Chapter 9
Subjects and focus in clefts
The case of Tilapa Otomi
This paper is an exploration of the syntax-pragmatics interface in the pseudo-clefts of Tilapa Otomi, an Oto-Manguean language of Mexico. The goal of this paper is to show that the focus phrase in the clefts of Tilapa Otomi is the subject of the cleft construction, which is entirely based on the copular construction. This claim has a theoretical interest because the alignment of focus and subject has been tainted as problematic in certain approaches to clefts that want the subject to be the topic. The subject in clefts in Tilapa Otomi conveys contrastive focus, but clefts in Tilapa Otomi may also be used as thetic constructions to express broad focus, in which case it is the whole clause that is in focus.
Article outline
- 1.A brief introduction to clefts
- 2.Basics of Tilapa Otomi grammar
- 3.The copular construction and the clefts of Tilapa Otomi
- 4.Discussion about the syntactic status of the FP in clefts
- 5.Concluding remarks
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
Abbreviations
-
References
References
Campbell, Lyle, Kaufman, Terrence & Smith-Stark, Thomas
1986 Meso-America as a linguistic area.
Language 62(3): 530–570.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Declerck, Renaat
1988 Studies on Copular Sentences, Clefts and Pseudo-clefts. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Delin, Judy & Oberlander, Jon
1995 Syntactic constraints on discourse structure: The case of it-clefts.
Linguistics 33(3): 465–500.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Delin, Judy & Oberlander, Jon
2005 Cleft constructions in context: Some suggestions for research methodology. Ms.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Delin, Judy
1995 Presupposition and shared knowledge in it-clefts.
Language and Cognitive Processes 10(2): 97–120.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
den Dikken, Marcel
2005 Specificational copular sentences and pseudoclefts. In
The Blackwell Companion to Syntax,
Martin Everaert,
Henk Van Riemsdijk,
Rob Goedemans, &
Bart Hollebrandse (eds), 292–409. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Drubig, Hans-Bernhard & Schaffer, Wolfram
2001 Focus constructions. In
Language Typology and Language Universals,
Martin Haspelmath,
Ekkehard Koenig &
Wulf Osterreicher (eds), 1079–1104. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Drubig, Hans-Bernhard
2003 Toward a typology of focus and focus constructions.
Linguistics 41(1): 1–50.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Faarlund, Jan Terje
1988 A typology of subjects. In
Studies in Syntactic Typology [
Typological Studies in Language 17],
Michael Hammond,
Edith Moravcsik &
Jessica Wirth (eds), 193–209. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Foley, William A. & Van Valin Jr., Robert D.
1984 Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar [
Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 38]. Cambridge: CUP.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy
(ed.) 1979 Discourse and Syntax: Syntax and Semantics 12. New York NY: Academic Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy
1983b Topic continuity in spoken English. In
Topic Continuity in Discourse. A Quantitative Cross-language Study [
Typological Studies in Language 3],
Talmy Givón (ed.), 343–363. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy
1990 Syntax: A Functional Typological Introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gundel, Jeanette K.
1988a Universals of topic-comment structure. In
Studies in Syntactic Typology [
Typological Studies in Language 17],
Michael Hammond,
Edith Moravcsik, &
Jessica Wirth (eds), 209–241. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gundel, Jeanette K.
1988b The Role of Topic and Comment in Linguistic Theory. New York NY: Garland.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jespersen, Otto
1949 Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, Part VII: Syntax. London: Allen & Unwin.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lambrecht, Knud
1986 Topic, Focus, and the Grammar of Spoken French. PhD dissertation, University of California at Berkeley.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lambrecht, Knud
1994 Information Structure and Sentence Form. Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representations of Discourse Referents [
Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 71]. Cambridge: CUP.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lambrecht, Knud
2001 A framework for the analysis of cleft constructions.
Linguistics 39(3): 463–516.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Oberlander, Jon & Delin, Judy
1996 The function and interpretation of reverse wh-clefts in spoken discourse.
Language and Speech 39(2–3): 185–227.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Palancar, Enrique L.
2018 Clefts in Otomi: Extended uses of the copular construction.
International Journal of American Linguistics 84(1): 93–145.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Patten, Amanda
2012 The English It-cleft: A Constructional Account and a Diachronic Investigation [
Topics in English Linguistics 79]. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan
1985 A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sasse, Hans-Jürgen
1987 The thetic/categorical distinction revisited.
Linguistics 25(2): 511–580.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Shibatani, Masayoshi
1991 Grammaticalization of topic into subject. In
Approaches to Grammaticalization, Vol. II: Types of Grammatical Markers [
Typological Studies in Language 19:2],
Elizabeth Closs Traugott &
Bernd Heine (eds), 93–134. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wehr, Barbara
1984 Diskursstrategien im Romanischen. Tübingen: Narr.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zimmermann, Malte
2008 Contrastive focus and emphasis.
Acta Linguistica Hungarica 55: 347–60.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Palancar, Enrique L.
2021.
Biclausal vs. monoclausal focus constructions in Tilapa Otomi.
Faits de Langues 52:1
► pp. 139 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.