{"product_id":"the-english-it-cleft-a-constructional-account-and-a-diachronic-investigation-9783110277807","title":"The English It-Cleft: A Constructional Account and a Diachronic Investigation","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Amanda Patten\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: de Gruyter Mouton\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: de Gruyter Mouton\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Linguistics - Historical \u0026amp; Comparative\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book examines the structure and function of the English it-cleft configuration from within the framework of construction grammar. It defends a straightforward extraposition-from-NP analysis (on which the cleft clause is a restrictive relative, modifying the initial it) and claims that all types of it-cleft involve nominal predication. Support for this analysis comes from three main areas: (a) the central role of definiteness in the creation of specificational meaning, (b) the existence and makeup of predicational (and proverbial) it-clefts, and (c) the early, historical it-cleft data. In addition, the book contains a sizeable diachronic component, drawing data from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English and from the International Corpus of English - Great Britain. This investigation informs and advances what is an otherwise simple account of the English it-cleft, explaining how and why the configuration has developed an assortment of peculiar, construction-specific properties over time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"de Gruyter Mouton","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46862001307799,"sku":"9783110277807","price":13844.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9783110277807.webp?v=1769964354","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-english-it-cleft-a-constructional-account-and-a-diachronic-investigation-9783110277807","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}