Re: Tagalog & trigger idea: I'd like comments. :)

Hi!

Ray Brown <ray.brown@...> writes:
>...
> On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 09:44 , Henrik Theiling wrote:
> [snip]
> > Hmm, I would not say this is triggerish, but I'd say the language uses
> > word order to mark the focus, just like German.
>
> Eh? I had always understood that German fronted the _topic_, not the focus.
>...
I read that, too.  The reason for why I thought it was the focus
rather than the topic is that the fronted part in a German sentence
must be part of the normal sentence structure.  Things like
prototypical topic structures like 'concerning X, that stuff was
good', you would have to use 'Was X betrifft, ...' in German.  You
could not simply put X in front like in Japanese.

Hmm.  Emphasis for the focus, yes.  Hmm.  I'm confused.  Let's see
your examples...

>...
> Wird sie ihm zu Weihnachten ein Buch schenken?       (Will she give him a
> book for Christmas?)
> Nein. Ein Buch hat sie ihm zum Geburtstag geschenkt. (No. She gave him a
> book for his birthday).
> [In the answer "Ein Buch" is the topic; the focus is "zum Geburtstag". If
> the focus is to be emphasized, my understanding is that the sentence stays
> in the same order thus:
>
> Nein! Ein Buch hat sie ihm ZUM GEBURTSTAG geschenkt.]
Ah, this makes it clear!  Yes, it's the way you say.  A test
paraphrasing the topic with 'was das X angeht' shows that you could
equivalently say:

   Was das Buch angeht, das hat sie ihm ZUM GEBURTSTAG geschenkt.

Yes.  Clearly topic-fronting.  Clearly focus = ZUM GEBURTSTAG.

I'm sorry.  Confused by L1. :-)

> Now is Fox mistaken?
No, I don't think so.

> Could some one answer the question "Was hat sie ihm zum Geburtstag
> geschenkt?" with "Ein Buch hat sie ihm zum Geburtstag geschenkt."?
Yes, but it sounds strange -- it does not seem to be the natural
order.  I'd certainly expect 'EIN BUCH' to be emphasised here.

**Henrik