A case based account of Bantu IAV-focus

Right dislocation (Cheng & Downing 2012) and movement to a low FocP (van der Wal 2006) are competing analyses of Immediately-After-Verb (IAV) focus. In this paper, I discuss novel Lubukusu IAV focus data which shows that 1) IAV focus re- quires movement to a low FP and that 2) IAV focus is not a purely focus related phenomenon. Adopting Baker & Collins (2006) analysis of Linkers, I propose that movement to a low FP for focus interpretation is a strategy of case assignment to DPs within the VP. This analysis is shown to be superior to a purely right disloca- tion analysis as it can also better account for IAV focus asymmetries between Zulu and Lubukusu.