• Language and Information
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.197-227
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• 2010

This study reviews (i) the (dis)advantages of two major semantic theories of focus, i.e., the Alternative Semantics (AS) and the Structured Meaning Theory (SM), and (ii) the hybrid analysis consisting of these two theories proposed by Krifka (2006). After pointing out a problem of this hibrid analysis, this study attempts to show the third alternative, i.e., the theory of identificational predication for focus can solve this problem.

• Language and Information
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.47-70
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• 2010

This study investigates the semantic and prosodic properties of the so-called contrastive topic. We posit two informational primitives, namely, topical feature [+-T] and focal feature [+-F], from which four different informational categories, i.e., [+T, +F], [+T, -F], [-T, +F], and [-T, -F], are yielded. It is proposed that the informational category of contrastive topic has focal property [+F] as well as topical property [+T]. Based on the semantic approach that regards the function of [+F] as identificational predication and that of [+T] as forming a semantic conditional clause, it is shown that the semantic function of contrastive topic, which is specified as [+T, +F], is the combination of these two functions, i.e., identificational predication in a semantic conditional clause. This is supported by a scrutinized exploration of the prosodic pattern of English contrastive topic.

• Language and Information
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-52
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• 2004

This paper attempts to define various notions involving focus and topic found in Korean and also employs phonetic measures to verify the plausibility of those notions that are theoretically argued for. This paper crucially relies on Prince (1981) for the notion of familiarity and its pragmatic significance, and adopts Rooth's (1985) notion of alternative set and utilizes it in the light of pragmatic interpretation. The basic idea of this paper is to decompose the notion alternative set into finer-grained components and to assign various levels of familiarity to those finer components, thereby helping define different kinds of focus and topic according to the properties of those sub-components.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.575-587
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• 2010

This study identifies the effects of the perceived risk by adolescents on fashion brand conformity for peer groups. Perceived risk, self-esteem, and gender were adopted as variables in order to analyze conformable fashion brand behavior with peer group consideration. A quantitative survey used 672 questionnaires from male and female students between the ages of 14 and 18. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and regression analysis. The results are as follows. First, the dimensions of the brand conformity and perceived risk were revealed. The brand conformity dimensions were normative, informational, and identificational conformity. The perceived risk dimensions were socio-psychological, economic, exchange-refund, performance, management, and fashion risks. Second, fashion (+) and performance (-) risk significantly affected three types of brand conformity. In addition, socio-psychological and economic risk positively affected informational brand conformity. Third, there were more factors of perceived risk that affected brand conformity in the highly self-esteemed group and in the female adolescent group.