The Syntax And Semantics Of All-Cleft Construction:from The Perspective Of Construction Grammar

All-cleft construction,as a subtype of pseudo-cleft construction,takes the form as:“S+ be+ YP”(“S” stands for a nominal clause introduced by “all”.).In terms of semantics,it conveys relationship of identifying which displays the basic function of assertive construction.It can be basically categorized into two major types:specificational all-cleft and predicational all-cleft.Previous studies have been conducted from different perspectives,including traditional grammar,generative grammar,functional grammar,constructional grammar.However,there still exists some limitations in the previous studies:(1)Description about syntactic and semantic features of all-cleft construction is not adequate and comprehensive enough.(2)Investigations about all-cleft construction are short of intensive discussion towards the motivation of all-cleft.Therefore,based on previous achievements,this thesis is mainly engaged in the description and explanation of all-clefts.Adopting both synchronic and diachronic approach,this thesis,on the basis of Construction Grammar,tries to address the following two questions:(i)What are the syntactic,semantic and pragmatic features of all-clefts?(ii)How are they motivated? The major findings are as follows:First,the specificational all-cleft is characterized by variable-value relationship.The predicational all-cleft is merely concerned about predicating something of the referent of all-clause.Apart from the defining feature,many other syntactic and semantic features set two types apart,like reversibility,question-answer pair,connectedness,referring relationship etc.Second,presupposition of existence is the common pragmatic feature shared by the specificational all-cleft and the predicational all-cleft.Apart from this shared feature,one particular feature possessed by the specificational all-cleft is that its focus is exhaustive and contrastive,which is determined by the nature of specificational all-cleft presented as variable-value relationship.Third,the motivation of all-cleft is the result of interaction and integration between multiple factors.All-cleft is motivated by schematic inheritance during the process of its development which inherits lots of characteristics from other assertive constructions.Besides,context also plays a vital role in the emergence and development of all-cleft.Neoanalysis and analogization,question-answer pair are also exerting their impact on the evolution of all-cleft.Assertive construction is considered as the fundamental construction in human languages.Therefore,present study is of great significance in the systematic study of pseudo-clefts as well as promoting an integrated study of assertive construction.