About "ra" in the explicit object based on the lexical-functional grammar approach

Dabir-Moghaddam (1972,2004) believes that -râ, moreover, is syntactically the function word of the explicit object, can also be informationally the marker of its secondary topic. Meanwhile, some researchers have challenged the use of -râ as a secondary topic marker in the explicit object when it is indefinite or when it is considered as an informative focus in response to the speaker's question in the discourse context. They have considered the marker-râ being fastened on factors such as identifiability, specificity, and definiteness. The current study's goal is to examine the marker-râ using the LFG approach of King (1997), Butt & King (2000), and Abubakari (2018), relying on the definitions provided by the secondary topic by Dabir-Moghaddam (1972,2004), Dalrymple & Nikolaeva (2011). The research methodology is descriptive-analytical, and the data was collected in two ways: in the library and field. The findings reveal that in the f-structure, the grammatical preposition-râ is placed in the (PFORM) feature and can indicate the grammatical function of the theme/patient oblique instead of the grammatical function of the explicit object. In the i-structure, -râ is placed in the (DFORM) feature and leads to secondary topic marking. In the c-structure, as the preposition's head, it also causes the formation of the prepositional phrase. Also, in the above-mentioned challenging cases, it has been shown that with a suggestion of the layered i-structure, the râ-Marker as a (DFORM) marks secondary topic at the sentence level and the secondary topic can be placed on the inner or outer layer of other informative elements at a level beyond the sentence. Therefore, it can be concluded that the mentioned approach in the LFG in line with the opinion of Dabir-Moghaddam (1972,2004) on the effect of syntactic and informational factors on the occurrence of -râ, can show a comprehensive representation of the marker-râ.