Pseudo-clefts in Spanish: A revision

Pseudo-clefts in Spanish: A revision RODRIGO GUTIÉRREZ-BRAVO E L CO L E G I O D E M É X I CO H U M B O L D T - U N I V E R S I TÄT Z U B E R L I N 03/07/2019 Purpose of this talk • In this talk I propose a terminological revision of the terms "cleft", "pseudo cleft" and “reversed pseudo cleft” for Spanish. • I propose this terminological revision relying on the formal and informative syntactic properties of the different types of cleft constructions of Spanish. • I propose that Spanish has three different types of cleft sentences: que-clefts (or just clefts) wh-clefts, and pseudo-clefts, which are only those cleft constructions introduced by the locution lo que. 2 Purpose of this talk o I will argue that there are two cases in which the cleft constituent of lo-que clefts is composed of given, unfocused information, which does not show any contrast relation; i.e. it is not a focus. o This provides evidence for the analyses of clefts that claim that focusing of the cleft constituent is not an inherent property of clefts. Instead, clefts specialize in providing different partitions of the information structure of a proposition. 3 Definitions o A cleft construction is a copular construction with two terms (or arguments), one of which is a reduced relative clause [hereinafter, in brackets]. o The argument of the copula that is not the reduced relative clause is called the cleft constituent (pivot); since it is often a focus, from here on I will represent it with small caps. 1. Es PEDRO [ el que está llorando]. is Pedro the that is crying ‘It is Pedro that is crying.’ 4 Different types of cleft sentences: It-clefts It-clefts in English: (A) expletive pronoun it, (B) fixed word order, and (C) the "reduced relative" technically is not a relative clause. 2. It was VELMA [that you talked to ___ ] (Baker 1989: 375) 5 Different types of cleft sentences: Pseudo-clefts Pseudo-clefts: (A) do not show the expletive pronoun it, (B) do not have a fixed order, since the two terms of copula are reversible, and (C) the "reduced relative" in these constructions is a true relative clause (more specifically, a free relative clause with a WH pronoun). 3. a. [What we need] is MORE TIME. b. MORE TIME is [what we need]. (Huddleston & Pullum 2005: 254) 6 Terminology in Hispanic Linguistics o For Spanish, similar terms are used, but differently, so that there is no formal equivalence between the terms cleft and hendida, on the one hand, and pseudo-cleft and pseudo-hendida, on the other. o In this definition of cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences, the only thing that makes them different is the different word orders of the same constituents (i.e., D'Introno 1982). 7 Terminology in Hispanic Linguistics The examples in (4) are defined as "clefts" because the first constituent of the cleft sentence is the copula. 4. a. Es ENRIQUE [el que está llorando]. is Enrique the that is crying b. Es ENRIQUE [ quien está llorando]. is Enrique who is crying ‘It is ENRIQUE that is crying.’ Given this, pseudo-clefts in Spanish are defined as the corresponding cleft sentences that do not have this property (see also De Cesare 2014). 8 Terminology in Hispanic Linguistics Clefts like (5), where the initial constituent is the reduced relative clause, are called "pseudo hendidas", and those in (6), where the first constituent is the cleft constituent, are called "pseudo hendidas invertidas": 5. a. [El que está llorando] es ENRIQUE. b. [Quien está llorando] es ENRIQUE. The that/who is crying is Enrique. 6. a. ENRIQUE es [el que está llorando]. b. ENRIQUE es [quien está llorando]. Enrique is the that/who is crying. 9 Problems with the traditional definition A classification of clefts based on word order, however, faces a fundamental problem: (A) A classification of different cleft constructions should help us to understand both the differences and properties in common that they have, for example, with respect to information structure, but; (B) since the information structure is extremely sensitive to word order, the classification criterion itself can potentially introduce differences between the different types of cleft constructions. 10 Problems with the traditional definition o If we say that “hendidas” and "pseudo hendidas” differ as to a property X, how do we determine whether this property is the result of the cleft construction type, or of the word order differences that define each type? o Therefore, following a criterion similar to that of English, I propose a classification of the different types of Spanish cleft constructions based on the different types of elements that occupy the left edge of the relative reduced of the cleft construction. 11 Proposal que-clefts (que ‘that’) que, el que, la que, etc. Wh-clefts (relative pronoun) quien, donde, cuando, como lo que-clefts (pseudo-clefts) lo que o Di Tullio (1990): only those clefts that show lo que should be considered as true pseudo-cleft sentences; all other types correspond to simple cleft sentences, including those introduced by a wh-pronoun. o This proposal is subsequently abandoned in Di Tullio (2006). 12 Structure of lo-que clefts o I asume that lo-que clefts have a structure similar to the one proposed in Citko (2004) for light-headed relative clauses: DP 2 D CP ! lo 2 C TP ! que 13 Properties of lo-que clefts: Events and psychological states o In English, pseudo clefts are the type of cleft that refers to an event or a psychological/cognitive state (Prince, 1978: 891-893); see also (Morales 2005, di Tullio 1990). Examples from Prince (1978). 7. [What really troubles me] is: ONE, WILL THIS THING NOT BREAK SOMEDAY...? 8. [What happened] is THAT THE AGENT ASKED IF HE COULD SEE THE OFFICE ...' 14 Events and psychological states o This type of cleft only has its corresponding in Spanish with lo que-clefts: 9. [Lo que me inquieta] es SI ESTO NO VA A REVENTAR… lo que to.me troubles is if this not going to blow 10. [Lo que pasó] es que EL AGENTE PREGUNTÓ SI… lo que happened is that the agent asked if… o In these cases, the cleft constituent is typically a CP or VP (see Di Tullio 1990). 15 All-pseudo clefts In English there is a subtype of pseudo-cleft sentence introduced by all, called all-clefts (Collins 1991). This subtype of cleft in Spanish is a lo que-cleft (see also De Cesare 2014: 19). 11. a. [All you need] is LOVE. b. LOVE is [all you need]. 12. [Todo lo que necesitamos] es UN NIÑO all lo que we.need is a child (CDEM-Homicidio) 13. ESO es [todo lo que le puedo platicar] that is all lo que to.you I.can tell (CDEM-Cinta 3-II-B.) 16 Word Order Restrictions o When the copula is the first element of the lo quecleft, the only clefts that are fully allowed are those in which the cleft constituent is a DP or a PP: 14. Fueron PUROS DULCES [lo que te regaló]. it.was only sweets lo que to.you gave ‘It was ONLY SWEETS that he gave you.’ 15. Fue LA SALA [ lo que compramos it.was the living.room lo que we.bought en Navidad]. in Christmas ‘It was THE LIVING ROOM that we bought for Christmas.’ 17 When the cleft constituent is a VP or CP: reduced relative first 16. a. [Lo que le apasiona] es ESCRIBIR NOVELAS. lo que to.him passionate is write novels ‘What he’s passionate about is WRITING NOVELS.’ b. [Lo que necesitamos saber] es DÓNDE ESTÁ lo que we.need know is where is EL DINERO. the money 'What we need to know is WHERE THE MONEY IS.‘ c. [Lo que pasó] fue QUE TODOS RENUNCIARON. lo que happened was that they.all quit 'What happened was THAT THEY ALL QUIT.' 18 When the cleft constituent is a VP or CP: copula first 17. a. ?Es ESCRIBIR NOVELAS [lo que le apasiona]. is write novels lo que to.him passionate b. ??Es DÓNDE ESTÁ EL DINERO [lo que is where is the money lo que necesitamos saber]. we.need know c. *Fue QUE TODOS RENUNCIARON [lo que was that they.all quit pasó]. happened lo que 19 Word Order Restrictions: clefted VP or CP first In fact, a similar, though less severe effect is observed when the first constituent of the lo que-cleft is a VP or a CP: 18. ESCRIBIR NOVELAS es [lo que le apasiona]. write novels is lo que to.him passionate ‘What he’s passionate about is WRITING NOVELS.’ 19. ??QUE TODOS RENUNCIARON fue [lo que that they.all quit was lo que pasó]. happened 20 Information structure o So far we have looked at a number of structural properties that make lo que-clefts different from other clefts in Spanish, but which are similar to properties of English pseudo-clefts. o Most of the studies on cleft sentences in Spanish deal with cases where the cleft constituent is a focus: Fernández (1999), Morales (2005), Sedano, (2010), Fernández-Soriano (2009), Feldhausen and Vanrell (2015), Vanrell & Fernández-Soriano (2016), inter alia. 21 Information Structure of the reduced relative o But the cleft constituent is not always a focus: Prince (1978), Collins (1991), Dufter (2009). o Moreover, the reduced relative clauses of the different types of cleft sentences provide different types of information: Prince (1978), di Tullio (1990), Collins (1991), di Tullio (2006), Morales (2005), Dufter (2009) ). o Di Tullio (1990), proposes that lo que-clefts can be truncated given the appropriate informational context. 22 Information Structure of the reduced relative o Truncated clefts (di Tullio 2006): when the reduced relative is background/given information. 20. a. ¿Qué ocurre? what happens ‘What’s happening?’ b. Es que JUAN ACABA DE LLEGAR. is that Juan he.finishes of arrive (di Tullio 1990:11) ‘Juan just arrived.’ c. [Lo que pasa] es que JUAN ACABA DE Lo que it.happens is that Juan he.finishes of LLEGAR. arrive 23 Truncated clefts o But this cannot be a defining property of lo queclefts because que-clefts and wh-clefts also have this property: 21. a. ¿Quién apagó la luz? who turn.off the light ‘Who turned the light off?’ b. Fue JUAN. was Juan c. [El que/quien apagó la luz] fue JUAN. The that/who turn.off the light was Juan 24 New information in the reduced relative o Morales (2005) had already identified that in the cleft constructions of Spanish there are cases in which new information is not presented by the cleft constituent, but in the reduced relative itself (see also Dufter (2009), and Prince (1978) and Collins (1991) for English) 22. a. Que-cleft Porque es UNA SOLA ACTRIZ [LA QUE TIENE QUE MANTENER LA ATENCIÓN DE UN PÚBLICO DURANTE CASI DOS HORAS DE ESE MONÓLOGO]. (Morales 2005: 84) 25 New information in the reduced relative 22. b. Que-cleft Porque es UNA SOLA ACTRIZ [LA QUE TIENE QUE because is one single actress the that must that MANTENER LA ATENCIÓN DE UN PÚBLICO DURANTE keep the attention of a public during CASI DOS HORAS DE ESE MONÓLOGO]. almost two hours of that monologue ‘Because it is only one actress THAT MUST KEEP THE PUBLIC ’S ATTENTION DURING ALMOST 2 HOURS OF THAT MONOLOGUE.’ (Morales 2005: 84) 26 Reversed lo que-clefts are different: o In these cases que-clefts show the order copula - [cleft constituent] - [reduced relative]. o However, here there seems to be a difference between lo que-clefts and que-clefts, since lo que-clefts show the order [cleft constituent]-copula-[reduced relative]: (23) a. Lo que-cleft: …sus tortillas sus... frijoles y su quesoi y... ¿No? Esoi es [LO QUE MÁS PUEDE COMER UN CAMPESINO PORQUE NO SE PUEDE DAR EL LUJO DE COMER OTRA COSA]. (CDEM- Cinta 4-II-B) 27 Reversed lo que-clefts are different: 23. b. Lo que-cleft: His tortillas, his beans and his cheese, and... Isn't it? Esoi es [LO QUE MÁS PUEDE COMER UN that is lo que more can eat a CAMPESINO PORQUE peasant EL LUJO NO SE PUEDE DAR because not CL can give DE COMER OTRA COSA]. the luxury of eat another thing 'That is the most a peasant can eat, because he cannot afford the luxury of eating something else.' 28 Reversed lo que-clefts are different: o In fact, throughout my corpus (Mexican Spanish) there is not a single case of a lo que-cleft with these informative properties and with the order copula -eso - [lo que reduced relative] (that is, the order of (22), although it is certainly not ungrammatical). o This contributes to corroborate my proposal that, unlike other types of cleft constructions, lo que-clefts are more restricted with respect to their possible alternations of word order. 29 When the cleft constituent is not a focus o In many of these cases the cleft constituent is a pronominal element, characteristically eso "that" (Morales 2005: 85, Dufter 2009). o There are also cases with esto "this": 24. a. … esos elementos míticos, provenientes del paganismo, que desde los inicios del cristianismo se le han ido adhiriendo, aparecerá la figura auténtica, que si observas bien, es muy 'alivianda'i. Estoi es [LO QUE INTENTA BULTHMAN Y LA TEOLOGÍA LUTERANA]. (CDEM-Piedra rodante) 30 When the cleft constituent is not a focus 24. b. Lo que-cleft: The authentic figure will appear, which, if you look at it carefully, happens to be very laid-back. Estoi es [LO QUE INTENTA BULTHMAN Y this is lo que he.tries Bulthman and LA TEOLOGÍA LUTERANA]. the theology Lutheran 'This is what Bultham and Lutheran theology are aiming for.' 31 Truncated clefts without a cleft constituent o The cleft constituent can be completely omitted, as in the following truncated cleft: 25. [Eso] es [lo que yo digo]. that is lo que I say ‘(That) is what I say.’ (based on di Tullio 2006:488) o Observe that this kind of example provides evidence that eso is not a focus, since foci characteristically cannot be deleted (Lambrecht 1994). 32 Truncated clefts without a cleft constituent o But in addition, in some of these cases the presence of the complementizer que is observed, which I will provisionally call an anaphoric que. 26. Bueno, lo que yo necesito es trabajar al aire librei, well lo que I I.need is to.work outdoors quei es [LO QUE ME GUSTA]. that is lo que to.me pleases 'Well, what I need is to work outdoors, which is what I like.' (CDEM-HCdMx) 33 Truncated clefts without a cleft constituent o In this case the reduced relative cannot appear before the copula: o I.e.: * que – [reduced relative] - copula 27. *Lo que yo necesito es trabajar al aire librei, lo que I I.need is to.work outdoors quei [LO QUE ME GUSTA] es. that lo que to.me pleases is 34 Truncated clefts without a cleft constituent o This is evidence that the "anaphoric que" in these constructions corresponds to the cleft constituent, since clefts in Spanish do not permit the order cleft constituent–[reduced relative]–copula: 28. *TRABAJAR AL AIRE LIBRE [lo que to.work outdoors lo que me gusta] es. to.me pleases is (What I like is to work outdoors.) 35 A possible analysis o It is possible that the cleft sentences with anaphoric-que are a type of non-restrictive or appositive relative clause such as (29): 29. El aguacate, que no es caro, the avocado that not is expensive siempre es bueno para la salud. always is good for the health ‘Avocado, which is not expensive, is always good for your health.’ 36 A possible analysis 30. Trabajar al aire libre, [ que es [lo que me to.work outdoors that is lo.que to.me gusta]], siempre es bueno para la salud. pleases always is good for the health ‘Working outdoors, which is what I like to do, is always good for your health.’ o A well-known property of relative pronouns in English non-restrictive relatives is that they can show anaphoric properties (see Arnold 2007, and de Vries 2006). 37 A possible analysis In Spanish non-restrictive relative clauses introduced by the complementizer que, the relativized element is a null operator (Toribio 1992). o o In such an analysis, the null operator (and not the complementizer que), would be responsible for the observed anaphoric properties, like any other null pronominal element. 31. [Op que t es [ lo que me gusta]] that is lo.que to.me pleases ‘which is what I like’ 38 A possible analysis o It is important to note that, if correct, this analysis would provide additional evidence for the proposal that the cleft constituent in clefts does not necessarily have to be a focus. o This is because in (31), the cleft constituent is the null operator. Just as with truncated clefts, this would be a case in which the cleft constituent lacks phonetic content entirely, a property that foci cannot have. 39 Conclusions o I have proposed a terminological revision of the terms "cleft" and "pseudo-cleft“ for Spanish. o I propose this terminological revision based on the syntactic and informative properties of the different types of cleft constructions of Spanish, and I propose that Spanish (as opposed to English) has in principle three different types of cleft sentences: que-clefts, whclefts, and pseudo-clefts, which are only those clefts introduced by the locution lo que. 40 Conclusions o As in English, only lo que-clefts can have cleft constituents such as VPs and CPs, and only lo que-clefts form all-clefts. o Lo que-clefts are more restricted with respect to their possible word order alternations. o When the reduced relative is new information, queclefts show the order copula - [cleft constituent] - [reduced relative] (Morales 2005). 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