Modal particles in Basque: two cases of interaction between ote and information structure

Abstract

The interaction between modal particles and information structure has received no attention within Basque linguistics. Although the standard behaviour of modal particles in Basque shows, no connection with information structure, in this article I present two dialectal uses only found in Eastern Basque where the discourse particle ote interacts with focus: on the one hand, ote, which can behave as a weak adverb in these varieties, is only licensed when there is narrow focus occupying the Focus Phrase. On the other hand, the particle can attach wh-words creating a configuration also found in languages such as German or Japanese as will be discussed throughout the article; this combination seems to attract emphasis for intensity cross-linguistically.