On the use of idioms for testing focus

Authors

  • Jenneke van der Wal Leiden University Centre for Linguistics

Abstract

Given the fact that parts of idioms cannot trigger alternatives in their idiomatic reading, and the requirement that focus triggers alternatives, parts of idioms are predicted to not be focusable. Idioms can thus be used to test focus constructions, except idioms that refer to useless tasks (‘carrying coals to Newcastle’), presumably because of their transparent and scalar semantics.

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Published

2021-10-19

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2021): van der Wal, Jenneke: On the use of idioms for testing focus

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Jenneke van der Wal

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