Building Topics in Guiziga: A Cartographic Perspective

This article attempts to provide a description of topic constructions in the Guiziga language within the cartographic framework. Data for this work were collected using both the primary and secondary source. The analyses reveal that this language does not select topicalizers as it is the case in other Chadic languages (Bebey 2015 and 2018). It also demonstrates that the topicalized constituents undergo an upward movement to land in the Spec,Top, while it leaves an empty trace in the original position. The language tolerates multiple Topic Phrases (TopP) in the sentence left periphery.  Also, it is demonstrated that the subject –NP involves the apparition of the presumptive pronoun given the prominence of the latter. At the semantic level, the article indicates that topics in Guiziga are revelations about old information, rather than simple old information.