A Study on Topicalization and Focalization in the Zanjani Dialect

Danial Adrang; Ataollah Maleki

doi:10.54392/ijll2232

Authors

Danial Adrang Department of Linguistics, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran. Author
Ataollah Maleki Department of Applied Linguistics, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0138-1039

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54392/ijll2232

Keywords:

Topicalization, Focalization, Azeri Language, The Zanjani Dialect, Minimal Program, Information Structure

Abstract

Topicalization and focalization are syntactic issues studied in a variety of languages. Topicalization is defined as the proposing of a constituent to the beginning of the sentence. It has the old information and the rest of the sentence is about it. Focalization, on the other hand, is a process in which a constituent may stay put in its canonical position represented by a relativizer or may be preposed, but bearing the new information. To study these issues, we studied the Zanjani dialect, an offshoot of the Azeri language. We analyzed sentences in a number of film scripts and found that the minimal program may not be able to deal with these issues in this dialect, and that information structure theories may be used to consider topicalization and focalization in this dialect.

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