Thank you so much for this writeup - it does ring a bell! Don't worry about references. This is more than enough to get me re-started, dig through my old books

Thank you so much for this writeup - it does ring a bell! Don't worry about references. This is more than enough to get me re-started, dig through my old books/articles and find new ones. > Further, even under this alternative explanation, I would still not call wa a topic marker. -> "subject marker"? ;-) Enjoy your vacation (and maybe pursue a phd)!