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In:Microparameters in the Grammar of Basque
Edited by Beatriz Fernández and Jon Ortiz de Urbina
[Language Faculty and Beyond 13] 2016
► pp. 221–242

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Strategies of verb and verb phrase focus across Basque dialects

 | UPV | EHU
 | CUNY-Queens College | Graduate Center
Published online: 9 September 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.13.08elo
In this chapter we study four different strategies available in Basque dialects to focalize the verb and the verb phrase: (i) verb doubling, (ii) ba-insertion, (iii) V1 strategy, and (iv) expletive egin insertion. We argue that the four constructions reflect different ways of complying with morphophonological requirements of foci, including the requirement that foci be capable of bearing sentence stress. In particular, we argue that these strategies reflect selective deletion of material (PF repair operations) that would otherwise violate these constraints (Bošković and Nunes 2007). In so doing, the discussion provides a partially unified analysis of these four constructions.
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