Annotating information structure in Italian: Characteristics and cross-linguistic applicability of a QUD-based approach

Abstract

We present a discourse annotation study, in which an annotation method based on Questions under Discussion (QuD) is applied to Italian data. The results of our inter-annotator agreement analysis show that the QUD-based approach, originally spelled out for English and German, can successfully be transferred cross-linguistically, supporting good agreement for the annotation of central information structure notions such as focus and non-at-issueness. Our annotation and inter-annotator agreement study on Italian authentic data confirms the cross-linguistic applicability of the QuD-based approach.