This book proposes a radically new account of clefts in English. Since the 1960s, functional as well as formal linguists have generally restricted clefts to constructions with an identifying matrix (it-clefts) and have claimed that they only code information structure.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Natural grammar.- Chapter 3. Compilation and prosodic analysis of data.- Chapter 4: Existential there versus demonstrative there.- Chapter 5: Paradigms of relative markers.- Chapter 6: Different antecedent–relative clause relations.- Chapter 7: Structural assemblies and semantics of the four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 8: Determiners of existent NPs in the four four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 9: Prosodic patterns in the four existential constructions with relative clause.- Chapter 10: Conclusion. 

"This study does nothing less than redraw the map of clefts. It provides a thought-provoking and stunningly comprehensive new take on a familiar construction, extending its scope in terms of the structures included and by according special attention to its semantics and prosody." -Gunther Kaltenböck, Professor at University of Graz, AustriaThis book proposes a radically new account of clefts in English. Since the 1960s, functional as well as formal linguists have generally restricted clefts to constructions with an identifying matrix (it-clefts) and have claimed that they only code information structure. Clefts are assumed to unpack a simple proposition into a focus – presupposition structure. In this book, the authors reject these theoretical-descriptive assumptions, arguing instead that clefts form a field comprising it-clefts, there-clefts and have-clefts. They show that, like any other construction, clefts compositionally code propositional semantics, onto which a great variety of prosodically coded focus patterns may be mapped. The authors fundamentally challenge the existing approach by entering the debate with an in-depth account of the neglected specificational and presentational there-clefts, offering the first systematic data-based study of their grammatical and prosodic features. While the study is restricted to English, its findings have significant cross-linguistic relevance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Functional, Cognitive and Formal Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, and usage-based study of grammar and prosody.Kristin Davidse is a Professor in the Linguistics Department at KU Leuven, Belgium. Ngum Njende is a PhD candidate in the Linguistics Department at KU Leuven, Belgium.Gerard O’Grady is a Professor in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK. 

“This study does nothing less than redraw the map of clefts. It provides a thought-provoking and stunningly comprehensive new take on a familiar construction, extending its scope in terms of the structures included and by according special attention to its semantics and prosody.” (Gunther Kaltenböck, Professor at University of Graz, Austria)

Challenges the received view of clefts as conveying information structure only Develops propositional semantics with close cognitive-functional argumentation​ Offers the first systematic study of there-clefts based on prosodically coded data

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