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Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 9 (EISS 9 ... - CSSP - CNRS

Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 9 (EISS 9 ... - CSSP - CNRS

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F<strong>in</strong>ally, the rank<strong>in</strong>g proposed, with two pairs of overlapp<strong>in</strong>g constra<strong>in</strong>ts (NoQSubj/SF <strong>in</strong>fo<br />

<strong>and</strong> SF <strong>in</strong>fo /AFR), also accounts for the distribution found <strong>in</strong> the data for focused <strong>in</strong>direct objects<br />

(see Tableau 5). C<strong>and</strong>idate (a1) is the most common output form s<strong>in</strong>ce it does not violate any<br />

constra<strong>in</strong>t. In Tableau 6, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, the <strong>in</strong>direct object is predicted to occur <strong>in</strong> a cleft<br />

sentence s<strong>in</strong>ce leav<strong>in</strong>g it <strong>in</strong> situ violates the higher ranked constra<strong>in</strong>t SF special .<br />

QUD:Qu’est-ce que Paul a<br />

trouvé sur le coffre?<br />

SF SF special Overt-<br />

Subj<br />

NoQ<br />

Subj<br />

SF <strong>in</strong>fo AFR Faith-<br />

Syn<br />

a1. ☞ Paul a trouvé des<br />

empre<strong>in</strong>tes SUR LE<br />

COFFRE.<br />

b1. C’est SUR LE COFFRE<br />

que Paul a trouvé des<br />

*! *<br />

empre<strong>in</strong>tes.<br />

c1. SUR LE COFFRE, Paul a<br />

trouvé des empre<strong>in</strong>tes.<br />

***!<br />

d1. C’est des empre<strong>in</strong>tes<br />

que Paul a trouvé sur le *! *<br />

coffre.<br />

e1. Paul a trouvé des<br />

empre<strong>in</strong>tes sur le coffre.<br />

*!<br />

Tableau 5. Tableau for focused <strong>in</strong>direct objects realized <strong>in</strong> situ (<strong>in</strong> non-special contexts)<br />

QUD:Ce sont mes empre<strong>in</strong>tes,<br />

mais pourquoi vous me<br />

soupçonnez?<br />

a2. ☞ C’est SUR L’ARME qu’on<br />

a trouvé vos empre<strong>in</strong>tes.<br />

b2. On a trouvé vos<br />

empre<strong>in</strong>tes SUR L’ARME.<br />

SF SF special Overt-<br />

Subj<br />

NoQ<br />

Subj<br />

SF <strong>in</strong>fo AFR Faith-<br />

Syn<br />

*! *<br />

c2. SUR L’ARME, on a<br />

trouvé vos empre<strong>in</strong>tes.<br />

***!<br />

d2. C’est sur l’arme qu’on a<br />

trouvé vos empre<strong>in</strong>tes.<br />

*! *<br />

e2. On a trouvé vos<br />

empre<strong>in</strong>tes sur l’arme.<br />

*!<br />

Tableau 6. Tableau for focused <strong>in</strong>direct objects realized <strong>in</strong> a cleft (<strong>in</strong> special contexts)<br />

6. Conclusion<br />

In this paper, I have <strong>in</strong>vestigated two aspects of the c’est-cleft: its mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> its use. The<br />

data from the two experiments presented <strong>in</strong>dicate that (i) the French c’est-cleft does not<br />

semantically contribute exhaustivity to the sentence’s mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> (ii) the alternation<br />

cleft/canonical is more complex than previously considered. The exhaustivity of the cleft is<br />

attributed to its non-at-issue mean<strong>in</strong>g. I have followed a prosodic <strong>and</strong> pragmatic approach (à la<br />

Hamlaoui 2008) of the canonical/cleft non-r<strong>and</strong>om alternation, argu<strong>in</strong>g that the constra<strong>in</strong>t<br />

rank<strong>in</strong>g SF >> SF special >> Overt-Subj >> NoQSubj, SF <strong>in</strong>fo , AFR >> Faith-Syn, accounts for the<br />

realization of focus <strong>in</strong> French <strong>in</strong> various cases <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpretations.<br />

*<br />

110

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