‘It was you that told me that, wasn’t it?’ It -clefts revisited in discourse
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María de los Ángeles Gómez González
Abstract
This corpus-based investigation explores the features and discourse distribution of it-clefts. It is argued that their core meaning is the positive identification of a discourse element, usually a subject/agent NP, mostly by means of the declarative pattern it is/it was . . . that in spontaneous persuasive speech. The construction is found to implement three main strategies: (a) corrective when reformulating old topics, generally displaying the pattern new + given; (b) transitional when (re)introducing new or deactivated topics or spatio-temporal settings, usually with the pattern new + new; and (c) topical when continuing with a previous discourse topic, normally exhibiting the values given + new. Lastly, the central function of it-clefts is shown to be that specifying a relation of exhaustive topicality.
Abstract
This corpus-based investigation explores the features and discourse distribution of it-clefts. It is argued that their core meaning is the positive identification of a discourse element, usually a subject/agent NP, mostly by means of the declarative pattern it is/it was . . . that in spontaneous persuasive speech. The construction is found to implement three main strategies: (a) corrective when reformulating old topics, generally displaying the pattern new + given; (b) transitional when (re)introducing new or deactivated topics or spatio-temporal settings, usually with the pattern new + new; and (c) topical when continuing with a previous discourse topic, normally exhibiting the values given + new. Lastly, the central function of it-clefts is shown to be that specifying a relation of exhaustive topicality.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Corpus-based studies
- No doubt and related expressions 9
- On certainly and zeker 35
- Prenominal possessives in English 59
- Ditransitive clauses in English with special reference to Lancashire dialect 83
- ‘It was you that told me that, wasn’t it?’ It -clefts revisited in discourse 103
- Another take on the notion Subject 141
- The modal auxiliaries of English, π-operators in Functional Grammar and “grounding” 159
- The king is on huntunge 175
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Part II. The architecture of functional models
- Mental context and the expression of terms within the English clause 193
- Adverbial conjunctions in Functional Discourse Grammar 209
- Tree tigers and tree elephants 227
- English constructions from a Dutch perspective 257
- Notes towards an incremental implementation of the Role and Reference Grammar semantics-to-syntax linking algorithm for English 275
- Grammar, flow and procedural knowledge 309
- The non-linearity of speech production 337
- A speaker/hearer-based grammar 353
- Index 389
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Corpus-based studies
- No doubt and related expressions 9
- On certainly and zeker 35
- Prenominal possessives in English 59
- Ditransitive clauses in English with special reference to Lancashire dialect 83
- ‘It was you that told me that, wasn’t it?’ It -clefts revisited in discourse 103
- Another take on the notion Subject 141
- The modal auxiliaries of English, π-operators in Functional Grammar and “grounding” 159
- The king is on huntunge 175
-
Part II. The architecture of functional models
- Mental context and the expression of terms within the English clause 193
- Adverbial conjunctions in Functional Discourse Grammar 209
- Tree tigers and tree elephants 227
- English constructions from a Dutch perspective 257
- Notes towards an incremental implementation of the Role and Reference Grammar semantics-to-syntax linking algorithm for English 275
- Grammar, flow and procedural knowledge 309
- The non-linearity of speech production 337
- A speaker/hearer-based grammar 353
- Index 389
