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.
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