Reversibility in specificational copular sentences and pseudoclefts

• Published in: Natural language and linguistic theory Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 249 - 266
• Main Author: Martinović, Martina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.02.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Book awards; Cleft constructions; Complementizers; Copulas; English language; Grammatical subject; Linguistics; Morphosyntax; Natural Language Processing (NLP); Noun phrases; Philosophy of Language; Reference (Semantic); Social Sciences; Syntax; Theft; Wolof language; Word meaning; Word order; Reversibility; Pseudoclefts; Specificational sentences; Copular sentences
• ISSN: 0167-806X; 1573-0859
• DOI: 10.1007/s11049-022-09540-7

In this paper I discuss one property of specificational copular sentences and pseudoclefts, the apparent reversibility of the order of their two major constituents. In English, this manifests itself in reversible surface word order. It has been argued in the literature that reversibility in specificational pseudoclefts does not indicate reversibility in the syntax, meaning that the two word orders are not derivationally related (den Dikken et al. 2000 ). In copular sentences, on the other hand, the reversal of the order is generally argued to be the result of inversion in the syntax. Copular sentences and pseudoclefts in Wolof provide us with the opportunity to observe a part of their derivational history, as the focused referential expression A′-moves to Spec,CP, with the other element being topicalized. A′-extraction in Wolof is morphosyntactically marked on the complementizer, which exhibits a subject/non-subject asymmetry, and therefore reveals whether an element has moved there from Spec,IP or another position. This straightforward diagnostic shows that in specificational pseudoclefts either of the two constituents, the FR or the NP, can in fact raise to Spec,IP, contra the claim in den Dikken et al. ( 2000 ) for English. The same kind of reversibility is not found in specificational copular sentences; specifically, only the non-referential expression can move to Spec,IP. The focused NP, which is extracted to Spec,CP, cannot move there from Spec,IP.