Conventional and Free Association with Focus in Ngamo (West Chadic)

Abstract

The paper discusses association with focus in Ngamo (West Chadic, Afro-Asiatic). We present evidence from thisnon-Indoeuropean language in favour of Beaver& Clark (2008)’s claim that different kinds of focus-sensitive elements interact with the meaning of focus in different ways, namely conventional association with focus vs free association.We show that exclusive particles (only) in Ngamo, as in English, conventionally associate with focus. (Scalar-) Additive particles (also, even), by contrast, do not pattern like their English counterparts: Same as Q-adverbials, they are more free in their association behaviour, and can also associate with non-focused elements under certain conditions.