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The overarching theme of this article is the interface between syntax and pragmatic interpretation. I take the phase system of Chomsky (2000, 2001a) as the basic syntactic framework and add the following assumptions: (i) the pragmatic values presupposition and contrast are linguistic features, assigned to EPP features by an interpretive component called pragmatics, (ii) pragmatics is “invasive” (in the sense of Epstein et al. 1998) and assigns features each time a phase is completed, (iii) assigned pragmatic features remain with the constituent even as it is involved in further syntactic operations, (iv) assigned features cannot be altered. I show how these assumptions make very accurate empirical predictions concerning left and right dislocation and focus fronting in Catalan that are unavailable within a traditional Y-shape model of grammar.
