Article published In:
Theory and data in cognitive linguisticsEdited by Nikolas Gisborne and Willem B. Hollmann
[Studies in Language 36:3] 2012
► pp. 548–575
Edited by Nikolas Gisborne and Willem B. Hollmann
[Studies in Language 36:3] 2012
► pp. 548–575
The historical development of the it-cleft
A comparison of two different approaches
This paper compares two approaches to a particular grammatical change. While Ball (1991, 1994) investigates the development of the it-cleft configuration from within the generative tradition of the 1990s, I have recently re-examined the historical it-cleft data from a constructional perspective (see Patten 2010, forthcoming). In this paper, I show how our different theoretical assumptions lead us to categorize and analyse the data differently. I conclude that a constructional approach is better at interpreting the diachronic facts.
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Cited by 3 other publications
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Corral Esteban, Avelino
2022. Chapter 3. An account of the use of fronting and clefting in Cornish English. In English Historical Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 359], ► pp. 36 ff.
Davidse, Kristin & Ditte Kimps
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