Universität zu Köln

Malcher, Kurt (2023). Clefts. A cross-linguistic investigation. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates cleft sentences from a cross-linguistic perspective. A cleft sentence is defined as a complex specificational sentence involving an oriented clausal nominalization in one of its terms. It is argued that this cross-linguistically oriented definition is best suited both for identifying clefts in typologically diverse languages and for distinguishing clefts from similar constructions. The notions underlying the definition, as well as the structural variation observed in cleft constructions, are discussed and illustrated with data from genetically and areally diverse languages.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Malcher, Kurt UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-710505
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Papers on Prominence
Volume:	6
Date:	9 September 2023
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 1: Kunstgeschichte, Musikwissenschaft, Medienkultur und Theater, Linguistik, IDH > Institut für Linguistik > Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
Subjects:	Language, Linguistics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language cleft sentences English pseudo-cleft sentences English specificational sentences English equational sentences English copular sentences English nominalization English relative clauses English
Date of oral exam:	5 October 2021
Referee:	Name Academic Title Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. Prof. Dr. Haude, Katharina Dr. Matić, Dejan Prof. Dr.
Funders:	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Project-ID 281511265 – SFB 1252 Prominence in Language, in the project B05: Prominence related structures in Austronesian symmetrical voice languages, at the University of Cologne
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/71050