Pseudoclefts and Other Specificational Copular Sentences

Abstract

Abstract This is a survey chapter on specificational copular sentences, including specificational pseudoclefts. Section 1 will address the typology of copular sentences in some detail, laying out the various types of copular constructions identified in the literature and highlighting their properties and differences. Section 2 will repeat the typological exercise of section 1 with specific reference to a subtype of copular sentence referred to as the pseudocleft construction. Sections 3 and 4 will subsequently home in on specificational copular sentences (pseudocleft and non‐cleft alike) and discuss their characteristics. Sections 5 and 6 address questions arising specifically in the context of specificational pseudoclefts and discusses the various analyses proposed for these constructions in the literature. Finally, section 7 discusses semi‐clefts (constructions that superficially resemble pseudoclefts but lack a wh ‐operator) and their relationship with pseudoclefts.