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: Gabriella Fekete
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2018-10-01
Series:Discours
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/discours/9611
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author Gabriella Fekete
author_facet Gabriella Fekete
author_sort Gabriella Fekete
collection DOAJ
description 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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spelling doaj-art-78105560424e456daa162fe4905f4e242025-01-30T09:53:02ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17232018-10-012210.4000/discours.9611Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongroisGabriella FeketeIn 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.https://journals.openedition.org/discours/9611discourse topicdiscourse focusdevelopmental studyoral narrativesHungarian
spellingShingle Gabriella Fekete
Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
Discours
discourse topic
discourse focus
developmental study
oral narratives
Hungarian
title Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
title_full Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
title_fullStr Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
title_full_unstemmed Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
title_short Topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
title_sort topique et focus discursifs locaux chez les enfants et les adultes hongrois
topic discourse topic
discourse focus
developmental study
oral narratives
Hungarian
url https://journals.openedition.org/discours/9611
work_keys_str_mv AT gabriellafekete topiqueetfocusdiscursifslocauxchezlesenfantsetlesadulteshongrois