Information structure: thematization, rhemerization and detachment in Berber/Tamazight and dialectal Arabic

Study day organized by doctoral students from LACNAD - Langues et Cultures du Nord de l'Afrique et Diasporas.
Ecritures orientales
Ecritures orientales © Inalco‎

Presentation of the day

The informational structure in its categories, theme (topique) and rheme (focus), has been studied by authors, notably in Berber: Basset (1950), Galand (1959, 2002, 2014...), Leguil (1992), Chaker (1998), Mettouchi (2003, 2010, 2021), Lafkioui (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), among others. We will investigate the profile of these pragmatic categories of theme and rheme or topical and focus (even if these concepts do not overlap according to some authors: Vallduvi & Engdahl 1996), their markers, the interactions between prosody, morphology, syntax and pragmatics. Depending on the speakers' field of study, this day is an opportunity to revisit the definitions of these pragmatic categories, which often constitute a subject of divergence between authors, or perhaps to revisit or deepen the examination of certain well-known themes.

Organized by LACNAD doctoral students, this event aims to foster an open dialogue between junior and senior researchers working on informational structure, topicalization, focalization, detachment structures and prosody, in both a theoretical and typological approach.

Program

9h-9h30: welcome of participants 

9h30-10h: Ourida Manseri -"Theme, rheme articulation: information structure in the utterance. The case of Berber"

10h-10h30: Ourida Ait Mimoune - "Focalization and verbal auxiliaries in Berber (Kabyle)"

10h30-11h: Salem Djemaï - "The commutability of verbal forms with nominal forms in focused utterances in Kabyle"

11h-11h30 : Discussion 

11:30-11:45: Coffee break 

11:45-12:15: Christophe Pereira - "Topicalization and focalization in Arabic from Tripoli (Libya)"

12:15-12:45: Brahim Taoufyq - "Focalization in a Berber utterance from southeastern Morocco (Saghro)"

12:45-13:00: Discussion 

1:00pm-2:30pm: Lunch 

2:30pm-3:00pm: Bruno Hérin - "Focus and topic in Jordanian Arabic, some prosodic and morphosyntactic strategies"

3:00pm-3:30pm: Salim Lounissi- "Detachment and pronominal recovery in Chaoui: éléments de description"

3:30pm-4pm: Discussion 

4:30pm: Coffee break

4:30pm-5pm: General discussion

Organization

Ourida Manseri
Kamal Naït-Zerad

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