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ARTIGOS • DELTA 30 (spe) • 2014 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-445075991809767769   copy

The Manifestation of Topic and Focus in Tupi-Guarani Languages

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In this paper, we aim to identify and describe some of the topic and focus constructions found in two Tupi-Guarani languages: Asurini do Trocará and Tupinambá.1 1 Tupinambá é uma língua da família Tupi-Guarani já extinta, falada na costa do Brasil na época de seu descobrimento. Os registros do Tupinambá são datados dos séculos 16 e 17, realizados pelos padres jesuítas. O Asuriní do Trocará é falado atualmente no sul do estado do Pará. Based on Rizzi’s (1997RIZZI, Luigi. 1997. The Fine Structure of the Left Periphery. In Lilianne Haegman (org.) Elements of Grammar: Handbook of Generative Syntax. Kluwer: Dordretch., 2004)_____. 2004. Locality and Left Periphery. In A. Belletti (ed.) Structures and beyond: cartography of syntactic structures. vol.2 Oxford: Oxford University Press. cartographic approach to the left periphery of the clause, we will provide positional evidence for the existence of different types of discourse categories, such as left-dislocated topics and focalized constituents in the so-called Indicative II construction. In order to enrich our work, we will also incorporate Rodrigues’ (1990)_____. 1990. You and I=neither You nor I: the personal system of Tupinambá. In Doris Payne (ed.) Amazonian Linguistics: studies in lowland South America. Austin: University of Texas Press. analysis of a type of Tupinambá focus which resembles the obviative system found in algonquian languages.

Topic; Focus; Tupi-Guarani languages; Left Periphery

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