Transcript Cleft

Introduction to English Syntax
Level 1 Course
Ron Kuzar
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Haifa
Chapter 9
Structural Alternations:
The Wh-Cleft sentence
Structural vs. Order Alternations
• Order alternations involve different word
orders of the same pattern.
• Some alternations are more radical; they may
involve order change, but they also involve a
structural change in the sentence.
• For example:
– The storm broke the door yesterday.
– What the storm broke yesterday was the door.
– What the storm did yesterday was break the door.
– What happened yesterday was that the storm
broke the door.
Alternations work across patterns
• V sentence:
– The storm broke the door yesterday.
– What the storm broke yesterday was the door.
• XP sentence:
– It is striking that most of them have a Western
background.
– What is striking is that most of them have a
Western background.
• Existential sentence:
– There is a lot of confusion.
– What there is, is a lot of confusion.
Simplex form and alternations
• Simplex form:
– The storm broke the door yesterday.
• Alternations:
Order alternation:
– Yesterday the storm broke the door.
Wh-alternation:
– What the storm broke yesterday was the door.
Terminological Note
• Simplex
a Latin noun meaning
“the simple one”
The Formula of Wh-Clefts
• The Wh-cleft sentence is a copular sentence.
On one side of the copula is the Wh-phrase
and on the other – an NP or a nominal:
– What I need is a notebook.
– A notebook is what I need.
– What I want is to go home.
– To go home is what I want.
– What I miss is going to the movies.
– Going to the movies is what I miss.
– What I hope is that we continue that trend.
– That we continue that trend is what I hope.
Terminological Note
• Wh-Cleft (sentence)
• Also:
Pseudo-Cleft (sentence)
The Wh-Cleft and the Simplex
• In the cases above, to see the related simplex
sentence, you just erase the formula
what…is…
– What I need is
–
I need
a notebook.
a notebook.
– What there is, is a lot of confusion.
–
There is
a lot of confusion.
Deeper Structural Changes 1
• Do-insertion: the verb is broken down to
do+bare verb form:
– Broke  did break
– Sleeps  does sleep
– The storm broke the door.
– What the storm did was break the door.
– The storm has broken the door.
– What the storm has done was break the door.
• In this case the component on the right is not
an NP or a nominal, but a (bare) VP.
Deeper Structural Changes 2
• If the sentence represents an event, the whole
sentence may be put into a that-clause, and the
Wh-component consists of the verb happen (or
its synonyms):
– The storm broke the door.
– What happened was that the storm broke the door.
– What occurred was that the market fell a lot further.
– What transpired was that I got a quick tour of the
factory.
• When deeper structural changes are involved,
identifying the simplex sentence takes more
than just erasing the formula.
Sequence of Tenses?
• Note that when the event is in the past, as in:
– The fire consumed the building.
the clefting is done in the present:
– What the fire consumed is the building.
• Some writers, however, prefer the tenses to be
aligned, hence the copula is in the past:
– What the fire consumed was the building.
Terminological Note
• Cleft is the past participle form of the verb
cleave.
• The gerund of this verb is cleaving.
• Clefting is a technical term that has been
formed independently of the original
behavior of the verb.
No Linking Verbs
• In regular copular sentences the copula
has been shown to be subject to
replacement by linking verbs.
• This is not so with Wh-clefts.
– *What Mary bought seems a loaf of bread.
– *What Mary bought remains a loaf of bread.
– *A loaf of bread seems what Mary bought.
– * A loaf of bread remains what Mary bought.
The Sentential Function
of Wh-Clefts
• In Wh-clefts the NP (or its substitutes) is
identified as the missing component of an
incomplete statement.
• The incomplete statement is in the Wh-part:
– What I need…
– What happened…
– What the storm did…
• The missing component is then identified:
– What I need…
– What happened…
– What the storm did…
is a notebook.
is that the storm etc.
is break the door.
Identificational Sentence
• Every unmarked sentence could have an
identificational meaning:
– What did the wind break?
– The wind broke the door.
• But it could also just be descriptive:
– And what happened afterwards?
– The wind broke the door.
• The Wh-cleft sentence is marked for
identification.
• Its meaning is always identificational.
• It identifies the missing component.
The discourse Function
of Wh-Clefts
• The identificational function is used for
discourse functions.
• When the identified component is at the end, it
almost always bears stress, thus being
marked as the new information in the
sentence.
– What he is is a SWEET MAN.
– What fell was the HAMMER.
• The Wh-part of the sentence just leads
towards it.
More on the Discourse Function
• When the Wh-part is last, there are two
possibilities. Either the last part is stressed:
– Her job is what I WANTED.
• Or the first part is stressed:
– Her JOB is what I wanted.
• Accordingly, different parts of the message
become salient in the general organization of
the sentence. They are focused on.
• We will not go into this in more detail here.
A peculiarity of English
• In questions, we use what for inanimate
entities and who for animate ones:
– What are we having for dinner?
– Who are we having for dinner?
– Unless you have the mind of a cannibal, these
questions are clearly distinct.
• Note, however, that the Wh-cleft sentence is
missing the animate counterpart:
– What we are having for dinner is chicken soup.
– * Who we are having for dinner is Bill.
• BTW: The more usual form is: Who are we having over for dinner?
Alternatives
• English uses circumlocutions to solve this
problem. You might say:
– The person I am closest to is my neighbor.
– The one I am closest to is my neighbor.
• If the Wh-part refers to many, you might say:
– The people I am closest to are my neighbors.
– Those/the ones I am closest to are my neighbors.
• Often, though, this alternation is altogether
avoided with animate candidates.
Caveat
• Not all sentences that contain a Wh-phrase
are Wh-clefts.
• Wh-phrases may replace NPs in regular
sentences:
– I’ll have/eat/order fish.
– I’ll have/eat/order what(ever) you are having.
• This is NOT a Wh-cleft sentence.
• It does not have the copular formula with the
NP (or one of its substitutes discussed above):
• [NP] is [what…] or: [what…] is [NP]
Sample Question
• Identify the Wh-cleft sentences.
• Write their simplex form:
– Bread and butter is what I really want.
– I’ll give you what you want.
– What you have in mind is unreasonable.
– What you are looking for is right over there.
– What you have found is mine.
– I hate what they do to you.
– What I like most in this department is syntax.
– What can I do to make you feel better?
– baked potatoes is what they had on the menu.
– Those who volunteered are doctors and lawyers.
Answer
– Bread and butter is what I really want.
Simplex: I really want bread and butter.
– What I like in this department is syntax.
Simplex: I like syntax in this department.
– baked potatoes is what they had on the menu.
Simplex: They had baked potatoes on the menu.
– Those who volunteered are doctors and lawyers.
Simplex: Doctors and lawyers volunteered.
Homework
• Identify the Wh-cleft sentences.
• Write their simplex form:
– This is exactly what I was afraid of.
– What you did makes no sense.
– What he wrote is not reasonable.
– What she just said is that they are equal.
– What Mary saw was a lion.
– Being tired is what John detests.
– Those who registered are John and Mary.
– Paul and Linda are the ones I want to meet.