CHAPTER 3 CORPUS RESULTS AND DISCUSSTION
3.2.1.3 Sentence Focus
According to Lambrecht (2000:507), Shyu (2008) notes that the Sentence Focus (SF) construction is used to introduce a new entity or new situation into a discourse, as in (57) in which the subject and the verb in Italian and French are placed with accents to present a new proposition.
(57) Context: Why are you walking so slowly?
a. My FOOT hurts.
SV
b: Mein FUSS tut weh./ Mir tut ein FUSS weh
SV/ OVS
c: Mi fa male un PIEDE./ Ho un PIEDE che mi fa MALE. VS/ HAVEcleft
d. J’ai mon PIED qui me fait MAL. HAVE cleft, obligatory
(Lambrecht 2001: 486)
Similarly, in Chinese, according to Shyu (2008), sentences in (58) cited from Yuan (2003) can also present a new proposition or entity with shi...(de) structure. For Shyu, the non-shi...(de) event predicate focus (narrow focus) in (58B) is changed into sentence focus structure, namely, broad focus suggested by Yuan. Further, shi is an optional element while de is an obligatory one.
(58) A: Ni zai ban-gong-shi-li gan-shenme? 你在辦公室裡幹什麼?...
You at office-in do-what
"What were you doing at the office?"
B: Laozhang ba wo suo zai wu-li de 老張把我鎖在屋裡的--Yuan (2003) Old Zhang BA me lock at room-in DE
"Old Zhang locked me in the room."
As table 4 indicated, Chinese shi...(de) structures in English it-clefts, as in (59)-(61) (with only 4 tokens) are less frequently used than in English non-it-clefts, as in (62)-(64) (with 15 tokens). As we can see, in (59), the English it-cleft ‘It was the
Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall’ is translated as Chinese shi...(de)
structure是塞克維爾巴金斯一家人讓他露出馬腳的. The sentence focus following‘shi’ is asserted in the scope of shi...(de) to convey a new proposition which is not raised in the previous utterance. Similarly, in (60), the English it-cleft ‘It was Sam
who had insisted on choosing him’ is translated into Chinese shi...(de) structure
是山 姆堅稱她一定要來 in which the sentence focus山姆堅稱她一定要來 following 是‘shi’ is a piece of new information, since it is not raised in the previous context. A slightly different example is in (61) where the sentence focus 他們留下這些柴火
It is they who left the firewood behind’ represents old information, since it has
appeared in the previous context ‘a small store of firewood neatlystacked..../Rangers.’ Hence the sentence focus here is used to EMPHASIZE what has
been mentioned earlier.(59) a. It was the Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall, as you might expect. (P137)
b.「繼續說吧！」佛羅多有氣無力地說。／我想你也猜得到，是塞克 維爾巴金斯一家人讓他露出馬腳的。大概在宴會前一年左右，...
突然間，一群巴人出現..。(p.161)
(60) a.The stay in Rivendell had worked a great wonder of change on him: he was glossy and seemed to have the vigour of youth. It was Sam who had insisted on choosing him, declaring that Bill (as he called him) would pine, if he did not come. (p.367)
b. 待在瑞文戴爾的這段日子裡，牠變得毛皮豐潤，似乎又恢復了活潑 的體力。是山姆堅稱牠一定要來，否則比爾(他對牠的稱呼)會吃不 好睡不好。 (p.414)
(61) a. Behind them Sam came upon a small store of firewood neatly stacked..../Rangers have been here lately. It is they who left the
firewood behind. But there are also several newer tracks that were not made by Rangers. (p.249)
b. 山姆在岩石後面找到了一些整齊堆放的柴火...／最近有其他的 遊俠來過此處，是他們留下這些柴火的。不過，附近也有幾個不 是遊俠的足跡。 (p.281)
The above examples show that subject focus in English it-clefts tends to be translated as sentence focus in Chinese shi...(de) structure. This suggests that in Chinese it is possible to express sentence focus in shi...(de) structure, as shown in (59)-(61). In English, on the other hand, sentence focus cannot occur in it-clefts;
instead, sentence focus must be expressed by wh-clefts, as noted by Prince (1978).
Examples (62) and (63) are cited from Prince 1978:885, ex.(8) and (9).
(62) a. What that does is tend to rob Ervin and the Grand Jury with yet a
third investigating group. (Haldeman in PT, 201)
b. *It is tend to rob Ervin and the Grand Jury...that does.
(63) a. What you are saying is that the president was involved. (Haldeman in PT, 159)
b. *It is that the president was involved that you are saying.
Similarly, in (64)-(66), English non-it-clefts are all translated into Chinese shi...(de) structures with sentence focus. In (64), the English non-it-cleft ‘The Wood-elves
tracked him first’ is translated into Chinese shi...(de) structure with sentence focus
是 木精靈先找到他的. In the scope of shi...(de), the sentence focus is a new proposition, since it is not mentioned in the previous context. Likewise, in (65), English non-it-cleft ‘He’s here with my leave’ is translated into Chinese shi...(de) structure是 我讓他進來的 in which a new proposition is asserted. Like (61), the sentence focus in example (66) 那場會議決定讓我持有它 also represents old proposition, since ithas been mentioned in the previous context 難到你沒參加那次會議嗎？...我絕對 不會把它據為己有.It is repeated here again to emphasize what has been chosen.
(64) a. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure. No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me. The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. (p.76)
b.我很確定，他不是因為距離遙遠才這樣做的，不，有什麼東西吸引 了他的注意力，那些替我追捕他的朋友也是這樣認為的。「是木精 靈先找到他的，由於他的足跡很明顯，所以對精靈們來說不是難事。」
(P.94)
(65) a. ‘You!’ he cried. ‘You’re always popping up. What do you want now?’ ’He’s here with my leave,’ said Frodo. ‘He came to offer me his help.’ (p.222)
b. 店主嚇得跳了起來。「是你！」他大喊：「你老是神出鬼沒。你現在
要幹什麼？」/「是我讓他進來的，」佛羅多說：「他來這邊想幫我
們。」(p.251)
(66) a. Were you not at the Council?’ answered Frodo...but I give you my word that I do not desire to keep it. Will you not at least let me make trial of my plan? Lend me the Ring. ’No! no!’ cried Frodo. ‘The Council laid it upon me to bear it.’ (p.524)
b.「難到你沒參加那次會議嗎？」...／但我對你保證，我絕對不 會把它據為己有。至少讓我試試我的計畫吧？把魔戒借給我！／
「不！不行！佛羅多大喊：「 是那場會議決定讓我持有它的 ！」
(p.577~579)
The above examples show that sentence focus has two information properties:
“discontinuous” property and “emphatic” property. It not only can convey a new proposition, as in (59)-(60) and (64)-(65), but also can convey an old proposition to emphasize what has been mentioned earlier, as in (61) and (66). Therefore, contrary to Lambrecht’s (2000) claim that sentence focus is used to introduce a new entity or situation into a discourse, sentence focus can also be used to convey an old piece of information, with further emphatic property.
To summarize, the findings relating to Lambrechet’s three focus types (SF, PF, and IF) have shown that Chinese shi...de sentence should be regarded as a predicational sentence, supporting Shyu’s (2008) claim that Chinese shi...de sentence is not equated with English it-clefts. However, the results are opposed to Hedberg’s (1999) claim that Chinese shi...de and English it-clefts are structurally and functionally similar, and to Gundel’s (2005) observation that the low frequency of Chinese shi...de in her study is due to the tendency of topic-comment structure. As we have seen that topic-comment structure alone cannot account for the presence of
shi...(de) structure. Instead, sentence focus and argument focus should be included. In
addition, the highly proposition of Chinese shi...de sentence suggests that English clefts are more restricted in their distribution than their Chinese counterparts. In English, the cleft is used for rhetorical effect, as suggested by Gundel (2005), whereas in Chinese it serves as a predicational sentence that could represent Lambrecht’s three focus types.3. 2. 2 Chinese Pseudo Clefts Translations of English It-clefts
Now we return to some cases where sentences in shi...(de) structure are translated as Chinese pseudo cleft with de shi structure. For those English it-clefts translated as Chinese pseudo clefts, 12 out of 48 (25%), they mainly express argument focus. The data shows that 11 examples are argument focus, as in (67)-(69), and only one is sentence focus, as in (70) (91.6% vs. 8.3%). Moreover, no predicate focus in Chinese pseudo clefts is found in our data. In (67)-(69), the focus could be either a subject focus or an object focus. In (67), the English it-cleft ‘It is the food and stores
that trouble me’ is translated into Chinese pseudo-cleft
我擔心的是食物和裝備 in which the cleft element 食物和裝備following 的是 is the object focus conveyingnew information whereas the cleft clause is presupposed. Likewise, in (68), the English it-cleft ‘It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into halting
words’ is translated into Chinese pseudo cleft
先將這悲痛化成文字的是佛羅多. The cleft element 佛羅多 is the subject focus whereas the cleft clause is old information.The same is true of (69).
(67) a. ‘We should not go much slower on foot, not on the roads that I mean to take. I was going to walk in any case. It is the food and stores that trouble me. We cannot count on getting anything to eat between here and Rivendell, except what we take with us;.(p.234)
b.「小馬本來就沒辦法讓我們躲過這些駿馬的追捕。」他最後終於說，
似乎猜到了佛羅多的想法。「我準備走的路不會讓步行和馬有太大的
差別，反正我本來也準備徒步前進。我擔心的是食物和裝備，我們 在這裡和瑞文戴爾之間是弄不到糧食的，只能靠自己攜帶補給。...」
(p.266)
(68) a. ,and that for him the grief was still too near, a matter for tears and not yet for song. It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into halting words. He was seldom moved to make song or rhyme; even in Rivendell he had listened and had not sung himself. (p.471)
b. 一方面因為這對他來說是太過切身的傷痛，是應該哭泣的悲劇，還 不是應該用歌聲來讚頌的回憶。先將這悲痛化成文字的是佛羅多，他 極少因為感動而作出詩詞或是歌賦，即使在瑞文戴爾的時候，他也只 是傾聽，並沒有開口歌唱。(p.523)
(69) a. It was not Gollum, Fordo, but the Ring itself that decided things. The Ring left him (p.73)
b. 佛羅多，決定一切的不是咕魯，而是魔戒，是魔戒決定離開他。(p.436)
Example (70) is the only Chinese pseudo cleft with sentence focus translated from English it-cleft. As we can see, the English it-cleft ‘It is what he may tell others that I
am afraid of’ is translated into Chinese pseudo cleft
我擔心的是他會把情報告訴別 人 in which the constituent following 的是 is the sentence focus conveying a new proposition whereas the cleft clause is presupposed.(70) a. He knows the land round here well enough, but he knows he is not a match for me in a wood. It is what he may tell others that I am afraid of.
(p.240)
b. 他對這附近的確很瞭解，但他自知在森林中絕無可能和我較勁。我 擔心的是他會把情報告訴別人，我想這些人應該不遠,就讓他們以為 我們 目標是阿契特,這對我們比較好。(p.271)
Consequently, when it comes to the argument focus, especially noun phrase, English it-cleft tends to be translated into Chinese pseudo cleft, as in (67)-(69) above, rather than Chinese shi...(de) structure. The results ascribe to two reasons. First, recall that in section 3.2.1 2 only the interrogative construction can be used to present the argument focus in Chinese shi...(de) structure, but not in English it-cleft. Alternatively, English it-cleft is translated into Chinese pseudo cleft to express the argument focus.
The differences also account for our previous claim that Chinese shi...(de) structure is not equivalent to English it-cleft (Shyu 2008). Second, the observation corresponds to Shyu’s (2008) claim that Chinese shi...(de) constructions can not be categorized as
it-clefts in Chinese, but a predicational sentence, as noted by Lambrecht 2008. For
Shyu, English it-cleft can only be represented by Chinese de shi structure rather than Chinese shi...(de) structure. It is suggested by Shi (1994) and Shyu (2008) that Chinese it-clefts can be replaced with Chinese pseudo clefts to focus on the direct object, as in (71) and (72).(71) Wo zai gongyuan-li zhao-dao de shi nide gou I at park-in find DE SHI your dog
‘What I found in the park was your dog.’ (Shi 1994) (72) a. *Zhangsan he shi putaojiu de.
Zhangsan drink SHI wine DE
‘It was wine that Zhangsan drank.
b. Zhangsan he de shi putaojiu.
Zhangsan drink DE SHI grape-wine
‘What John drank is wine.’ (Shyu 2008)
In addition to focusing on the direct object, Chiense pseudo clefts can also be used to modify a verb. Take (73), (74), and (75) for examples, according to Shyu, English it-cleft in (73) should be represented as Chinese pseudo cleft with de shi structure in (74), instead of Chinese it-cleft with shi...(de) structure in (75). In (73), the Chinese pseudo cleft is interpreted as focusing on the VP ‘xie yibe shu’ rather than focusing on either the adjunct focus ‘fangjia de shihou’ in (75i), or the proposition assertion ‘fangjia de shihou xie le yi-ben shu’ in (75 ii).
(73) It was writing a book that John did during the break.
(74) Zhangsan fangjia zuo de shi [xie yiben shu]
Zhangsan have-holiday do DE SHI write one-CL book
‘What Zhangsan did during the break was writing a book.’
(75) Zhangsan shi [[fangjia de shihou] xie le yi-ben shu] de.
Zhangsan SHI have-holiday Gen time write Asp one-CL book DE (i): ‘It is during the break that Zhangsan wrote a book.’
(ii): ‘It is the case that Zhangsan wrote a book during the break.’
(Shyu 2008)
So far, we have already seen that Chinese shi...(de) is a predicational sentence which manifest Lambrecht’s (1994, 2001) three focus types, and argument cleft is represented by Chinese de shi structure. However, it will be suggested that Chinese
shi...(de) could not be analyzed solely on the basis of structure; rather, information
properties are implicated. Recall that in section 2.2, I have discussed four properties of it-clefts, contrary to the traditional view that only the clefted constituent after ‘it is’sentence as new information, termed as “stress-focused” clefts here. There are other 3 functions: “Informative Presupposition” clefts, “discontinuous” clefts, and “emphatic”
clefts. Accordingly, in the following section, I will discuss how information properties influence the given/old information structure.
3. 2. 3 The Information Property of Chinese shi...(de) Translations with English It-Clefts and Non-It-Clefts
In the syntactic structure, the location of focus is not as clear as in the information properties. In (76), the fact that shi could be placed in more than one place shows that
shi...de structure is ambiguous in its focus, which can be interpreted in several ways,
as in (76i) with subject reading, (76ii) with temporal adjunct, (76iii) with the source adjunct, and (77) with sentence focus, taken from Shyu (2008: 20)(76) (shi) Zhangsan (shi) zuotian (shi) cong Meiguo zuo feiji lai Taiwan de.
Zhangsan SHI yesterday SHI from U.S.A. take plane come Taiwan DE.
‘(The case is that…
(i) ZHANGSAN came from the USA to Taiwan by plane yesterday.
(ii) Zhangsan came from the USA to Taiwan by plane YESTERDAY.
(iii) Zhangsan came FROM the USA to Taiwan by plane yesterday.’
(77) It is the case that Zhangsan came from the USA to Taiwan by plane yesterday.
In order to disambiguate the complicated focus, the following four types of information properties can be used to solve the above problem. Furthermore, it is argued that these four function types can be compatible with Chinese shi...(de) structure in English it-clefts, as in (78), (80), (82), and (84), and English non-it-clefts, as in (79), (81), (83), and (85), and that correlations occur between syntactic structures (that is Lambrecht’s three focus types) and information properties of clefts in Chinese and English. Such correlations provide support for Shyu’s (2008) claim that Chinese shi...(de) is not equated to English it-clefts. In the scope of shi...(de), the element immediately following shi is regarded as a clefted constituent (usually a NP), and the predicate as a cleft clause. In the “stress focused” cleft, as in (78b), the NP focus吉爾多的精靈 is equivalent to the English clefted constituent ‘the Elven-folk of
gildor’ representing new information whereas the predicate
告訴我這些事情 isequivalent to the English cleft clause ‘told me this’ representing old information.
Similarly, in English non-it-clefts, as in (79b), the NP focus從什麼時候 refers to
‘Whence’ and the predicate開始 refers to ‘it came.’
(78) a. When I returned, many days ago, I heard the ill news. The tidings had gone far and wide that Gandalf was missing and the horsemen had been seen. It was the Elven-folk of gildor that told me this; and later they told me that you had left your home. (p.227)
b. 我過了很多天之後才回來，卻立刻聽到不好的消息。一切有了很大 的變化，甘道夫失蹤了，這些黑騎士開始出没在附近。是個叫吉爾多 的精靈告訴我這些事情的；稍後，他們告訴我你已經離開了老家...」
(p.258)
(79) a. ‘It is now many years ago,’ said Gloin, that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. (p.315)
b.「許多年以前，」葛羅音說：「我們的同胞開始起了騷動，我們不知
道這是從什麼時候開始的。..」(p.356)
In the “informative presupposition” cleft, as in (80b), 這個歲數
‘at any rate at that age’ refers to the English clefted constituent ‘at any rate at that age’ with old
information, whereas the predicate 突然間經歷了許多奇遇 refers to the English cleft clause‘adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo’ with new information. The
same is true of shi...(de) in English non-it-cleft as in (81b). The NP 牠們 ‘they’ bears old information whereas the predicate 能對 ‘made for’ bears new information.(80) a. fifty was a number that he felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo.
(80) a. fifty was a number that he felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo.