Focus Marker 'dA' in Azeri Turkish

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of English and Linguistics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad university, Zanjan, Iran

2 Department of linguistics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad university, Zanjan, Iran

3 Department of English and Linguistics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to examine the behavior of the focus marker "dA" in the Azeri Turkish language and demonstrate its position in the sentence. We showed that focus in Azeri Turkish is used in three ways: syntactically (via scrambling), phonetically (via focal stress), and morphologically (use of a focus marker). Focus markers are either used solely to highlight elements within a clause without any other function, or they may have other roles but are stripped of those roles and used solely for prominence. Through multiple examples from Azeri Turkish, we demonstrated that this focus marker, which mostly has an additive role, is added in situ to all sentence elements—subject, direct object, adverb of time, adverb of place, and the whole sentence—to make them prominent. We showed that in Azeri Turkish, unlike in Turkish (Istanbul Turkish), "dA" only functions as a focus marker and does not serve as a topic marker. The data analysis revealed that the focus marker "ki" can also be used alongside "dA" for additional emphasis. Sometimes, more than two focus markers can be employed in a single sentence to emphasize different elements. Attempts were made to illustrate the focalized elements in tree diagrams based on the Minimalist Program model.

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History

  • Receive Date: 04 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 11 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 24 November 2024

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