Pseudoclefts in Hungarian
-
Jutta M. Hartmann
Abstract
Based on novel data from Hungarian, this paper makes the case that in at least some languages specificational pseudocleft sentences must receive a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ syntactic analysis. More specifically, it is argued that the clefted constituent is the subject of predication (underlyingly base-generated in Spec, Pr), whereas the cleft clause acts as a predicate in the structure. Alongside connectivity effects characteristic of specificational pseudoclefts, we also discuss a range of anti-connectivity effects, which we show to receive a straightforward explanation under the proposed analysis. It follows that attested connectivity effects, in turn, require a semantic, rather than a syntactic account, along the lines of Jacobson (1994) and Sharvit (1999).
Abstract
Based on novel data from Hungarian, this paper makes the case that in at least some languages specificational pseudocleft sentences must receive a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ syntactic analysis. More specifically, it is argued that the clefted constituent is the subject of predication (underlyingly base-generated in Spec, Pr), whereas the cleft clause acts as a predicate in the structure. Alongside connectivity effects characteristic of specificational pseudoclefts, we also discuss a range of anti-connectivity effects, which we show to receive a straightforward explanation under the proposed analysis. It follows that attested connectivity effects, in turn, require a semantic, rather than a syntactic account, along the lines of Jacobson (1994) and Sharvit (1999).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Reanalysis in Hungarian comparative subclauses 5
- Silent people 33
- Clausal Coordinate Ellipsis (CCE) in Hungarian compared to CCE in Dutch, German, and Estonian 45
- Pseudoclefts in Hungarian 67
- Focus, exhaustivity and the syntax of Wh -interrogatives 97
- A phi-agreement constraint on subject extraction in Finnish 133
- Remarks on a novel LFG approach to spatial particle verb constructions in Hungarian 149
- Resultative passives in Finnish 179
- Discourse new, focused, and given 199
- Harmony that cannot be represented 229
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Reanalysis in Hungarian comparative subclauses 5
- Silent people 33
- Clausal Coordinate Ellipsis (CCE) in Hungarian compared to CCE in Dutch, German, and Estonian 45
- Pseudoclefts in Hungarian 67
- Focus, exhaustivity and the syntax of Wh -interrogatives 97
- A phi-agreement constraint on subject extraction in Finnish 133
- Remarks on a novel LFG approach to spatial particle verb constructions in Hungarian 149
- Resultative passives in Finnish 179
- Discourse new, focused, and given 199
- Harmony that cannot be represented 229
- Index 253
