betreffens
Betreffens is a term used in linguistic theory to denote a proposed grammatical category that encodes the relationship between a clause and its discourse topic. The word is formed from the German Betreff (subject, matter) with the suffix -ens to yield a nominal concept for discourse-driven morphology. It is not widely attested in standard grammars and remains a theoretical construct in discussions of information structure.
Definition and features: A betreffens marker signals that the proposition of the clause concerns a specific
Typology and usage: Supporters claim that certain languages with robust topic-marking systems can be analyzed with
History and reception: The term arose in theoretical discussions during the 2010s and has been treated as
See also: information structure, topic, focus, discourse marker, beziehung to discourse marking.