A framework for the analysis of cleft constructions

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3987759
AutoresKnud Lambrecht (autor correspondente)
Ano2001
Volume39
Fascículo3
Data de publicação2001-01-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLinguistics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0024-3949 • E-ISSN: 1613-396X
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/ling.2001.021
OpenAlexW2101421618
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas122
Referências citadas22

This paper proposes a framework for the analysis of cleft constructions across languages. It takes as its point of departure Jespersen's second (1937), non-derivational, analysis of it-cleft sentences, in which the matrix sequence it is and the relative pronoun or complementizer are analyzed as grammatical elements that do not enter into the semantic composition of the sentence. To account for the defining property of clefts, that is, the expression of a single proposition via biclausal syntax, the paper postulates a grammatical division of labor between matrix and subordinate clause: while the relative-clause predicator assigns a semantic role to the shared argument, the matrix predicator assigns it a pragmatic role (that of focus). The paper then presents a framework for the discourse-functional analysis of clefts and addresses certain problems in the analysis of the prosodic structure of cleft sentences. It introduces the concept of focus category and argues that cleft formation is one of several devices languages can use to express deviations from the unmarked predicate-focus type. A formal and functional taxonomy of cleft sentences is developed using examples from various languages. The variety of cleft types is shown to be much greater than previously assumed in the literature

Linguistics · Sociology · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation