A Corpus-based Study of the Pragmatic and Syntactic Functions of Cleft Constructions in Newspaper Editorials

Abstract

The aim of this corpus-based study is to analyze the frequency in the use of three types of cleft constructions (it-clefts, wh-clefts, and reversed wh-clefts) in newspaper editorials of three English dailies in the United Arab Emirates. More specifically, the paper is concerned with the syntactic distribution of clefts in this journalistic corpus and the extent to which this distribution might have a bearing on the pragmatic functions of clefts in editorial discourse. These cleft constructions are not only different in giving prominence to different elements, they also differ in the way they organize information and in the kind of prominence they give to the highlighted elements. The choice of one rather than another of these three clefts is determined by various syntactic and pragmatic factors. The results obtained from the analysis show that the relatively high frequency of it-clefts in this journalistic corpus can be keyed to two factors. First, it-clefts create persuasive discourse, a typical feature of newspaper editorials. Second, since stress-marking is absent in written discourse, writers use it-clefts to direct the reader into a particular reading of the information structure. Reversed wh-clefts including those introduced by a demonstrative have a low distribution in this journalistic corpus. This is not unduly surprising since both clefts are more popular in spoken English. .