1. www.ntdiscourse.org1 Left Dislocations and their Contribution to Information Structure Steven Runge Logos Bible Software

2. www.ntdiscourse.org2 Traditional Explanations NT Terminology –cleft constructions –hanging nominatives –pendent nominatives –casus pendens –independent nominatives

3. www.ntdiscourse.org3 Traditional Explanations NT Terminology –cleft constructions –hanging nominatives –pendent nominatives –casus pendens –independent nominatives Functions associated with left-dislocation –Wallace: either emotion or emphasis –Young: emphasis –Porter: highlighting or topic shifting

4. www.ntdiscourse.org4 Linguistic Explanation Chafe’s cross-linguistic claim of “one new concept at a time”. Presentational clause There is a guy from the office. He asked me… Topic/Comment clause I know a guy from the office. He asked me…

5. www.ntdiscourse.org5 Linguistic Explanation Streamlined introductions: topic announcing or shifting Left-dislocation “This guy from the office, he asked...” Rhetorical question “Remember the guy from the office? He asked...”

6. www.ntdiscourse.org6 Linguistic Explanation Left-dislocations reserved for: –Topic announcing –Topic promotion Pronominal trace expected in the entity’s default position in the clause

7. www.ntdiscourse.org7 Unmarked Resumption - Matthew 18:6

8. www.ntdiscourse.org8 Unmarked Resumption - Mark 11:23

9. www.ntdiscourse.org9 Unmarked Resumption - Mark 11:23 Mt 21:21-22: Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (ESV).

10. www.ntdiscourse.org10 Simon Dik’s Pre-verbal Slots VO languages have two pre-verbal slots Position 1: Established or accessible information –Traditionally distinguished as “contrastive topic” –Establishes an explicit frame of reference –Represents choice to place info in marked position

11. www.ntdiscourse.org11 Simon Dik’s Pre-verbal Slots VO languages have two pre-verbal slots Position 1: Established or accessible information –Traditionally referred to as “contrastive topic” –Establishes an explicit frame of reference –Represents choice to place info in marked position Position 2: Newly asserted information (focal) –Traditionally referred to as “emphasis” –Most salient information made more prominent, emphasized –Represents choice to place most salient info in a marked position

12. www.ntdiscourse.org12 Default versus Marked Usage Minority of NT dislocations place pronoun in the expected position Statistics versus cross-linguistic patterning

13. www.ntdiscourse.org13 Default versus Marked Usage Minority of NT dislocations place pronoun in the expected position Statistics versus cross-linguistic patterning How is the high frequency of marked usage explained? –Cognitive aid in processing of complex dislocations

14. www.ntdiscourse.org14 Default versus Marked Usage Minority of NT dislocations place pronoun in the expected position Statistics versus cross-linguistic patterning How is the high frequency of marked usage explained? –Cognitive aid in processing of complex dislocations –Rhetorical function of topic promotion

15. www.ntdiscourse.org15 Frame of Reference - James 1:25

16. www.ntdiscourse.org16 Frame of Reference - Romans 8:30

17. www.ntdiscourse.org17 Spatial Frame of Reference - Matthew 6:21

18. www.ntdiscourse.org18 Spatial Frame of Reference - Matthew 6:21 Luke 12:34

19. www.ntdiscourse.org19 Temporal Frame of Reference - Matthew 21:1

20. www.ntdiscourse.org20 Matthew 21:1 Mark 11:1

21. www.ntdiscourse.org21 Comparative Frame of Ref. – Matthew 7:12

22. www.ntdiscourse.org22 Comparative Frame of Ref. – Matthew 7:12 Luke 6:31

23. www.ntdiscourse.org23 Emphasis - Matthew 26:23

24. www.ntdiscourse.org24 Matthew 26:23 Mark 14:20 Luke 22:21

25. www.ntdiscourse.org25 Emphasis - Luke 5:35

26. www.ntdiscourse.org26 Luke 5:35 Matthew 9:15

27. www.ntdiscourse.org27 Conclusions Traditional explanations clarified –Topic shifting, highlighting, and emphasis

28. www.ntdiscourse.org28 Conclusions Traditional explanations clarified –Topic shifting, highlighting, and emphasis Topic-shifting based upon introduction of entities Highlighting based upon semantic requirements Emphasis based upon information structure Non-topical entities Described factors the achieved the different effects

29. www.ntdiscourse.org29 Lexham Discourse New Testament Resources Informational Meeting AM24-51, Monday 1:00-2:30 p.m. Lincoln Room of the Hilton