Word order in Topic-Focus structures in the Balkan languages

Abstract

The paper examines the word order patterns of Balkan languages with respect to the representation of the discourse categories of Topic and Focus in the Left Periphery of the Balkan clause. It is argued that Balkan languages share a number of syntactic properties relevant to the discourse organization of their embeddded clauses, and it is claimed that such discourse similarities must have been favored by multi-linguistic speakers in contact situations, in particular those that led to the establishment of the Balkan Srachbund