T. Maisak. Variation in focus constructions in Nakh-Daghestanian // N. Sumbatova, I. Kapitonov, M. Khachaturyan, S. Oskolskaya, S. Verhees (eds.). Songs and Trees: Papers in Memory of Sasha Vydrina. St. Petersburg: Institute for Linguistic Studies, Russia
T. Maisak. Variation in focus constructions in Nakh-Daghestanian // N. Sumbatova, I. Kapitonov, M. Khachaturyan, S. Oskolskaya, S. Verhees (eds.). Songs and Trees: Papers in Memory of Sasha Vydrina. St. Petersburg: Institute for Linguistic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2023. P. 363-424.
Dedicated focus constructions have been identified as an important means of managing information structure in Nakh-Daghestanian languages. In a typical focus construction, a focalizing element, which is often a grammatical marker with another basic function, is placed immediately after the focused constituent. Being present in many languages of the family, focus constructions are subject to intragenetic variation and are often cleft-like, with a predicate obligatorily taking the participial form. In the present paper I present an overview of the types of focus constructions in Nakh-Daghestanian, paying attention to the following major parameters of variation: (a) What can be the “mobile” focalizing elements that are used in focus constructions? (b) What are the restrictions on the form of the predicate in constituent focus constructions? The overview presents data from all the major Nakh-Daghestanian branches, including Nakh, Avar-Andic, Tsezic, Lak, Dargwic and Lezgic.