Dislocations and Frames in Somali. Syntax, prosody and discourse at the interfaces

Abstract This study investigates the syntax–pragmatics interface of discourse-related categories, focusing on Topics and Frame-setters within the cartographic approach. Previous research has established, on a cross-linguistic basis, that discourse functions are systematically linked to specific syntactic positions in the left periphery and to distinct prosodic properties. Building on this background, the paper examines elements functioning as Frames, which, unlike Topics and Foci, delimit the truth-conditional domain of the sentence. The analysis is based on a pilot study conducted on Somali, using photo-elicitation data collected from native speakers. The results provide empirical support for the distinction between A-Topics, C-Topics, and Frames, highlighting their different discourse roles and structural positions. In particular, it is shown that A-Topics occupy the highest position in the C-domain, Frames scope over C-Topics and wh-elements, and may also occur in the right periphery with an afterthought interpretation. With specific reference to Somali, the study shows that Frames are mainly realized through relative clauses (especially for temporal and spatial reference) and DPs (for domain specification), and are predominantly located in the left periphery. Despite its limited scale, the consistency of the data suggests that this pilot study offers a valuable contribution to the analysis of discourse structure and opens new directions for future research.