Tamil =ē as a focus-sensitive scalar operator

Abstract

The Tamil enclitic =ē, described as an “emphatic” focus particle in literature, gives rise to a wide range of interpretations depending on its syntactic position and the discourse context. When =ē is cliticised sentence-medially, it can license scalar additive, exclusive, intensifying and precisifying inferences. When it attaches sentence-finally, =ē serves to signal that the prejacent proposition is already in the common ground. This paper offers an analysis of =ē. I argue that the sentence-medial and sentence-final uses of =ē correspond to two distinct lexical items, =ē1 and =ē2 respectively, motivated by the fact that only =ē1 is obligatorily sensitive to focus. In the rest of this paper, I examine =ē1. I propose that =ē1 associates its prejacent with the highest-ranked proposition among a contextually specified set of alternatives. The various discourse effects associated with =ē1 are shown to arise due to its compatibility with multiple types of alternative propositions and strength rankings, and other contextual factors.