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Syntactic Metamorphosis: Clefts, Sluicing, and In‐Situ Focus in Japanese
Author(s) -
Hiraiwa Ken,
Ishihara Shinichiro
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
syntax
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1467-9612
pISSN - 1368-0005
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2011.00164.x
Subject(s) - focus (optics) , syntax , set (abstract data type) , linguistics , movement (music) , computer science , stripping (fiber) , natural language processing , engineering , physics , philosophy , programming language , aesthetics , electrical engineering , optics
. In this article, we propose that three types of focus constructions in Japanese—clefts, in‐situ focus, and sluicing/stripping—share the same underlying structure and are derived by syntactic “metamorphosis” from one structure to another. After revealing similarities between cleft constructions and in‐situ focus constructions, we specifically propose that the latter underlies the former, which is derived by a focus movement followed by a heavy remnant movement. It is shown that various properties of cleft constructions follow from the syntax of in‐situ focus constructions and movement operations. Then, it is further argued that cleft constructions underlie sluicing/stripping under certain conditions. The article also touches on the so‐called clausemate condition found in multiple cleft sentences. A new set of data will be presented that poses a problem for syntactic explanations of this effect.