A Study on English Cleft Sentence

A Study on English Cleft SentenceAbstractA cleft sentence is an emphatic construction with non-referring it as formal subject. It is so called because dividing a single statement into two separate parts each with a verb of its own forms it. It is commonly used to spotlight an element of an ordinary statement. Generally speaking, except the predicator, almost all the elements of a statement can be singled out as the focal element of a cleft sentence.This thesis mainly contains five parts, various kinds of cleft sentence and many stylistic meanings, differences between cleft sentence and subject clause, as well as other kinds of cleft phenomena in English. The author begins his thesis from the definition of cleft sentence, on which many people have their own concept. Then the author mainly focuses on different kinds of cleft sentences because of different focal elements. In this part, ellipsis in cleft sentence and questions and exclamations are also talked. As one kind of complicated sentence, cleft sentence has some relationship with basic sentence, to be specific, cleft sentence is one kind of simple sentence in some sense. Cleft sentence is one kind of important sentences, so it is quite meaningful to study it in its form and meaning.【Key words】: cleft sentence, emphatic structure, focalelements, and stylistic meaningsContentsPAGE COVER ........................................................................ (i)CHINESNABSTRACT (ii)ENGLISHABSTRACT (iii)CATALOGUE (iv)TEXT (v)ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (vi)WORKS CITED (ⅶ)I. INTRODUCTION (1)II.DIFFERENT FORMS, DIFFERENCES, RELATIONSHIPS (5)2.1. DIFFERENT FORMS (5)2.2. DIFFERENCES (5)2.3RELATIONSHPS (5)Ⅲ.STYLISTIC MEANINGS (5)Ⅳ.OTHER CLEFT PHENOMENA (5)Ⅴ.CONCLUSION (5)A Study on English Cleft SentenceLiuPuchenⅠ.IntroductionEnglish cleft sentence is a very common kind of sentence types. In English, it occupies an important position in expressing the emphatic meaning by its flexible forms and easily achieving focus on key information. Like Chinese cleft sentence, it is universally studied by many scholars and language experts. In this thesis the writer will try to study its forms and stylistic meanings with many examples and analyses.Talking about English cleft sentence, many people may have different opinions on its definition. The writer has gotten several concepts about it by looking up some dictionary and books. Some people may call elliptical sentence or cleaving structure instead of cleft sentence. In English-Chinese Word Ocean compiled mainly by Wang Tongyi in 1990, cleft sentence is described as …用置换式产生的一个句子，即在开始加上what 一词，在原句末尾加上be的动词形式，把名词短语从原来的位置移到be的后面＜The sentence George likes gin yields the cleft sentence what George likes is gin ＞‟ But in Longman Grammar of spoken English and written English, the authors think that cleft sentence consists of It-Cleft, What-Cleft and Reversed Wh-cleft sentences. There is another explanation about cleft sentence in Dictionary of Language and applied Linguistics compiled by Jack C. Richards and Richard Schmidt. Their opinions are as follows: Cleft sentence is a sentence which has been divided into two parts, each with its own verb, to emphasize a particular piece of information. They hold the opinion that cleft sentence should begin with it plus a form of verb is, followed by the element which is being emphasized. Zhang Zhenbang has the same idea with them. He thinks that A cleft sentence is an emphatic construction with non-referring it as formal subject. The general pattern of a cleft sentence is as follows: It﹢Be﹢focal element﹢that－／who－clauseLike the former authors, he agrees that a sentence with wh- clause as subject or complement is known as pseudo- cleft sentence. The writer agrees with professor Zhang who think cleft sentence is different from pseudo- sentence. In fact many scholars have studied pseudo- sentence in many aspects like forms, function etc. so, in this thesis cleft sentence only refer the so-called it-cleft sentence. Cleft sentence consists of four parts: one is the pronoun it，and the second part is a form of the word be, optional accompanied by the negation not or an adv such as only. The third part is focal element. The last one is a relative-like dependent clause introduced by that, who or zero.II. Different forms, some differences and relationships in Englishcleft sentence2.1 Different forms of English cleft sentenceCleft sentence is a kind of emphasized construction. Generally speaking, except the predicate, almost all the elements of a statement can be singled out as the focal element in cleft sentence. That means its forms can be various according to different emphatic element.2.1.1 Subject can be emphasized in cleft sentenceIf the subject is a person, the relative clause can be introduced by that or who. For example:It‟s Henry‟ son called Prince Hal, the future Henry V, who leads the army to victory over the rebels.It was Marlowe who first made bank verse (rhymeless iambic pentameter), the principal instrument of English drama.It was these impecunious and industrious men of letters who furnished the Elizabethan stage with a large part of its repertoire.It is he (Satan) who, passing the guarded gates and boundless chaos, amid so many dangers, and across so many obstacles, makes man revolt against god.Actually, in most cases, that is used more usual than pronoun who. That is mean that can be used instead of who or whom.It was the scholars that are his companions on his last night on earth.It was such an audience that fostered the Elizabethan drama with their hard-earned penny, their tears, laughter, and multitudinous applause.In fact it is Miss Richard who has secured his release, and the imposer is thus exposed.Sometimes the subject may not be persons, it is necessary to use that as introductory word.It was this legacy that enable Fielding to take his wife away from the ups and downs of an authors‟ life in London, to his house in the countryside.It is this truthfulness and uprightness that give the character of Parson Adams a particular beauty.But it was the peasants‟ traditional illusion for the king that disarmed the peasants in 1831deluded as they were by the king‟ false promises of freedom.2.1.2 Object can be emphasized in English cleft sentenceIt is known that objection is divided into directive objection and in-directive objection in English. In most cases, directive objection is regarded as focal elements which should be emphasized. For example:It is his rudeness that I object to.It is the yellow hat that I choose from the super market.It (i.e., the Renaissance) was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind has so far experienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants---giants in powerof thought, passion, and character, in universality and leaning.It is not common to see the situation that in-directive objection is emphasized in English. But we can see the in-directive objection with proposition as the focal element. For example:It is me that Tom gives his pen.It is me（that）Tom gives his pen to.The first sentence is used in formal English, while the second sentence is used in informal style. What is more, the second sentence is more usual than the first one.2.1.3 Adverbial can be emphasized in cleft sentenceAdverbial of place is use as focal element in cleft sentence. It is quite common to emphasize adverbial of place in written English. For example:It was in Zheng Zhou that Tom found his lost brother.It is here that our foreign teacher gives us a speech.Adverbial of time is used as focal element in cleft sentence.It is yesterday that Tom got the good news that he is employed by a big firm.It is about 8 o clock that the big fire began to spread.Adverbial of frequency is used as the focal element when they are modified by other words or used in negative form, for example:It is very frequently that he loses his own things.It is not often that he turns to strangers in the street.In addition, the clause which is introduced by the word …that‟ can also tak e the negative form in cleft sentence. For example:It is all too frequently that little students don‟t ask questions.It isn‟t often that Tom doesn‟t fail in the final exam.But some words like rarely and seldom also can be used as focal element though they are not modified. That is because they themselves contain negative meaning. So it is not necessary to make the cleft sentence valid by using them in negative or question type. For example:It is rarely that Tom loses any money.It is seldom that Tom fails in the final exam.Adverbial of cause can be used as focal element in cleft sentence. In most cases, clause of adverbial of cause is mostly emphasized, which means that the whole clause is regarded as focal element.It was because he was poor that he could not go to college.It was owing to his disorder that he (Swift) could not marry, though he was loved by two women.Adverbial of manner can be focal element in cleft sentence. For example:But it is though this gentleman that Sophia is secured.It was so happily that all the people old and young lived in this small village.It was with the utmost caution that the patient was carried to the nearly hospital.Adverbial of purpose can be focal element in cleft sentence. For example: Communism will transform human relationships, and it is in order to do this that itmust first revolutionize the economic society.It is for justice that he stood out in the public.In the second sentence, the focal element is for justice. It can also be rewrite like this: For justice, he stood out in the public. They both have the effect of emphasis. In addition, the emphatic meaning also can be expressed by the way of stressing. Actually, Adverbial of time and place are usually emphasized in English.Some subordinate clause and coordinate element can be emphasized in cleft sentence. Usually, there is only one focal element in cleft sentence. It is seldom to see two focal elements occurring together in one sentence. It is only on the condition that the two focal elements are both adjuncts.It is two years ago, in London that I first met him.It was when Tom was at school that he got along well with his friends.It is conflict and not unquestioning agreement that keeps freedom alive---Thomas Jefferson.It is that the world is flat that I believe.2.1.4 Complement can be emphasized in English cleft sentence.Usually, complement is divided into two kinds: object complement and subject complement in English. In Standard English complement can be used as focal element while in oral English it is rare use in this way.It is the chairman of the committee that they elected him.It was manager that they appointed him.It was yellow that they painted the wall.Because it is strictly limited that subject complement as the focal element in English, especially the adjective phrase is complement. So, it is much more seldom to see the subject complement as the focal element in cleft sentence.It is a genius that he is.It is very tall that you are.The two sentences above are not regarded as correct English. It only can be emphasized on the condition that the predicate verb is …become‟ rather than be.It is a chief manager that Tom has become after a quite long time.It was a doctor that he eventually became.2.1.5 Ellipsis in cleft sentenceEllipsis is a very common linguistic phenomenon. Here the author will elaborate the ellipsis in cleft sentence in three parts. The first one is the ellipsis of relative pronoun.In informal or oral English, the pronoun like that or who can be omitted in cleft sentence. Usually, they are omitted when the focal elements are subject. For example: It is Tom did it.It is the cigarette causes the big fire.The sentences above can be heard in daily dialogue. It is quite common. In thesecon d place, …that‟ can be omitted if the focal element is adverbial of time or adverbial of place.It is in Zheng zhou I first meet him.It was in 1949 the new China was founded.Another case is that the focal element is used as object in cleft sentence.It was my pen you lost.It was you I gave the pen to.The second part is about omitting of subordinate clause. In some cases, especially in answering questions subordinate clause introduced by that can be omitted. For example:----Why Tom could not be there?-----It was because he was ill.Though the answer is not he structure of it-be, it is still cleft sentence. Because the whole sentence should be …it was because Tom was ill that he could not be there ‟. The reason why the subordinate clause introduced by that is omitted is that has been referred in the question. It is unnecessary to refer the old information that has been known by both speaker and listener.The third part is about omitting of It-be. In oral English the two words it and be can disappear in cleft sentence. For example:A good, honest trade you are learning, Sir Peter!A beautiful, kind girl you are talking with, my friend!In a coordinate cleft sentence, the second sentence can be omitted too. The following sentence is a good example.It is a good tongue that say no ill, and a better heart that thinks none—George Kelley Ellipsis should be paid more attention to owing to its functions that make the sentence more concise and communication easier.2.1.6 Exclamation and question in cleft sentenceExclamatory sentence is a good way to expressing the strong feeling of the speaker. Cleft sentence, as an emphatic structure itself, has its own way of expressing. What a beautiful girl it is that your daughter is!What a glorious bonfire it was that you made!What remarkable intelligence it was that you have displayed!Actually, it is not difficult to find that the sentence above can be changed into a simple exclamatory sentence by omitting three words it, be, and that.Cleft sentence have two kinds of question type: general and special question. General question in cleft sentence:Was it in 1998 that the war broke?Was it in Shanghai that you have found your job?Was it you that helped the old man?The following sentences are special question in cleft sentence:How was it that she passed the final exam?What was it that had made you so sad?Who was it that knocked at Miss Wang‟s door?Why was it that he did not answer the telephone?Which book is it that you really want?Whose bike is it that you had borrowed?Where was it that you met your old friend?When was it that the meeting took place?In special question, interrogative is emphasized. Sometimes a cleft sentence as a whole can be used as subordinate clauseJohn told me that it was because he was ill that they decided to return.Did you say it was yesterday that they arrived in Zheng zhou?We object to the idea that it is military force that should be restored to setting international disputes.2.2 Differences between cleft sentence and relative clauseThe second clause in a cleft sentence is obviously similar in structure to a relative clause; and yet（as we shall see bellow）there are considerable differences between them. Examples above show that pronouns used in relative clause（who, that and zero pronoun）are used to introduce cleft sentences. Also suggestive of the relative clause is the fronting of the pronoun: moreover, as in relative clause, the pronoun can be fronted form a position in a prepositional phrase, or form a pushdown position in a noun clause as object:It was the girl that I was complaining about.There are differences from relative clause and similarities which may make people puzzled. The author will focus on the differences between subject clauses with cleft sentence. First, subject clause is defined that a clause is used as subject in a compound sentence. For example:That he finished writing the composition in such a short time surprised us all. It seems that the head it too long and make the long sentence not balanced. So, most of time, it is usually to take the so-called it-be pattern, in which the real subject is located in the end.Anticipatory it plus be and noun/adjective/participle is a general pattern which has similarities with the structure of cleft sentence. The general structure is like this: It﹢be﹢a fact ( a good thing/ news/no surprise/wonder, etc) that…It﹢be﹢well-known (obvious/true/natural/surprising/wonderful/possible/said, etc) that…It﹢be﹢(seen /recorded/pointed/ noted/arranged, etc) that…In a fact, it is easily to distinguish them by checking the following two points. Though cut off it-be and that, cleft sentence can express a whole meaning. That is to say the cleft sentence will be changed into another sentence, while subject clause will not be a complete sentence after omitting it-be and that.It was during a tour in Italy that he finally made his decision: “it was at Rome, on the 15th of Octuber1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the capital, while the bare-foot friars were vespers in the temple of Jupiter that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind”It is not difficult to figure out the main idea by omitting without damaging its meaning that I decided to start writing on the 15th of Octuber1764 at Rome.Another point is about tense. In cleft sentence the verb be can take present, past or adding modal, while subject clause have no limits to take proper tense and various aspects.It has been known to all that the gun powder was first invented by the Chinese.It is interesting to note t hat the author‟s portrait of Somas in “the Man of the Property” undergoes great changes in the later novels, where Somas growing older and mature, becomes more and more an object of sympathy and even of admiration asa result of the novelists‟ treatment.2.3 Relationships between basic sentence types and cleft sentenceFrom the view of structure, cleft sentence seem to be complex sentence. In fact, they express the same content as simple sentences do. So, basic sentence types can be transformed into cleft sentences. In a sense, cleft sentence is a kind of special basic sentence.There are mainly 7 kinds of basic sentence types in English. They are SV, SVO, SVC, SV A, SVOO, SVOC, and SVOA. There are relationships of comparative reference between basic sentence and cleft sentence. For example:Only John protested--- SV----（S）It was only John protested.His wife is worrying him---SVO----（S）It is his wife that is worrying him.----（O）It is him that his wife is worrying.The big fire is under control---SVC----（S）It is the big fire that is under control.He eventually become a doctor---SVC----（C）It is a doctor that he eventually become.The president himself spoke to me---SV A----（S）It was the president himself who spoke to me.John gave Marry a silk handbag at Christmas---SVOO---（S）It is John that gave Marry a silk handbag at Christmas.---（O）It is Marry that John gave a silk handbag at Christmas.---（O）It is a silk handbag that John gave Marry at Christmas.---（A）It is at Christmas that John gave Marry a silk handbag.We are painting the kitchen dark green---SVOC---（S）It is we that are painting the kitchen dark green.---（O）It is the kitchen that we are painting dark green.---（C）It is dark green that we are painting the kitchen.He treated the black man crucially---SVOA---（S）It is he that treated the black man crucially.---（O）It is the black man that he treated crucially .---（A）It is crucially that he treated the black man.In this part, the writer also wants to talk another aspect of cleft sentence—concord in cleft sentence.The first one is reference of tense. Though the verb in the first clause of a cleft sentence is usually simple or past, forms with modals are perfectly possible.It may be his father that he is thinking of.Decisions between present and past, however, is somewhat complicated. Where the verb of the second clause is present, that of the first will be present.It is novels that Miss Williams enjoyed reading.Where the second verb is past, the first can always be past.It was novels that Miss Williams enjoyed as a past.But the first verb may be in the present when the persons concerned are still living or the objects concerned still familiar in the participants‟ experience. For example:It is Miss Williams that enjoyed reading novels as a past.The second one is about choice of personal pronoun. To further explain this problem the author will offer an example. In colloquial English, …why is it always me who has to take the blame?‟ is preferred to the more formal and grammatically correct. In answering to the question, it is me and it is s preferred to it is I and it is we in oral English. Other pronouns, second and third person, singular and plural, usually obey the rule.Those football administrators—it is they who have to (colloquial them that have to) find the remedy for crowd violence. The last one is about agreement between subject and predicate in number. In English cleft sentence, the verb in second clause is determined by the number of the focal element functioning as subject in the clause.It is Jim who is going to do itIt is I who am to blame．It is the love that makes the world goes round.III. Different kinds of stylistic meaningsCleft sentence have many important stylistic meanings. In English, using cleft sentence is one of the most important methods of emphatic information. It is unnecessary for the author to express the emphasized information by the mean of capital words or underling, what he can do is using a cleft sentence only. In written English, people can not use the special intonation or pronunciation to cause the effect of emphasis. Cleft sentence can indicate the emphatic meaning easily and obviously. In addition, cleft sentence have other meanings.3.1 Contrastive meaning in spoken English.Focal elements in cleft sentence not only have the meaning of being emphasized, but also have strong contrastive meaning. So, bright contrast can be formed by adding negative elements. Try to compare the following dialogue: A: It is this book that I want to read.B: It is the other book, not this one that I want to read.A: It isn‟t this book, but that book I want to read.From the sentence above, we can say that contrastive meaning in cleft sentenceaims to explain what the fact is or not. Generally speaking, there are two centers in cleft sentence. One is strong center while the other one is weak relatively.A: You should criticize his rudeness.B: No, it is his rudeness that I should ignoreIt is easy to judge that his rudeness should be the strong center according to the general rules. But, here the most important information is the verb ignore rather than the noun rudeness in the second sentence. Because rudeness has been referred by A, so it is known information for both A and B. But the verb ignore belong to the new information which is exactly the meaning B wants to express. This point can be proved clearly in the following dialogue.C: You should ignore his dishonesty.D: No, it is his rudeness that I shall ignore.3.2 Meaning in proverbsCleft sentence may have its special meaning in some proverbs, which needs our attention. It is necessary to pay attention to its translation too, because it may have a contrary meaning. The following examples are chosen to demonstrate this kind of phenomena.It is a good horse that never stumbles.＝However good a horse is, it stumbles.It is an ill bird that fouls his own nest.＝However ill a bird is, it never fouls its own nest.It is a long lane that has no turning.＝No matter how long a lane is, it has turning.It is a wise father that knows his own child---Shakespeare＝No matter how wise the father is, he can not understand his own children.It is a bold mouse that nestles in a cat‟s ear.＝No matter how bold the mouse is, he dare not make a nestle in a cat‟s ear.It is easily to be puzzled by this kind proverb used cleft sentence, but we may find they have some characteristics at the same time. In the first place, the focal elements are usually single and countable nouns modified by descriptive adjective which refer the condition of concession. Secondly, this kind of proverbs always contains some philosophy in them and the tense of predicative verb is present. Another thing need emphasizing is the way of translating them. Usually, when meeting negative verb, we should translate them into confirmative sentences, and vice verse.3.3 Meaning in boarding cast or newsCleft sentence is not only used in oral English, but also in boarding cast, TV and newspaper in west countries. But the listeners have to distinguish the real meaning in reports.Objection is sometimes made to the habit（especially in Britain radio andtelevision news）of use cleft sentence structure with an item that might be less obstructive with simple fronting. Thus, in place of the following, when a time adjunct is made thematic, not because it is given, but merely as scene-setting to the weightier information that is to come.Last night, a group of terrorists attacked an army post.We may hear it in a news broadcast: it was late last night that a group of terrorists attacked an army post. This conveys unwarrantably the impression that the fact of the attack was known to the hearer but not the time at which it had taken place. The habit can be defended in that an adjunct（especially of time or place）is a fitting scene-setting and that it is this function that the cleft structure emphasizes. There is a comparable stylistic cliché to be found in conventional narrative in place of a straightforward sentence, such as:When Harry returned last night, he found that his wife was very troubled.A rather mannered form of writing might have:It was a very troubled wife that greeted Harry on his return that night.As Chinese learner, we also need to pay special attention to this situation when listening or reading English papers.3.4 Different meaning in similar cleft sentenceIt should be clear that in singling out an item for highlighting in cleft sentence, strong presuppositions are entailed. So, the sentence bellow can be rewrite in two ways.Bill didn‟t come to the party.It was Bill that didn‟t come to the party.It wasn‟t Bill that came to the party.In the first sentence, it is suggested that a memory search is trying to identify a missing guest, while the second sentence is concern with converse reflections on who had in fact been present. so, when using the cleft sentence to express special meaning, we should pay more attention to choosing words, especially in negative sentence.Ⅳ. Other kinds of cleft phenomena in EnglishMany people are perplexed by some complex logical relation in English, and especially some cleft phenomena are more confusing. Here the writer will give a brief description about this kind of sentence. They are detached attribute, split infinitive and split attribute clause.Detached attribute is usually used to modify personal pronoun, for example: Stout, middle-aged, full of energy, she bustled backwards and forwards from the kitchen to the dining room.Dead and buried, she escaped from the torture of sickness thoroughly.In the two sentences above, it is the subject …she ‟that is modified by …stout, middle-aged, full of energy ‟and …dead and buried ‟. Those adjective words are placed in the head of the sentence, which not only have the emphatic meaning but also dive the reader a fresh and vivid concept after reading. Sometimes, those detached attribute。