John Benjamins Publishing Company
Grammaticalization and the it-cleft construction
Abstract
This paper reexamines the development of the it-cleft construction from the perspective of grammaticalization theory. In a previous study, Ball (1991, 1994) finds that the it-cleft was initially restricted to NP foci, with the relative clause expressing presupposed information that is already known to the hearer/reader. However, it is well known that the modern day it-cleft also permits a range of non-NP foci and that the relative clause is no longer restricted to presenting information that is necessarily known to the intended audience. Using data from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English, I argue that synchronic variation in the it-cleft can be understood as a consequence of gradual constructional emergence. Non-NP focus it-clefts are shown to originate by extension from the existing NP focus it-cleft, resulting in a more schematic it-cleft construction. In line with Lambrecht’s (1994) theorizing, I provide evidence that the development of the ‘informative-presupposition’ (IP) it-cleft involves grammaticalization, whereby a sense of presupposition gradually becomes associated with the construction as a whole and is no longer predictable from the meaning of its parts. Discussing the implications for the present day it-cleft, this paper provides insight into how the gradual grammaticalization of constructions, and mismatch in particular, intersects with synchronic gradience (as understood by Croft 2007).
Abstract
This paper reexamines the development of the it-cleft construction from the perspective of grammaticalization theory. In a previous study, Ball (1991, 1994) finds that the it-cleft was initially restricted to NP foci, with the relative clause expressing presupposed information that is already known to the hearer/reader. However, it is well known that the modern day it-cleft also permits a range of non-NP foci and that the relative clause is no longer restricted to presenting information that is necessarily known to the intended audience. Using data from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English, I argue that synchronic variation in the it-cleft can be understood as a consequence of gradual constructional emergence. Non-NP focus it-clefts are shown to originate by extension from the existing NP focus it-cleft, resulting in a more schematic it-cleft construction. In line with Lambrecht’s (1994) theorizing, I provide evidence that the development of the ‘informative-presupposition’ (IP) it-cleft involves grammaticalization, whereby a sense of presupposition gradually becomes associated with the construction as a whole and is no longer predictable from the meaning of its parts. Discussing the implications for the present day it-cleft, this paper provides insight into how the gradual grammaticalization of constructions, and mismatch in particular, intersects with synchronic gradience (as understood by Croft 2007).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface 1
- Gradience, gradualness and grammaticalization 19
- Grammaticalization, the clausal hierarchy and semantic bleaching 45
- Grammatical interference 75
- Category change in English with and without structural change 105
- Features in reanalysis and grammaticalization 129
- How synchronic gradience makes sense in the light of language change (and vice versa) 149
- What can synchronic gradience tell us about reanalysis? 181
- A paradigmatic approach to language and language change 203
- Grammaticalization and the it-cleft construction 221
- Grammaticalization in Chinese 245
- Grammaticalization and models of language 279
- Language index 301
- Subject index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface 1
- Gradience, gradualness and grammaticalization 19
- Grammaticalization, the clausal hierarchy and semantic bleaching 45
- Grammatical interference 75
- Category change in English with and without structural change 105
- Features in reanalysis and grammaticalization 129
- How synchronic gradience makes sense in the light of language change (and vice versa) 149
- What can synchronic gradience tell us about reanalysis? 181
- A paradigmatic approach to language and language change 203
- Grammaticalization and the it-cleft construction 221
- Grammaticalization in Chinese 245
- Grammaticalization and models of language 279
- Language index 301
- Subject index 303
