Specificational and Presentational There-Clefts

This book proposes a radically new account of clefts in English. Since the 1960s, functional as well as formal linguists have generally restricted clefts to constructions with an identifying matrix (it-clefts) and have claimed that they only code information structure. Clefts are assumed to unpack a simple proposition into a focus presupposition structure. In this book, the authors reject these theoretical-descriptive assumptions, arguing instead that clefts form a field comprising it-clefts, there-clefts and 'have'-clefts. They show that, like any other construction, clefts compositionally code propositional semantics, onto which a great variety of prosodically coded focus patterns may be mapped. The authors fundamentally challenge the existing approach by entering the debate with an in-depth account of the neglected specificational and presentational there-clefts, offering the first systematic data-based study of their grammatical and prosodic features. While the study is restricted to English, its findings have significant cross-linguistic relevance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Functional, Cognitive and Formal Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, and usage-based study of grammar and prosody.

Challenges the received view of clefts as conveying information structure only Develops propositional semantics with close cognitive-functional argumentation Offers the first systematic study of there-clefts based on prosodically coded data

Autorentext
Kristin Davidse is a Professor in the Linguistics Department at KU Leuven, Belgium.
Ngum Njende is a PhD candidate in the Linguistics Department at KU Leuven, Belgium.
Gerard O'Grady is a Professor in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Natural grammar.- Chapter 3. Compilation and prosodic analysis of data.- Chapter 4: Existential there versus demonstrative there.- Chapter 5: Paradigms of relative markers.- Chapter 6: Different antecedentrelative clause relations.- Chapter 7: Structural assemblies and semantics of the four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 8: Determiners of existent NPs in the four four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 9: Prosodic patterns in the four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 10: Conclusion.