In this section, the syntactic structures of Mandarin and Japanese clefts and pseudo-clefts are discussed. In Section 2.1.1, the structures of pseudo-clefts in Mandarin and Japanese are introduced and compared, and in Section 2.1.2, the contrasts between Mandarin and Japanese pseudo-clefts are examined. In Section 2.1.3, Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are compared. Finally, Section 2.1.4 summarizes the discussed issues and provides predictions about Japanese-speaking learners’ performances on Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts.
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2.1.1 Syntactic Structures of Mandarin and Japanese Clefts
In Mandarin Chinese, a cleft sentence is a syntactic construction that marks the focal constituent between the Mandarin Chinese copula shi and the optional particle de as follows:
(1) Cleft Configuration: Subject + shi + cleaved XP + (de) (Lee 2005, pp.3-5)
According to Li (1980) and Tang (1980), the structure of a Mandarin cleft is derived from two transformational rules (or movement stages): copula lowering and topicalization.
(2) a. Cleft Sentence: Ta shi zai jiujinshan yujian Zhangsan de.
he SHI in San Francisco meet Zhangsan DE ‘It was in San Francisco that he met Zhangsan.’
Deep Structure: [Ta][zai jiujinshan yujian Zhangsan][shi][de]
Transformations:
Stage 1: b. Copula Lowering:
Stage 2: Topicalization: [Ta] [shi][…][zai jiujinshan yujian Zhangsan][de]
(Li 1980, pp.77-78 and Tang 1980, pp.184-185)
Another syntactic analysis proposed by Cheng (2008, p.19) reveals that a Mandarin cleft is derived from a small clause.
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(3) a. Shi [[SUBJ Xiaowang] [PRED zuotian wanshang lai de.]]
b.[SUBJ Xiaowang] shi [[….. ][PRED zuotian wanshang lai de]]
Xiaowang SHI yesterday night come DE ‘Xiaowang came last night.’
Example (3a) displays a sentence configuration with a copula shi and a small clause; in (3b), the subject of the small clause is raised across the copula to the subject position to form a Mandarin cleft sentence (Cheng 2008).
According to the analyses proposed by Li (1980), Tang (1980), and Cheng (2008), we can observe that the shi and de elements play a crucial role in a Mandarin cleft sentence. They appear to serve distinct functions and are obligatory in some Mandarin cleft sentences. According to Teng (1979), shi in the Mandarin cleft is viewed as a copula that is a focus marker. But, Tang (1980) considered shi as a main verb. Huang (1982) claimed that shi is an adverb in a Mandarin cleft sentence. From these viewpoints, we can determine that although the function of shi in Mandarin clefts is still in debate, shi is an undeniably crucial element and is required in Mandarin clefts. Tang (1980) and Lee (2005) have analyzed de as a final particle and stated that it may be optional in cleft sentences.
Observing the cleft types from the pragmatic perspectives reveals that NPs, verb phrases (VPs), prepositional phrases (PPs), adjective phrases (ADJPs), and adverb phrases (ADVPs) can all be in the focal part of Mandarin clefts. In addition, Mandarin clefts have a focus reading and hold two main pragmatic functions. First, they convey
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strong assertion from the previous topic (Liu 1996, Hsieh 2002, Lü 2002). Second, they can denote past events (Paul & Whitman 2008, Tang 1980).
The preceding arguments and observations present the basic structure of Mandarin cleft sentences. Nevertheless, some problems remain to be solved. For example, the syntactic analyses of Mandarin clefts cannot clearly account for the following sentence (Cheng 2008, p.26):
(4) Zhangsan shi zuotian kandao Wang xiaojie (bu shi qiantian).
Zhangsan SHI yesterday see Wang Ms. not SHI the day before
‘It is yesterday that Zhangsan saw Ms. Wang, not the day before yesterday.’
In (4), de in a Mandarin cleft sentence can be omitted; however, the analyses performed by Li (1980), Tang (1980), and Cheng (2008) did not provide any explanation for this type of Mandarin cleft sentence. Therefore, one more transformation such as de deletion may be required in the analyses of Li (1980) and Tang (1980). In addition, these studies did not explain why de must be deleted in some Mandarin cleft sentences. Hence, more syntactic investigation of Mandarin clefts are required. Furthermore, although previous researchers have presented some pragmatic functions of Mandarin clefts, they did not provide supportive evidence regarding the use of such constructions under specific contexts. Thus, the pragmatic functions outlined by previous researchers require further justification.
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Japanese cleft sentences consist of an NP followed by a topic marker wa, as shown in (5). The cleaved part follows the topic marker, and the copula da is situated at the final position (Morikawa 2011).
(5) Cleft Configuration: NP + wa + cleaved XP + da
(Morikawa 2011, p.36
1)(6) a. Akahoshi-wa kyaputan da.
Akahoshi-TOP captain DA ‘Akahoshi is the captain.’
b. Ano toki no yuuhi-wa kirei dat-ta.
CL time POSS sunset-TOP beautiful DA-PAST ‘The sunset at that time is beautiful.’ (Fukuda 2010, p.16)
The configurations in (1) and (5) reveal that the syntactic configurations of Mandarin and Japanese clefts both include a focus NP. In addition, a focus marker can be found in both Mandarin and Japanese clefts. However, the focus marker shi in Mandarin follows the NP, whereas the copula da in Japanese is placed at the end of the sentence. This demonstrates that the word orders of Mandarin and Japanese clefts are different. Furthermore, a particle such as de is optional in a Mandarin cleft,, whereas this element does not exist in a Japanese cleft sentence.
By observing the cleft types, Lee (2005) have stated that NP, VP, and PP clefts can be found in Japanese clefts. These three cleft types can also be found in Mandarin clefts.
1 Some modification of the configuration was made in this study to show the consistency of the syntactic configurations.
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However, no studies have identified ADJPs and ADVPs in Japanese clefts. This is slightly different from the cleft types of Mandarin clefts. Concerning the pragmatic usages of Japanese clefts, Kato (2000) stated that Japanese clefts could be used in a topic continuity context, implying that Japanese clefts have the function of thematic continuity. Mandarin clefts also have such function.
2.1.2 Syntactic Structures of Mandarin and Japanese Pseudo-Clefts
A Mandarin pseudo-cleft is a sentence that marks the focal constituent after de shi.
De is optional under some circumstances as with Mandarin clefts:
(7) Pseudo-Cleft Configuration: Complementizer phrase (CP) + (de) + (Noun) + shi + cleaved XP
Li (1980) proposed that three transformational (or movement) stages, described in (8), are involved in the derivation of Mandarin pseudo-clefts, whereas Tang (1980) introduced a slightly different analysis of pseudo-clefts as in (9).
(8) Pseudo-Cleft Sentence: Ta xihuan de shi lixiaojie.
he like DE SHI Li Miss ‘The one he likes is Miss Li.’
Deep Structure: [ren][Ta xihuan ren][shi][lixiaojie]
Transformations:
Stage 1: Deletion (ren) and Insertion (de): [ren][Ta xihuan ren de][shi][lixiaojie]
Stage 2: Relative clause proposition: [Ta xihuan de][ren][…][shi][lixiaojie]
Stage 3: Head noun deletion: [Ta xihuan de][shi][lixiaojie]
(Li 1980, p.80)
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(9) Pseudo-Cleft Sentence: Wo dapo de shi ni de huaping.
I break DE SHI you POSS vase ‘What I broke is your vase.’
Original Form:[ ][Wo dapo ][shi][ni de huaping]
Transformations:
Stage 1: Relativity transformation: [Wo dapo de ][shi][ni de huaping]
Stage 2: Head deletion: [Wo dapo de][shi][ni de huaping]
(Tang 1980, pp.194-195)
Cheng (2008) also offered an analysis of Mandarin pseudo-clefts, revealing Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are derived from the same basic structure (i.e. shi with a small clause). However, the difference between the derivation of a cleft and a pseudo-cleft is that a pseudo-cleft is derived through a predicate movement, whereas a cleft is not (Cheng 2008, p.19).
(10) a. Shi [[SUBJ Xiaowang][PRED zuotian wanshang lai de.]]
b.[PRED zuotian wanshang lai de] shi [[SUBJ Xiaowang][….. .]]
yesterday night come DE SHI Xiaowang ‘The person who came last night was Xiaowang.’
Sentence (10a) is formed using a copula shi and a small clause, and (10b) shows that the predicate in the small clause is raised to the precopula position to form the surface structure of a Mandarin pseudo-cleft sentence.
According to this analysis, the de and shi elements are crucial in Mandarin clefts. According to Li (1980), Tang (1980), and Lee (2005), shi in Mandarin pseudo-clefts is a copula that functions as a focus marker, and additional studies have indicated
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that de is a relative clause marker (Lee 2005, Li 1980, Tang 1980). Without the two elements, the sentences may result in ungrammaticality.
However, according to Cheng’s (2008) analyses, a pseudo-cleft sentence may be
wrongly derived as in (11) because the predicate of this pseudo-cleft cannot be moved:
(11)
*Zai tushuguan shi wo jie shu.
in library SHI I borrow book
‘?Where I borrow books is in the library.’
In addition, the preceding analyses (Cheng 2008, Li 1980, Tang 1980) cannot account for Mandarin pseudo-cleft sentences that omit the de element, such as (12).
(12)
Wo jie shu shi zai tushuguan.
I borrow book SHI in library
?‘Where I borrow books is in the library.’
In this respect, more syntactic analyses regarding Mandarin pseudo-clefts are necessary.
Previous studies have rarely adopted the perspectives of the cleft types and the pragmatic functions to analyze Mandarin pseudo-clefts. According to Hsieh (2002), Mandarin pseudo-clefts are sentences that separate old and new information. The former part, which is before de, presents old information, whereas the latter part, which is after
shi, introduces new information. Hence, the structure of Mandarin pseudo-clefts can
identify previously mentioned and new information. Moreover, although previous studies have indicated that an NP cleft type exists in Mandarin pseudo-clefts (Lee 2005, Li 1980,
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Tang 1980,), other pseudo-cleft types were neither mentioned nor examined. This thus necessitates the further classification of Mandarin pseudo-clefts. Regarding the pragmatics, Hsieh (2002) merely indicated that Mandarin pseudo-clefts are used to emphasize certain things, but a statement like that is considered unclear. The usages and functions of Mandarin pseudo-clefts should be clearly examined under different contexts to reveal their pragmatic usages and functions. Hence, the pragmatic functions of Mandarin pseudo-clefts are still unclear and require further investigation.
In Japanese pseudo-clefts, a CP clause is required at the beginning of a sentence (Ishihara 2012) along with the topic marker wa; the cleaved part is placed before the copula da. The syntactic configuration for Japanese pseudo-clefts is given in (13) and (14).
(13) Pseudo-Cleft Configuration: [CP [C no]] + wa + cleaved XP + da (Lee 2005, p.2362)
(14) a. Kirei-datta no-wa ano toki no yuuhi da.
beautiful-PAST NOM-TOP CL time POSS sunset DA ‘What is beautiful is the sunset at that time.’
b. Totemo kirei no-wa Ano gurasu da . very beautiful NOM-TOP CL glass DA ‘What is beautiful is that glass.’
2Some modifications of the configuration were made in this study to show the consistency of the syntactic configurations.
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Comparing the sentences in (7) and (13) reveals that a CP clause is placed in the sentence-initial position for both Mandarin and Japanese pseudo-clefts. A copula can also be found in both languages. However, a major difference between Mandarin and Japanese pseudo-clefts is that the cleaved part of a Mandarin pseudo-cleft appears after the copula
shi, whereas the cleaved part of a Japanese pseudo-cleft appears before the copula da.
This reveals that the word orders of Mandarin and Japanese pseudo-clefts are different.
The particle de is present in Mandarin pseudo-clefts, but there is no such particle in Japanese pseudo-clefts. By observing the cleft types in Japanese pseudo-clefts, Lee (2005) and Ishihara (2012) have also claimed that NP, VP, and PP cleft types can be found in Japanese pseudo-clefts. In Mandarin pseudo-clefts, these three cleft types are common.
However, according to our review of the relevant literature, no study has claimed that ADJPs and ADVPs are acceptable in Japanese pseudo-clefts. This is rather different from the cleft types of Mandarin pseudo-clefts.
2.1.3 Comparisons between Mandarin Clefts and Pseudo-Clefts
The syntactic configurations of Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are presented in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1 A Comparison between Mandarin Clefts and Pseudo-Clefts
Cleft Pseudo-Cleft
NP + SHI + cleaved XP + (DE) CP + (DE) + SHI + cleaved XP
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Table 2-1 shows that Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are structured differently.
A Mandarin cleft sentence marks the focal constituent between shi and de, whereas the focal constituent in a pseudo-cleft sentence falls after de shi. According to Cheng (2008) and Tang (1980), Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts pass through the same number of transformational stages. This may facilitate predicting that clefts and pseudo-clefts have the same structural complexity. Nevertheless, Li (1980) proposed that Mandarin clefts undergo two transformational stages, whereas pseudo-clefts pass through three stages.
Evidently, the claims presented by Li (1980) on the syntactic relatedness of Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts differ from those of Tang (1980) and Cheng (2008). Therefore, to determine whether Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are syntactically related, the current study examined Japanese-speaking learners’ performances on Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts. If these two cleft constructions involve the same syntactic complexities, JSLs should perform equally well on both constructions. However, if the subjects perform poorly on the two cleft constructions, the syntactic structures, cleft types, and the functions of Mandarin clefts and pseudo-clefts are highly likely to cause confusion for JSLs.
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2.1.4 Summary
This section discusses the syntactic structures, cleft types, and pragmatic usages of Mandarin and Japanese clefts and pseudo-clefts. The previous sections show that the clefts and pseudo-clefts in the two languages exhibit some similarities and differences in all three aspects. Accordingly, Japanese learners of Chinese will have difficulty acquiring Mandarin clefts because the word order of Japanese clefts differs from that of Mandarin clefts. In addition, the NP, VP, and PP cleft types can be found in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese clefts and pseudo-clefts, whereas the ADJP and ADVP cannot. Therefore, another prediction was made that Japanese-speaking learners may easily accept the NP, VP, and PP cleft types but not the ADJP and ADVP ones. The cleft type effects may be obvious. Regarding the functions of Mandarin clefts, Japanese-speaking learners may be able to acquire the thematic continuity function because Japanese clefts also have such function.