Resumo

GUTIERREZ-BRAVO, Rodrigo. Clefts and focus in Yucatec Maya. Cuad. Lingüíst. Col. Méx. [online]. 2017, vol.4, n.1, pp.5-47. ISSN 2007-736X.  https://doi.org/10.24201/clecm.v4i1.52.

Yucatec Maya (Mayan, Mexico) shows a number of focus constructions where foci appear to the left of the verb, similarly to what has been observed in languages like Hungarian. There has been extensive debate in Yucatec specifically, and in Mayan languages in general, as to whether or not these focus constructions are clefts. This paper contributes to this ongoing debate by presenting four new types of evidence that point to the conclusion that focus constructions in Yucatec are not clefts. The evidence presented here indicates that monoclausal focus constructions and clefts are different with respect to (i) the obligatory nature of agent focus morphology; (ii) the possibility of inversion; (iii) the possibility of having a negative pronoun as the focus, and; (iv) the possibility of having verb focus constructions.

Palavras-chave : Yucatec Maya; Mayan; focus; clefts; Information Structure.

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