Cleft-like sentences
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3989059 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Monika Doherty (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2001-01-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0024-3949 • E-ISSN: 1613-396X |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/ling.2001.025 |
| OpenAlex | W2099782158 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 9 |
Comparing translations of certain copular sentences with dummy subjects, the present paper demonstrates different preferences in English and German, interpreting them as yet another case of the alternative perspective of a more configurational language (English) versus a less configurational language (German). Like clefts, these sentences compensate for the tighter constraints of English on topicalization and adverbial modification by using referents as copular subjects. German does not favor the formally analogous structures because they are syntactically ambiguous and because there are more economical ways in German of achieving similar (albeit not identical) information structures. However, carrying the existential presupposition of all clefts, such cleft-like sentences, too, function as formal indicators of macrostructural relevance, while the corresponding declefted structures in German achieve macrostructural relevance only in a non-conventionalized way
Linguistics · Linguistic research and analysis · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2012 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |