Cleft sentences: identification and procedural meaning

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Published: 19-09-2018

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Francisco José Raga Gimeno
Universitat Jaume I
Spain
Biography
Vol 45 (2018), Articles, pages 131-165
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/verba.45.3907
Submitted: 01-02-2017 Accepted: 12-06-2017 Published: 19-09-2018
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Abstract

The present article argues that cleft sentences, like all types of sentences, present a double referential interpretation both in terms of characterization and identification, the latter being directly linked to the sentence’s informative structure. The prevalence of identification over characterization is considered here as a distinctive trait of the grammatical nature of cleft sentences. The study proposes the possibility of establishing a scale according to the level of restriction (low level-high level) in the context of identification, but it dismisses the idea that cleft sentences can be functionally characterized by occupying a specific level along this scale. Finally, it is suggested here that the main feature characterizing cleft sentences from an enunciative point of view is their procedural meaning, which consists in emphasizing the importance of cleft sentences as supporters of previous arguments.

Keywords:

cleft sentences, identification, focalization, procedural meaning, contrastiveness
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