CHAPTER 3 CORPUS RESULTS AND DISCUSSTION
3.2.3.2 The Informative Presupposition Cleft = Predicate Focus
The “informative presupposition” cleft, as shown in (93), with given clefted constituent and new cleft clause, can be represented by Lambrecht’s (2001) predicate focus, as in (94).
(93) The leaders of the militant homophile movement in America generally have been young people. It was they who fought back during a violent
police... (Prince 1978 898, ex.41b)
According to Lambrecht, predicate focus is the unmarked focus category both in distribution and semantics, as in (94). The four languages represent the same grammatical device, SV order, to express the same meaning. The topic “foot”precedes the focal predicate “hurts,” forming a topic-comment sentence.
(94) The predicate-focus (PF) sentence
Context: Have you recovered from your accident? How’s your foot and your knee?
a. English: SV
My foot still HURTS (but the rest if okay).
b. German: SV
Mein Fuss tut immer noch WEH (aber son st geht es).
c. Italy : SV
Il piede mi fa ancora MALE (ma il rest ova bene).
d. French : SV
Mon pied (il) me fait encore MAL (mais le reste ca ca).
In the same vein, Chinese shi...(de) can also manifest the predicate focus with the property of informative presupposition cleft, as in (95)-(97) with proposition assertion reading, and as in (98)-(100) with object-topic comment reading. In (95), the English it-cleft ‘it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen
Bilbo’ is translated into Chinese shi...(de) ‘
比爾博就是在這個歲數突然間經歷了許 多奇遇.’ The NP 在這個歲數 ‘at any rate at that age’ is considered given, since ithas been mentioned earlier in the utterance 五十這個數字讓他覺得十分特殊 ‘fifty
was a number that he felt was somehow significant’ Therefore, what is focused here is
the predicate constituent 突然間經歷了許多奇遇 ‘adventure had suddenly befallenBilbo’ in order to inform the hearer of the very new information about the topic.
Therefore, the speaker provides the new information in the following context.
Likewise, in (96b), the NP constituent 憐惜
‘pity’ represents old information, since it
was mentioned in the previous sentence可惜？‘Pity?,’ whereas the predicate here
阻 止他下手 ‘stayed his hand’ informs a piece of new information. Though the surface structure of (97) looks like a sentence focus, the focus here is the predicate constituent 召開聖白議會, since it is not mentioned in the previous context. Hence, I regard (97) as a predicate focus, rather than a sentence focus.(95) 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.
(p.56)
b. 五十這個數字讓他覺得十分特殊(或許有些「太過」特殊了)，比爾 博就是在這個歲數突然間經歷了許多奇遇。佛羅多開始覺得坐立難 安，平日散步的小徑也變得讓人厭煩。(p.71)
(96) a. ‘Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. (p.78)
b. 「我能怎麼辦？比爾博當時沒有趁機殺死這傢伙真是太可惜了！」
／「可惜？就正是對人命的憐惜阻止他下手；憐惜和同情，不要妄動 殺機。」(p.96)
(97) a. It was I who first summoned the White Council. (p.468)
b.在貢多林陷落之後，我就越過了山脈，和他一並肩抵抗這世界的黑 暗。是我首先召開聖白議會，如果不是我的失策，那次的議會應該是 由灰袍甘道夫所主導，一切就不會變得這樣了。(p.520)
These examples show that the constituent immediately following shi can be the old information followed by the new information. The following examples (98)-(100) show the object-topic comment predicate focus with English non-it-clefts. In (98), the
English non-cleft ‘to face fear of barrow-wights is not what they were made for’ is translated into the Chinese ‘shi...(de)’ structure 古墓屍妖的威脅並不是牠們能對付 的 with object-topic comment predicate focus. Although the proposition 牠們能對 付 is predicated with the understood topic 古墓屍妖的威脅, the focus here is the predicate constituent 能對付 ‘what they were made for,’ whereas the NP 牠們
‘they’
is referentially given, since it has been mentioned in the previous context 牠們雖然 很忠心
‘though their hearts are faithful.’ Likewise, in (99), the new information in
the scope of ‘shi...(de)’ does not focus on 他 們‘they,’ but on the predicate
constituent 從來沒有見過 ‘had never seen before,’ since it is not raised in the previous context. A similar case is given in (100).(98) a. You must forgive them all; for though their hearts are faithful, to face fear of barrow-wights is not what they were made for. (p.191)
b. 牠們雖然很忠心，但古墓屍妖的威脅並不是牠們能對付的，你們應 該要原諒牠們。／「那匹老馬胖鄉巴佬是從哪裡來的？」／「牠是
我的馬，」湯姆說：「是我四條腿的朋友，只是我平常很少騎牠，任
牠在山野閒亂跑。...」(p.217
(99) a. There were toys the like of which they had never seen before, all beautiful and some obviously magical. (p.35)
b. 這次禮物卻好得超乎尋常，孩子們看到禮物，幾乎興奮得忘記吃 飯。有許多玩具是他們從來沒有見過的，每樣都很漂亮，有些甚至 是魔法玩具。 (p.47)
(100) a. It was Mr. Bilbo as taught me my letters...He did not make it up, ..Bilbo must have translated it. I never knew that. (p.245)
b.這是我小時候從比爾博先生那邊學到的。／「這首詩不是他作 的，」...「這一定是比爾博翻譯的，因為我從沒聽過這個版本。」
(p.277)
In sum, the property of “informative presupposition” is similar to Lambrecht’s predicate focus, which can be parallel to Chinese shi....de structure with proposition assertion, as in (95)-(97) and object-topic comment predicate focus, as in (98)-(100).
These examples prove that the information structure in the scope of shi...(de) can be
arranged in an ‘old + new’ order, rather than the traditional ‘new + old’ order. In addition, with regard to the information property, the sentences that look like a sentence focus should be regarded as a predicate focus, as in (97)-(100).
3.2 3.3 The Discontinuous clefts = Sentence Focus and Predicate Focus
The “discontinuous” cleft, with new information in both clefted constituent and cleft clause, as in (101), can be compatible with Lambrecht’s (1994, 2001) sentence focus as in (102) or predicate focus.
(101) It is through the writings of Basil Bernstein that many social scientists have become aware of the scientific potential of sociolinguistics.
(Declerck: 1984:263, ex: 28b)
Sentence focus can be represented by different grammatical devices, as noted by Lambrecht, such as the change of word order, as in (102b) and cleft construction, as in (102c) and (102d).
(102) The sentence-focus (SF) sentence
Context: Why are you walking so slowly?
a. English: SV
MY FOOT hurts.
b. German: SV / OVS
Mein FUSS tut weh. / Mir tut ein FUSS weh.
The same is true of Chinese shi...(de) structure. As Table 5 shows, in Chinese
shi...(de) with English it-cleft and English non-it-cleft, the third type of information
property, discontinuous cleft, is the dominant type (in 120 Chinese shi...(de) structures, about two thirds, 57.6%, of the total number of Chinese shi...(de) structures). This observation is contrary to traditional view that the stress-focused cleft is the mostcommon type, representing only 20.1% of cases in the corpus. Instead, the discontinuous clefts is the most common type of shi...(de), representing 57.6%, in English it-clefts and non-it-clefts. This suggest that Chinese shi...(de) is usually used to present a declarative sentence, involving sentence focus, as in (103)-(106) or predicate focus, as in (107)-(110). In (103), the English it-cleft ‘It was Sam who had
insisted on choosing him’ is translated into Chinese shi...(de) structure with sentence
focus 是山姆堅稱牠一定要來. The sentence following the emphatic marker shi 山 姆堅稱牠一定要來 represents all new information, since it is not mentioned in the previous sentence. The sentence is used to assert a new proposition that ‘it is the casethat Sam had insisted on choosing him.’ A similar sentence focus is given in (104),
which is 59 repeated here.(103) a. 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. ‘That animal can nearly talk,’ he said, ‘and would talk, if he stayed here much longer.’(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。「這隻動物幾乎可以說話了，」他說：「如果他再繼續留
在這裡，可能真會說話。」(p.414)
(104) a. If you want to know how I first found out, I will tell you. ‘Go on!’ said Frodo faintly. It was the Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall, as you might expect. One day, a year before the Party, ...(P137)
b.如果你想要知道這背後的故事，我願意和你分享。／「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，一群塞巴 人出現，朝我們走來。(p.161)
In (105), the English non-it-cleft ‘The Wood-elves tracked him first,’ can also be translated in Chinese shi...(de) with sentence focus 是木精靈先找到他的. The constituent in the scope of shi...(de) represents all new information, since it is not
raised in the previous context. The same is true of (106).
(105) a. 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. 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)
(106) a. It cannot yet have perished; for light boats used to journey out of Wilderland down to Osgiliath, and still did so until a few years ago when the Orcs of Mordor began to multiply. (p.513)
b.它不可能就這樣消失無蹤，幾年之前還常有許多小舟，從大荒原航 向奧斯吉力亞斯，那是在魔多的半獸人開始大幅擴張領土之後才中 斷的。」(p.567)
These examples distinguish the ambiguous problem between subject focus and sentence focus. That is, in the scope of shi...(de), when the NP and the predicate are all new information, we would consider them as a sentence focus, rather than a subject focus.
Examples (107)-(110) illustrate shi...(de) with predicate focus with English it-cleft and non-it-cleft. In (107), the English it-clefts ‘It was by the devices of
Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur’ is translated into the Chinese shi...(de)
structure with predicated focus我們是靠著薩魯曼的計謀，才能夠將魔王趕出爾哥
多. The predicate focus 靠著薩魯曼的計謀，才能夠將魔王趕出爾哥多
provides
new information that is unknown to the hearer. The same is true of (108).(107) a. But Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him. It was by the devices of Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur. (p.337)
b.薩魯曼則是精研魔王的歷史，才能讓我們預先料到他的一舉一動。
我們是靠著薩魯曼的計謀，才能夠將魔王趕出爾哥多。(p.381) (108) a. It was the sound of water that Merry heard falling into his quiet sleep:
water streaming down gently, and then spreading, spreading
irresistibly...(p.168)
b.別害怕！一覺到天亮吧！別擔心晚上有異聲喧鬧！」然後他就又睡 著了／梅里的夢中則是出現了水聲：那潺潺的流水悄悄地擴散，似 乎將整個房子吞没入一個深不見底的池子中，池水在牆邊翻滾著，
緩慢、持續地往上升。(p.195)
Example (109) shows that English non-cleft ‘For he gave it up in the end of his
own accord’ can also be translated into Chinese shi...(de) structure with predicate
focus 他是靠著自己的意志力放棄魔界的. In Chinese, the predicate focus 靠著自 己的意志力放棄魔界not only shows a speaker’s belief or certainty of the utterance
from a given context or from a unknowable knowledge, but also conveys a piece of new information about the topic 他’he,’ since it is not mentioned in the earlier
utterance. A similar case is shown in (110) with predicate focus.(109) a. Otherwise, he might live on for years, quite happily: just stop as he was when he parted with it. For he gave it up in the end of his own accord: an important point. (p.64)
b.「如此，他應該可以快快樂槳地活上很多年，不再像他割捨魔戒時 的樣子。因為，他是靠著自己的意志力放棄魔界的，這很重要。在 他放手之後，我不再替比爾博擔心了，我覺得必須對你負起責任。」
(p.80)
(110) a. If we could find a window it would help, but I fear that the light comes only down deep shafts. (p.419)
b.「...我們先察看一下北方的光源，如果可以找到一扇窗戶，應該有 助於鎖定方位。但是，我擔心那光源可能是從很窄的通風口射進來 的。」(p.467)
As we can see, the property of “discontinuous” cleft can not only account for Lambrecht’s sentence focus, as in (103)-(106), but also predicate focus, as in (107)-(110). Furthermore, this function can clarify the ambiguous problem between subject focus and sentence focus, as in (103)-(106).