Sentence and information structure in German (and Portuguese)

• Grant number: 14/07339-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: August 20, 2014
• End date: September 20, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Modern Foreign Languages
• Principal Investigator: Selma Martins Meireles
• Grantee: Selma Martins Meireles
• Visiting researcher: Hardarik Bluhdorn
• Visiting researcher institution: Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS), Germany
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The informational structure of linguistic expressions, which has assumed a central role in research on the grammar of German, uses lexical and grammatical indications for managing the flow of information between the participants of the communication. In this context, it is necessary to distinguish at least three functions complexes: (i) the "visibility" (salience) of key constituents in the chain of signs; (ii) the management of information sources that can be accessed in the process of understanding; (iii) the building of a common knowledge base (common ground) through the selection or exclusion of informational components into sets of alternatives. This project aims to investigate and detail the relationships between these three functions and to develop an overview of the rules that determine sentence formation in German from the point of view of informational structure, to be compiled into a paper aimed at university teaching. (AU)