‘expressivity – broad sense (EB)’ and ‘expressivity – narrow sense (EN)’. According to this distinction, EN covers a range of use-conditional phenomena that convey emotive meanings. By contrast, EB includes EN plus use-conditional meanings in general. Crucially, the distinction between EB and EN will allow me to claim the following: While EB is always conveyed via phonology, only EN triggers marked word order—a domain traditionally explored in information structural terms. The overall goal of my talk is to show that what is commonly known as the field of information structure can actually be reconceptualized as the study of expressivity across grammar.