Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
In the present study, we would like to observe the development of local discourse topic and focus in Hungarian. We propose that, in Hungarian, the local discourse focus not only conveys information placed at the center of attention (Rickheit & Habel, 1995), but is also always positioned at the b...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Presses universitaires de Caen
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Discours |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/discours/9611 |
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| Summary: | In the present study, we would like to observe the development of local discourse topic and focus in Hungarian. We propose that, in Hungarian, the local discourse focus not only conveys information placed at the center of attention (Rickheit & Habel, 1995), but is also always positioned at the beginning of the clause. The local discourse topic determines the point of view and links information to context (Cornish, 2004), but it has no dedicated position in the sentence. This phenomenon leads to associations (foregrounded topic in clause-initial position) and dissociations (focus and topic are two different arguments) of topic-focus status in Hungarian texts. In order to observe the developmental trajectory of topic and focus, we collected oral narrations from native Hungarian speakers of 5 age groups (3, 5, 7-8, 11-12 year-olds and adults). The stimulus used was the book Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969). Our results show that in narrative texts, Hungarian speakers prefer to put the topic-focus association in the initial position. By contrast, the rate of dissociation increases with age. Dissociated and associated topics are used to maintain recurrent characters with verbal suffixes. For children up to 7-8 years old, the use of dissociated focus mainly includes actions, while adolescents and adults use this role both to introduce inanimate entities and to reintroduce primary characters. |
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| ISSN: | 1963-1723 |