Chapter 11
Information Structuring and Speech Acts
Exercise 11.3Information Structuring in Extended Passages
The following two texts contain much the same propositional matter, presented in the same order. Each text exhibits topicalization and focussing devices of various sorts. Identify the types of operations involved. Account for the fact that while version A seems to be fairly coherently structured, version B is decidedly odd.
Text 1
Version A
1. It was in 1960 that the cave was discovered. 2. An old shepherd thought he heard ‘water running underground’ at the foot of a near-by mountain. 3. He told a friend of his who lived in the near-by village of Petralona. 4. The villager removed a few stones and literally fell into the cave. 5. A quick search showed that the floor was littered with animal bones. 6. What he had found was a prehistoric habitation site. 7. On a subsequent visit he found an entire human fossil, lying on its right side with its legs drawn up. 8. He told other villagers that night that he had found the remains of a ‘big monkey’ in a cave.
Version B
1. What was discovered in 1960 was the cave. 2. A shepherd who was old thought that ‘water running underground’ had been heard by him at a near-by mountain's foot. 3. A friend of his who lived in the nearby village of Petralona was told by him. 4. A few loose stones were removed by the villager and it was the cave he literally fell into. 5. That animal bones littered the floor was shown by a quick search. 6. He had found a prehistoric habitation site. 7. Lying on its right side with its legs drawn up, he found an entire human fossil on a subsequent visit. 8. He told other villagers that night that the remains of a ‘big monkey’ had been found by him in a cave.
(From Keith Brown & Jim Miller, Syntax: a Linguistic Introduction to Sentence Structure, 2nd ed., London: HarperCollinsAcademic, 1991, p. 369. Reprinted by permission of Routledge Ltd.)
2. Describe in detail why version B is poorly constructed in comparison with version A. Analyze each of the seven sentences in its context and state what is wrong with it in terms of information structure.
Text 2
Version A
1. At 3 a.m. last Sunday, the Santa Clara Fire Department evacuated two apartment buildings at the corner of Country Club Drive and 5th Avenue. 2. Oil had been discovered leaking from a furnace in the basement of one of the buildings. 3. Firemen sprayed chemical foam over the oil for several hours. 4. By 8 a.m., the situation was under control. 5. Any danger of explosion or fire had been averted, and the leaky furnace was sealed. 6. Residents of the two apartment buildings were given temporary shelter in the Country Club High School gymnasium. 7. They regained possession of their apartments at 5 p.m.
Version B
1. As for the Santa Clara Fire Department, it evacuated two apartment buildings at the corner of Country Club Drive and 5th Avenue at 3 a.m. last Sunday. 2. There was someone who had discovered a furnace in the basement of one of the buildings from which oil was leaking. 3. What was sprayed by firemen over the oil for several hours was chemical foam. 4. It was by 8 a.m. that the situation was under control. 5. What someone had averted was any danger of explosion or fire, and as for the leaky furnace, it was sealed. 6. What the residents of the two apartment buildings were given in the Country Club High School gymnasium was temporary shelter. 7. Possession of their apartments was regained by them at 5 p.m.
(from Finegan 2008: 273)
Text 1
Pseudo-cleft sentences cannot begin narratives because “What was discovered in 1960” is given and topic and the reader must be thinking about this. “The cave” is represented as new information, but it is definite and not new.
Cleft sentences can begin narratives. “In 1960” is new information; the rest is given information, but the reader need not be thinking about it.
The passive in the subordinate clause is strange because “water running underground” appears to be given and topic when it isn’t. The relative clause “who was old” is also odd because it suggests that the head noun is nonspecific, but it is specific.
The active in the subordinate clause is natural because the shepherd is given and topic (he was introduced in the main clause) and what he heard is comment.
The passive here suggests that his friend is topic and given, but the friend has not been introduced yet into the discourse.
The active is appropriate here because the subject “he” is given and topic. His telling his friend is new and comment. The restrictive relative clause here serves to make the indefinite “a friend of his” specific.
“A few loose stones” is not given and topic, though it appears to be in this inappropriate passive. The cleft sentence in the second half is also inappropriate because it presents “the cave” as new and perhaps contrastive information; it is neither. His falling into the cave is not given but new information
“The villager” is definite, given, having been introduced in the previous sentence, and topic of the discourse; hence, the active structure is appropriate here. The compound predicates, which concern his removing a few stones and falling into the cave, are new and comments.
Again, the passive is inappropriate in this case because it represents the animal bones as given information, when they are in fact new.
“A quick search”, while not explicitly given in the previous context, is implied by the villager's entry into the cave; the search is the topic of the discourse. This sentence is also more effective rhythmically by having the “heavy” element, the that clause, at the end of the sentence; this is also the focus position, emphasizing the remarkable find.
This sentence is acceptable.
This pseudo-cleft sentence is more effective than B6 because it makes his finding something given information (which is implied by the search of the previous sentence) and focuses the new and significant information about its being a “prehistoric habitation site”.
This sentence is grammatically incorrect as well as ineffective from the perspective of information structuring. The “lying …” participial clause is “dangling” since it does not logically modify the subject “he”. Moreover, it is completely new information and shouldn’t be treated as topic.
The fronted adverbial phrase here acts as topic, as starting point or perspective for the remainder of the sentence. His finding a human fossil and its configuration are all new information and the comment of the discourse.
The passive in the subordinate clause is inappropriate here as it is in B2: “the remains of a ‘big monkey’” is not given, but new information, and it is not the topic of the discourse.
The active in the subordinate clause is appropriate because it presents him as given and topic and his representation of his find as new and comment.
Text 2
As for, while it is a topic marker, is usually used to denote a contrastive topic. This topic is the first one introduced in the discourse.
The fronted adverbial phrase here becomes part of the topic and provides a temporal starting point for the narrative.
There insertion is inappropriate because it focuses “someone”, who is both indefinite and unimportant. Furthermore, the topic suggested here is the discovery of a furnace, while the real topic is the discovery of oil.
The agentless passive is appropriate here because the person who made the discovery is indefinite and unimportant and can hence to deleted. Also, oil is topic and the natural subject of the sentence. While not explicitly given in the previous context, it is implied by the calling of the Fire Department.
The pseudo-cleft sentence makes “what was sprayed by firemen over the oil for several hours” given information, when in fact it isn’t; it also suggests that the chemical foam is new and significant information.
The firemen are the topic of the discourse, implied and essentially given by the first sentence about the Fire Department. Their activities are the comment and new information. The simple active sentence is hence appropriate.
The cleft sentence makes “by 8 a.m”. new and significant (focused) information and the situation's being under control given information, which is clearly wrong in context.
The fronted adverbial phrase becomes topic along with “the situation”, which is given in the previous context. Its being under control is new information and comment.
The pseudo-cleft in the first half is possible since it makes something's being averted given information and topic and “any danger of explosion or fire” new and focused information. But it is awkward, since the indefinite “someone” must be referred to. The second half is also possible but somewhat awkward; “as for” makes the leaky furnace topic and the rest of the sentence comment.
The passive in the first half is much better than the pseudo-cleft since “any danger of explosion or fire” is made the topic. In a sense it is given since it is implied in the situation's being under control. The passive in the second half naturally and simply denotes the leaky furnace as given and topic and its being sealed as new and comment.
The pseudo-cleft sentence makes the residents being given something in the Country Club High School given information, but most of it is new information.
Here only the “residents of the two apartment buildings” are given; they are implied by the evacuation of the apartment building referred to in the first sentence. They are the topic of the discourse.
The passive sentence suggests that “possession of their apartments” is given information, but it is new.
The residents continue to be topic of the discourse and given information; they and are consequently denoted by the pronoun “they”. The remainder of the sentence is comment and new information.