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In:The Interpersonal Level in Functional Discourse Grammar
Edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld
[Studies in Language Companion Series 241] 2027
► pp. 350–372

The focalizing copula in Colombian Spanish

 | University of Amsterdam
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This paper discusses a construction in Colombian Spanish in which a form of the copula ser ‘be’ is used as a focus marker. After introducing the construction and its properties and distinguishing it from the pseudo-cleft construction in Spanish, the question is raised to what extent the different uses of this construction corroborate the organization of the Communicated Content in Functional Discourse Grammar. It is shown that for every unit within the Communicated Content that is predicted to be focalizable, there is indeed a corresponding use of the focalizing copula construction in Colombian Spanish.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Properties of the construction
    • 2.1Introduction
    • 2.2Form of the focalized element
    • 2.3Function of the focalized element
    • 2.4Agreement features of the copula
    • 2.5The pragmatic function expressed
  • 3.The focalizing copula construction versus
    the pseudo-cleft construction
  • 4.The Colombian focalizing copula construction
    in Functional Discourse Grammar
    • 4.1Introduction
    • 4.2Basic representation of the construction
    • 4.3Restrictions on IL constituents
    • 4.4The units in Focus
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (20)
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