Azu’s Notes

Clefting transformations are used in English and many other languages to mark information structure.

It-Clefts are of the form:
It is/was/will be … that
where what comes between the first and the second part of the construction is the clefted noun phrase, prepositional phrase or adverb.
e.g.
1. It is Kareem that makes the wonderful pasta.
2. It was in July that I last went abroad.
3. It is ridiculous that we have to learn this.

WH-cleft constructions can be of the form:
WH-word - is/was/ will be

In WH-cleft constructions, the clefted noun phrases, prepositional phrase, or adverb is placed after the verb be, and the rest of the clause is placed between the two parts of the construction.

e.g.
4. The rose which I received yesterday was a black one.
5. The man who Kamana told us about is at the door.
6. The resort where they stayed at was recently renovated.

Cleft constructions are used to mark givenness.

In an it-cleft construction:
- the clefted phrase represents new information
- the rest of the sentence is given information

e.g.
To answer the following information question:
7. Who was Manike talking to last evening?

The following it-clefted sentence can be used; where the answer to the question (i.e new information) is clefted:
8. It was Jaufar that Manike was talking to last evening.

Compare the above sentence with the one below
9. It was Manike that Jaufar was talking to last evening.

Does it answer the question in 7?

That the part of the sentence following that in an it-cleft sentence is evident because the clefted part can refer to something that was just mentioned in the previous sentence.

e.g.

Kanbulo said that Hiyala had seen someone at the party that she knew from her school days. It turns ourt it was Fulhu that Hiyala saw at the party.

Does the element following that represent given information?
In WH-constructions, the new information comes after the verb be, and the rest of the clause is placed between the WH-word and the be verb.

e.g.

10. What did Aiminaibee see at the mosque?

The appropriate answer to this would be:

11. What Aiminaibee saw at the mosque was Foolhudhigu Handi with a skull.

Why can’t sentences 12 or 13 be appropriate answers for question 10?
12. * The one who saw Foolhudhigu Handi with a skull was Aiminaibee.
13. * Where Aiminaibee saw Foolhudhigu handi was at the mosque.

As in an it-clefted sentence, the WH-clefted phrase is the new information and the rest of the sentence is given information.

I loved his last song. What I loved about it was the wonderful poetry.

The effect of both it-clefting and WH-clefting is to highlight which element is new information and which is given information.

In addition to this, both constructions can mark contrast.

14. Kanbulo said that Hiyala had seen someone at the party that she knew from her school days. It turns ourt it was Fulhu that Hiyala saw. (not Thakuru)

15. I loved his last song. What I loved about it was the wonderful poetry. (not the way he sang it)

So, why does English have two constructions with the same function?

The two constructions are usually used for different purposes and there IS a subtle difference:

- an it-cleft construction can be used to mark given information that the listener is not necessarily thinking about.
- a WH-construction assumes that the listener is thinking about the given information

e.g.
It is more appropriate to start a historical narrative with an it-cleft rather than a WH-cleft construction.

16. It was with the intention of gaining independence from the Portuguese that the Utheemu brothers built the Kalhuohfunmi.

17. * What the Utheem brothers built the Kalhuohfunmi for was the intention of gaining independence from the Portuguese.

SENTENCE STRESS

In English, as well as many other languages, intonation is an important information marking device.

Generally, noun phrases representing new information
- receive stronger stress that noun phrases representing given information
- are uttered on a slightly higher pitch than the rest of the sentence

This is called new-information stress.
e.g.
A: Whose books are those on the floor?
B: They’re Jabir’s books.

In English, stress is also used to mark contrast:
e.g.
18.
A: Are those your books on the floor?
B: No, They’re not mine, they’re Jabir’s.
19. They made Kareem do an assignment in compensation for the test he missed, but they let off Goma with just a medical certificate.

Some languages (Japanese) have grammatical morphemes whose sole function is to mark categories of information structure.

Givenness, topic and contrast are not inherent properties of particular noun phrases, but relational categories of information structure.
e.g.
whether a noun phrase is contrastive or not can be identified only in light of the utterance or even the discourse in which it occurs

Definiteness, referentiality and the generic/specific contrast are inherent properties of the noun phrase.
e.g.
whether a noun phrase is definite or indefinite can be decided even without knowing the sentence in which it occurs

Syntactic operations and other phenomena found in different languages can be described using these categories of information structure.

The same content may be expressed in a variety of ways – where the difference is often a pragmatic one.

The extent to which and the ways in which pragmatic information is encoded in morphology and syntax varies among languages.

e.g.
a. Some languages have words whose only purpose is to indicate pragmatic categories (e.g. Japanese)
b. Some languages depend on syntactic structures (e.g. passives in English)
c. Many languages use intonation to mark pragmatic nuances

Fronting - a syntactic movement found in many languages, have different functions in different languages

In English fronting is used to mark givenness and the fronted noun phrases are usually contrastive

e.g.
i. a fronted noun phrase represents given information:

Dhaleyka: She said you don’t like chocolates.
Kaidha: Chocolates I can definitely live without.

ii. a noun phrase can be fronted if its referent is part of a set that has been mentioned earlier in the discourse (even if the referent itself may not have been):

Dhaleyka: What is your least favourite dessert?
Kaidha: Chocolates, I loathe!

ii. in English fronted noun phrases are usually contrastive

Dhaleyka: Do you like ice cream?
Kaidha: I love ice cream, but chocolates I loathe.

In English, the fronted noun phrase must be the more salient element of the sentence; otherwise the sentence would be pragmatically inappropriate.

e.g.
Dhaleyka: What’s your favourite dessert?
Kaidha: Puddings I love, especially with ice cream and wafers.

In some languages (e.g. Mandarin Chinese) fronted noun phrases represent the topic and do not necessarily have a semantic role in the rest of the sentence; neither do they have to be contrastive.

Left-dislocation though it is an operation that is syntactically similar to fronting, has many differences - the main one being the pronoun used in left-dislocated sentences.

e.g.
Chocolates, I can’t live without them. - left-dislocated
Chocolates I can’t live without. - fronted

Left-dislocated noun phrases are set off from the rest of the sentence by a short pause (illustrated by a comma in writing)

A main function of left-dislocation is to reintroduce (usually contrastively) a noun phrase that has not been mentioned for a while in a particular discourse.
e.g.
I love reading. I’d read anything once. I’ve read all of John Grisham’s. Some of Sydney Sheldon’s books are pretty good too. Danielle Steel also I have read, some of hers are wonderful too. Then there is J K Rowling of course! Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen are also wonderful authors. But Grisham, he is my favourite.

In the above example, the speaker lists a number of authors and comments on them. Grisham mentioned early in the discourse, is reintroduced in the last sentence. Because nothing has been said about him in the previous four sentences, the speaker reintroduces Grisham as a left-dislocated noun phrase.

Left-dislocation is also contrastive - in the above example, Grisham clearly contrasts with Sheldon, Steel, Rowling, Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen.

As a result of its double function, left-dislocation is typically used when speakers go through lists and make comments on each individual element in the list.

Definite - a noun phrase that is marked to indicate that the speaker believes the addressee can identify its referent

Indefinite - when the noun phrase is not marked with the assumption that the addressee can identify the referent

e.g.
Kanbulo: Who brought in the cat?
Futhu: The boy.

Pronouns and proper nouns are generally definite - but there are exceptions

e.g.
There is a Hassan Thakuru on my register who hasn’t yet showed up for a single class this semester.

In English and many other languages, definiteness is marked by the choice of articles (the Vs a) or by demonstratives (this & that)

Some languages have only one article (e.g. Fijian)

e.g

na totoka mua
Article handsome sailor
‘The handsome sailor’

e dua na totoka mua
he/she/it one Article handsome sailor
‘A handsome sailor’

Many languages do not have articles at all, and hence mark definiteness in other ways (e.g. Chinese)

There are also some languages that have two word forms - one definite and one indefinite (e.g. Rotuman)

Definiteness is different from givenness as a noun phrase can be:
a. definite and given

e.g.
Once upon a time, in a town far away, there lived a beautiful princess. One day, the beautiful princess was cursed by a wicked witch.

b. indefinite and given

e.g.

On his birthday, he took us to a café a café so noisy that it was impossible to hear yourself think, let alone have a conversation.
c. definite and new

e.g
Any medication should be taken only after consulting the physician.

d. indefinite and new

e.g.
Yousuf is waiting for a lovely girl with curly hair.
Yousuf is waiting for a lovely girl with curly hair; her name is Zainab.

Out of the above, definite and given and indefinite and new are most common

Definiteness and givenness are two distinct categories of information structure

A referential noun phrase is one that refers to a particular entity.

Referentiality and definiteness need to be distinguished as a noun phrase can be:
a. referential and definite

e.g.
He’s the president of the committee.

b. referential and indefinite

e.g.
My son bought a rabbit.

c. nonreferential and definite

e.g.
Where’s the closest café around here?

d. nonreferential and indefinite
e.g.
We need to write an essay.

Although pronouns and proper nouns are usually referential, certain pronouns such as you, it, they and one are often nonreferential.

e.g.
If you borrow others’ ideas, you need to acknowledge them.
It is said that the Maldives is paradise for tourists from cold climates.
They have changed the deadline for the assignment again.
One shouldn’t panic in situations such as these.

A noun phrase may be generic or specific depending on whether it refers to a category or to a particular member of a category.

e.g.
The cat is a feline.
The cat is sleeping.

Generic/specific contrast is a separate category that differs from definiteness and referentiality.

Topic - the main centre of attention in a sentence

Comment - the element of sentence that says something about the topic

Often (but not always) given information is the topic and the new information represents the comment

e.g. Speaking of Hiyala, she won the contest.
As for Hiyala, she won the contest.

In certain cases, the new information can be the topic as well

e.g. Hiyala won the contest.
As for her boyfriend, he came last.

Similarly, given information can also be a comment

e.g. Alifulhu didn’t do anything the fanditha man asked.

As for Hiyala, she did everything he asked.

Therefore, the given/new information contrast is different from the topic/comment contrast

It is difficult to define the topic, as it is not necessary for the topic to be a property of the sentence -  it may be a property of the discourse context

e.g. Watch out!
(uttered to draw a pedestrian’s attention to speeding motorbike)

In English, marking the subject of a sentence is much more important than marking the topic of the sentence - in fact, the only construction that unequivocally marks topics in English is the relatively rare ‘as for ‘ construction

e.g. As for me, I’ve had enough of this.

Marking topic is considerably more important in languages such as Japanese and Korean - which have words whose only function is to mark the topic noun phrase
Contrastive noun phrase - a noun phrase that is marked as being in opposition to another noun phrase in the same discourse

e.g. Thakuru: Did Hiyala prepare the curry?
Alifulhu: No, Goma did.

Contrast is also marked when narrowing down a choice from several candidates to one - where the noun phrase that refers to the chosen candidate is marked contrastively

e.g. Of all the students in the class, only Hiyala knew the meaning of the word.

Simple test for contrast - check if the noun phrase can be followed by rather than

e.g. Thakuru: Did Hiyala prepare the curry?
Alifulhu: No, Goma, rather than Hiyala, prepared the curry.

A single sentence may have several contrastive noun phrases

e.g. Thakuru: Did Hiyala prepare the curry?
Alifulhu: Yes, Hiyala prepared the curry, but Goma prepared a whole meal on her own.

The entity with which a noun phrase is contrasted is sometimes understood from the discourse and/or nonlinguistic contexts
e.g. Hiyala wants to have a lot of children.
(If this was a part of a conversation about how the interlocutors do not want to have too many children

In English, the most common way in which contrastive noun phrase is marked is by pronouncing the contrastive noun phrase with strong stress

e.g. Alifulhu may be good-looking, but Thakuru is richer.

Pragmatics - (sometimes used interchangeably with the term information structure) studies language use, in particular the relationship among syntax, semantics and the interpretation in accordance with the context of situation.

Information Structure - level of structure at which certain elements in a sentences are highlighted or backgrounded according to their prominence in the particular discourse.

A primary task in pragmatics is identifying the categories needed to talk about information structure. A set of basic concepts describing pragmatic differences in English and other languages is essential.

Categories of Information Structure - must be applicable to all languages (though how they are used may differ among languages) as the purpose of these categories is to explain how discourse is constructed in any language.

They types of syntactic constructions and the categories of information structure possible in different languages, however, since the categories of information structure are not language dependent, cannot be defined in terms of particular structures.

Yet, in all languages a major function of syntax is to encode pragmatic information and what differs from one language to another is the way in which pragmatics maps onto syntax.

Given (old) Information - content already introduced into a discourse and hence presumed to be at the forefront of the hearer’s mind.

New Information - content introduced into a discourse for the first time.

Given information is often expressed in condensed form by the second speaker.

Pieces of information that have close association with something that has been introduced in the discourse previously are taken as given.

As most kinds of discourse have implicit speakers and addressees, interactors always take first and second speaker pronouns to be given information.

Noun phrases with new information are usually more stressed and commonly expressed in more elaborate fashions.

Given information, however, are often abbreviated or reduced.