THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
FACULTY OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGES
INFORMATION STRUCTURE IN EKEGUSII
BY MECHA GESURA EVANS
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPY IN LINGUISTICS IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
2013
ABSTRACT
The main aim of this thesis is to explore how the pragmatic functions topic and focus, influence the
formal organization and content of two discoursal components: word order, and referential
coherence, based on Ekegusii, a Bantu language spoken in Kenya.
The data for the study consists of corpora elicited using question-answer coherence guided by
pictures, and elicited monologic narratives. It uses an eclectic approach in describing the role of
information structure in Ekegusii. It utilizes Lambrecht’s model of information structure, and
Bidirectional Optimality Theory to capture both production (by speaker) and comprehension (by
hearer) aspects in discourse. Centering Optimality Theory is used to account for the discoursepragmatics of referential coherence.
The study found out that information structural constraints at the sentential level mainly influence the
information state of both canonical and non-canonical constructions word orders. It influences the
interpretation, through the pragmatic structuring of propositions, helping the hearer differentiate what
is information (focus) in relation to a given topic, and this may induce movement, insertion or
deletion of some sentential constituents. However, information structure optionally affects sentential
form in Ekegusii.
In relation to how information structure interacts with referential coherence, the results of a corpus
based analysis show that alternative ways of coherently referring to participants using nominal
expressions in the roles of grammatical subject object and oblique depend on pragmatic functions.
Coherence was found out to be driven by a hard constraint “COHERE” which cannot be violated
even by the information structural constraints that licences focus. The focus relations, sentence focus
and presentational focus, are therefore associated with low coherence, transitions, not dire
incoherence, because the focus relation is typically used xii
for shifting reference in discourse. The topic relations are associated with higher coherence
transitions when attention is focused on a given topical entity.
The results of the study demonstrate the need for incorporation information structure, an
independent component of grammar, in handling the problem of pragmatic motivation in the
grammar of human languages at the micro- and macro-syntactic levels of discourse. Though the
study is theory oriented and on Ekegusii, it is relevant to understanding how packaging information
affects discourse, by considering the syntax, semantics and pragmatics (the ‘semiotic circle’) of
information in general. Is of use to persons who are interested in understanding how messages are
to be optimaly coded and decoded in human communication by interlocutors in Ekegusii, and
beyond any given language.