Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-jswmv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T17:10:56.717Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Options in the Pragmatic Structuring of Guaraní Sentences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Robert A. Dooley
Robert A. Dooley*
Affiliation:
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The pragmatic structuring of a Guaraní sentence is realized primarily by constituent structure. The syntactic elements of a sentence are partitioned into pragmatic components which, when related syntagmatically by scope and pragmatic function, typically form a right-branching structure. In the unmarked case, the pragmatic nucleus has unmarked Topic plus Core. An expression becomes marked when (a final segment of) the nucleus is given a binary pragmatic structure, highlighted by intonation and other features, with the marked expression as the first constituent. The remaining constituent may in turn be pragmatically structured. Marked pragmatic structuring reflects specific pragmatic conditions. This analysis accounts for most occurrences of marked wordorder, the placement of the intonation center and other intonation peaks, certain free subjects (both nouns and pronouns), various particles, and other boundary phenomena.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 1982, pp. 307 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 by Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bolinger, Dwight. 1964. Around the edge of language: Intonation. Harvard Educational Review 34.282–93. [Reprinted in Bolinger 1972:19–29, from which my citations are taken.]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolinger, Dwight. 1971. A further note on the nominal in the progressive. LI 2.584–6.Google Scholar
Bolinger, Dwight. 1972 (ed.) Intonation. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Chafe, Wallace L. 1974. Language and consciousness. Lg. 50.111–33.Google Scholar
Chafe, Wallace L. 1976. Givenness, contrastiveness, definiteness, subjects, topics, and point of view. In Li 1976:25–56.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1971. Deep structure, surface structure, and semantic interpretation. In Steinberg & Jakobovits, 183–216.Google Scholar
Daneš, František. 1967. Order of elements and sentence intonation. To honor Roman Jakobson: Essays on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, 499–512. The Hague: Mouton. [Reprinted in Bolinger 1972:216–32, from which my citations are taken.]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derbyshire, Desmond. 1977. Word order universals and the existence of OVS languages. LI 8.590–99.Google Scholar
Derbyshire, Desmond. 1979. Hixkaryana syntax. Doctoral dissertation. University of London.Google Scholar
Dik, Simon C. 1978. Functional grammar. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Dooley, Robert A. 1977. A constituent boundary marker in Guaraní. Arquivos de Anatomia e Antropologia. Instituto de Antropologia Professor Souza Marques. 2.147–55.Google Scholar
Firbas, Jan. 1964. On defining the theme in functional sentence perspective. Travaux Linguistiques de Prague 1.267–80.Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1979. From discourse to syntax: Grammar as a processing strategy. Syntax and semantics, 12: Discourse and syntax, ed. by Givón, Talmy. 81–112. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, Joshph H. 1963. Some universals of grammar, with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements. Universals of language, ed. by Greenberg, J. H., 59–90. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Gregores, Emma, and Suárez, Jorge A. 1967. A description of Colloquial Guaraní. (Janua linguarum, series practica, 27.) The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimes, Joseph E. 1975. The thread of discourse. The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gundel, Jeanette Marie. 1974. The role of topic and comment in linguistic theory. Austin: University of Texas dissertation.Google Scholar
Haiman, John. 1978. Conditionals are topics. Lg. 54.564–89.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K. 1967. Notes on transitivity and theme in English, part 2. JL 3.199–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K. 1970. Language structure and language function. New horizons in linguistics, ed. by Lyons, John, 140–65. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Lyons, John, and Hasan, Ruqaiya. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Hetzron, Robert. 1970. Non-verbal sentences and degrees of definiteness in Hungarian. Lg. 46.899–927.Google Scholar
Hetzron, Robert. 1975. The presentative movement, or why the ideal word order is V.S.O.P. In Li 1975:345–88.Google Scholar
Hutchins, W. J. 1975. Subjects, themes, and case grammars. Lingua 35.101–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuno, Susumu. 1972. Functional sentence perspective: A case study from Japanese and English. LI 3.269–320.Google Scholar
Lakoff, George. 1971. On generative semantics. In Steinberg & Jakobovits, 232–96.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N. 1975 (ed.) Word order and word order change. Austin: U. of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N. 1976 (ed.) Subject and topic. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N., and Thompson, Sandra A. 1976. Subject and topic: A new typology of language. In Li 1976:457–89.Google Scholar
Longacre, Robert E. 1976. An anatomy of speech notions. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piťha, Petr. 1980. Review of Dik 1978. Journal of Pragmatics 4.265–9.Google Scholar
Quirk, Randolph, et al. 1972. A grammar of contemporary English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Schachter, Paul. 1976. The subject in Philippine languages: Topic, actor, actor-topic, or none of the above? In Li 1976:491–518.Google Scholar
Searle, John R. 1969. Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sperber, Dan, and Wilson, Deirdre. 1980. Mutual knowledge and relevance in theories of comprehension. Paper presented at the SSRC Conference on Mutual Knowledge, Guildford, September.Google Scholar
Steele, Susan. 1975. On some factors that affect and effect word order. In Li 1975:197–267.Google Scholar
Steinberg, Danny D., and Jakobovits, Leon A. 1971 (eds.) Semantics. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Strawson, Peter F. 1950. On referring. Mind 59.320–44.Google Scholar