Lithuanian and the syntactic structure of pseudo-clefts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19226989 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Axel Holvoet (0000-0003-1744-5893, Vilnius University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 79 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 127-146 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language Typology and Universals (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1867-8319 • E-ISSN: 2196-7148 |
| Publisher | De Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/stuf-2026-2004 |
| OpenAlex | W7152405906 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
The article deals with the pseudo-cleft construction (also known as wh -cleft) in Lithuanian, a Baltic language. It focuses on the syntactic and morphosyntactic changes that have set the Lithuanian pseudo-cleft apart from its source construction, the specificational copular construction. It is argued that this pseudo-cleft has become monoclausal as a result of a process in which the kernel component of the pseudo-cleft construction (consisting of relative pronoun, relative-clause verb and copula/focus marker) became non-compositional and started occupying a slot corresponding to that of the simple-clause verb. This process may have been driven by the morphosyntactic marking assigned by the relative-clause verb being copied onto the focus noun phrase and subsequently being reanalysed as governed by the pseudo-cleft kernel component as a whole. As a result of these processes, the Lithuanian pseudo-cleft is superficially still similar to the original specificational construction from which it derives, but certain morphosyntactic and syntactic features betray it as being monoclausal. The Lithuanian pseudo-cleft is further considered against a cross-linguistic background to point out that it represents a non-trivial and typologically interesting instantiation of the more general process of development of clefts and pseudo-clefts into monoclausal structures
Lithuanian · Nominalization · Nominative case · Noun · Noun phrase · Syntax · Verb · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and language evolution · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
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| Highly cited | No |
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