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The English it-cleft : a constructional account and a diachronic investigation / by Amanda L. Patten.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Patten, Amanda L.
- Series:
- Topics in English linguistics ; 79.
- Topics in English linguistics, 1434-3452 ; 79
- Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] ; 79
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- It (The English word).
- English language--Word order.
- English language.
- English language--Syntax.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (279 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter Mouton, 2012.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- This book examines the structure and function of the English it-cleft configuration from within the framework of construction grammar. It defends a straightforward extraposition-from-NP analysis (on which the cleft clause is a restrictive relative, modifying the initial it) and claims that all types of it-cleft involve nominal predication. Support for this analysis comes from three main areas: (a) the central role of definiteness in the creation of specificational meaning, (b) the existence and makeup of predicational (and proverbial) it-clefts, and (c) the early, historical it-cleft data. In addition, the book contains a sizeable diachronic component, drawing data from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English and from the International Corpus of English - Great Britain. This investigation informs and advances what is an otherwise simple account of the English it-cleft, explaining how and why the configuration has developed an assortment of peculiar, construction-specific properties over time.
- Contents:
- Front matter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- Chapter 1. Introduction and background
- Chapter 2. A model of language structure and language change
- Chapter 3. Specificational copular constructions
- Chapter 4. It-clefts as specificational copular sentences
- Chapter 5. Other varieties of it-cleft
- Chapter 6. The it-cleft and earlier periods of English
- Chapter 7. The it-cleft's development over time
- Chapter 8. The it-cleft and constructional change
- Chapter 9. Conclusions
- Corpora and data sources
- References
- Index
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-265) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9783110279528
- 3110279525
- OCLC:
- 829462264
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