The function of the copy pronouns in Kapampangan

Abstract

There exists in Kapampangan an obligatory set of enclitic pronouns which co-occur with and precede their nominal referents. If it is assumed that marking devices in natural language are minimally efficient, the existence of these copy pronouns may at first be perceived as redundant. In this paper, therefore, I will attempt to show that their presence is necessitated by two factors: the ergative morphology of the language and the Philippine focus construction. Following this analysis, I will present some examples of sentences in which the presence or absence of these pronouns provides syntactic information not otherwise apparent.