Analyzing Ilokano Pseudoclefts

dc.contributor.authorRafal, Jeremy
dc.date2023-05-17T02:50:27.000
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-23T00:39:14Z
dc.date.available2023-05-23T00:39:14Z
dc.date.issued2009-03-23
dc.date.submitted2009-03-23T21:25:40-07:00
dc.description.abstractSeveral researchers have proposed that cleft constructions in many Austronesian languages are in fact concealed pseudoclefts (Chung, 1998 for Chamorro; Paul, 2001, 2008 for Malagasy; Georgopolous, 1991 for Palauan, among others). What this paper examines is the syntactic structure of pseudoclefts in Ilokano, a VSO Austronesian language spoken in the Northern Philippines. I argue that the language employs two types of pseudoclefts, both of which are biclausal. The first type (ti-type or null copula-type pseudocleft) utilizes a null copula between a focused constituent XP and a headless relative introduced by the determiner ti. Thus, we get a construction of the type XP < copula=ø < ti + wh-clause. Despite the lack of an overt wh-phrase, material after the determiner ti contains an operator-variable chain signaled by the 'trigger' morphology, creating a headless relative much like in English and other languages. Many Austronesian languages including Ilokano exhibit the famous 'trigger-only' restriction to A-bar movement (Keenan and Comrie, 1977; Aldridge, 2004), and thus the trigger morphology found on the verb in a headless relative marks the 'role' of the variable. The second type (ket-type pseudocleft) employs the topic particle ket with the word order ti + wh-clause < ket < XP. This time, the headless relative sits in a topicalization position and the constituent after the topic particle ket introduces the focused constituent XP. I argue that the ket-type of pseudocleft is in fact a TOPIC < COMMENT construction where the focus is a full IP subject to optional ellipsis, similar to a type of specificational pseudocleft found in English (cf. den Dikken et al., 2000).
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/44719
dc.legacy.articleid1086
dc.legacy.fulltexturlhttps://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&amp;context=pwpl&amp;unstamped=1
dc.source.issue20
dc.source.journalUniversity of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics
dc.source.peerreviewedtrue
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.titleAnalyzing Ilokano Pseudoclefts
dc.title.alternativeRafal
dc.typeWorking Paper
digcom.contributor.authorRafal, Jeremy
digcom.identifierpwpl/vol15/iss1/20
digcom.identifier.contextkey794488
digcom.identifier.submissionpathpwpl/vol15/iss1/20
digcom.typeworkingpaper
dspace.entity.typePublication
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublicatione888b37b-48af-4045-8651-aad34af254af
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication.latestForDiscoverye888b37b-48af-4045-8651-aad34af254af
relation.isJournalOfPublication132fd3ed-455d-4af6-9c2c-a7ed87eee405
upenn.schoolDepartmentCenterUniversity of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics
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