Introduction to English Syntax Level 1 Course Ron Kuzar Department of English Language and Literature University of Haifa Chapter 9 Structural Alternations: The Wh-Cleft sentence

Structural vs. Order Alternations Order alternations involve different word orders of the same pattern. Some alternations are more radical; they may involve order change, but they also involve a structural change in the sentence. For example: –The storm broke the door yesterday. –What the storm broke yesterday was the door. –What the storm did yesterday was break the door. –What happened yesterday was that the storm broke the door.

Alternations work across patterns V sentence: –The storm broke the door yesterday. –What the storm broke yesterday was the door. XP sentence: –It is striking that most of them have a Western background. –What is striking is that most of them have a Western background. Existential sentence: –There is a lot of confusion. –What there is, is a lot of confusion.

Simplex form and alternations Simplex form: –The storm broke the door yesterday. Alternations: Order alternation: –Yesterday the storm broke the door. Wh-alternation: –What the storm broke yesterday was the door.

Terminological Note Simplex a Latin noun meaning “the simple one”

The Formula of Wh-Clefts The Wh-cleft sentence is a copular sentence. On one side of the copula is the Wh-phrase and on the other – an NP or a nominal: –What I need is a notebook. –A notebook is what I need. –What I want is to go home. –To go home is what I want. –What I miss is going to the movies. –Going to the movies is what I miss. –What I hope is that we continue that trend. –That we continue that trend is what I hope.

Terminological Note Wh-Cleft (sentence) Also: Pseudo-Cleft (sentence)

The Wh-Cleft and the Simplex In the cases above, to see the related simplex sentence, you just erase the formula what…is… –WhatI need isa notebook. – I needa notebook. –What there is, isa lot of confusion. –There isa lot of confusion.

Deeper Structural Changes 1 Do-insertion: the verb is broken down to do+bare verb form: –Broke  did break –Sleeps  does sleep –The storm broke the door. –What the storm did was break the door. –The storm has broken the door. –What the storm has done was break the door. In this case the component on the right is not an NP or a nominal, but a (bare) VP.

Deeper Structural Changes 2 If the sentence represents an event, the whole sentence may be put into a that-clause, and the Wh-component consists of the verb happen (or its synonyms): –The storm broke the door. –What happened was that the storm broke the door. –What occurred was that the market fell a lot further. –What transpired was that I got a quick tour of the factory. When deeper structural changes are involved, identifying the simplex sentence takes more than just erasing the formula.

Sequence of Tenses? Note that when the event is in the past, as in: –The fire consumed the building. the clefting is done in the present: –What the fire consumed is the building. Some writers, however, prefer the tenses to be aligned, hence the copula is in the past: –What the fire consumed was the building.

Terminological Note Cleft is the past participle form of the verb cleave. The gerund of this verb is cleaving. Clefting is a technical term that has been formed independently of the original behavior of the verb.

No Linking Verbs In regular copular sentences the copula has been shown to be subject to replacement by linking verbs. This is not so with Wh-clefts. –*What Mary bought seems a loaf of bread. –*What Mary bought remains a loaf of bread. –*A loaf of bread seems what Mary bought. –* A loaf of bread remains what Mary bought.

The Sentential Function of Wh-Clefts In Wh-clefts the NP (or its substitutes) is identified as the missing component of an incomplete statement. The incomplete statement is in the Wh-part: –What I need… –What happened… –What the storm did… The missing component is then identified: –What I need…is a notebook. –What happened…is that the storm etc. –What the storm did…is break the door.

Identificational Sentence Every unmarked sentence could have an identificational meaning: –What did the wind break? –The wind broke the door. But it could also just be descriptive: –And what happened afterwards? –The wind broke the door. The Wh-cleft sentence is marked for identification. Its meaning is always identificational. It identifies the missing component.

The discourse Function of Wh-Clefts The identificational function is used for discourse functions. When the identified component is at the end, it almost always bears stress, thus being marked as the new information in the sentence. –What he is is a SWEET MAN. –What fell was the HAMMER. The Wh-part of the sentence just leads towards it.

More on the Discourse Function When the Wh-part is last, there are two possibilities. Either the last part is stressed: –Her job is what I WANTED. Or the first part is stressed: –Her JOB is what I wanted. Accordingly, different parts of the message become salient in the general organization of the sentence. They are focused on. We will not go into this in more detail here.

A peculiarity of English In questions, we use what for inanimate entities and who for animate ones: –What are we having for dinner? –Who are we having for dinner? –Unless you have the mind of a cannibal, these questions are clearly distinct. Note, however, that the Wh-cleft sentence is missing the animate counterpart: –What we are having for dinner is chicken soup. –* Who we are having for dinner is Bill. BTW: The more usual form is: Who are we having over for dinner?

Alternatives English uses circumlocutions to solve this problem. You might say: –The person I am closest to is my neighbor. –The one I am closest to is my neighbor. If the Wh-part refers to many, you might say: –The people I am closest to are my neighbors. –Those/the ones I am closest to are my neighbors. Often, though, this alternation is altogether avoided with animate candidates.

Caveat Not all sentences that contain a Wh-phrase are Wh-clefts. Wh-phrases may replace NPs in regular sentences: –I’ll have/eat/orderfish. –I’ll have/eat/orderwhat(ever) you are having. This is NOT a Wh-cleft sentence. It does not have the copular formula with the NP (or one of its substitutes discussed above ): [NP] is [what…] or: [what…] is [NP]

Sample Question Identify the Wh-cleft sentences. Write their simplex form: –Bread and butter is what I really want. –I’ll give you what you want. –What you have in mind is unreasonable. –What you are looking for is right over there. –What you have found is mine. –I hate what they do to you. –What I like most in this department is syntax.

–What can I do to make you feel better? –baked potatoes is what they had on the menu. –Those who volunteered are doctors and lawyers.

Answer –Bread and butter is what I really want. Simplex: I really want bread and butter. –What I like in this department is syntax. Simplex: I like syntax in this department. –baked potatoes is what they had on the menu. Simplex: They had baked potatoes on the menu. –Those who volunteered are doctors and lawyers. Simplex: Doctors and lawyers volunteered.

Homework Identify the Wh-cleft sentences. Write their simplex form: –This is exactly what I was afraid of. –What you did makes no sense. –What he wrote is not reasonable. –What she just said is that they are equal. –What Mary saw was a lion. –Being tired is what John detests. –Those who registered are John and Mary. –Paul and Linda are the ones I want to meet.