csubj:cleft
: relative clause modifier
Irish cleft constructions use a copula and are analysed in line with other copular construction: COP PRED SUBJ.
In contrast to English, Irish clefts are much less restrictive with regards to the type of element that can be fronted: nouns, prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, adjectives and verbal nouns. Note that the verbal particle that introduces csubj:cleft
is always labelled mark:prt
.
Examples
Nominal fronting
Is leabhar a thug sí dom ‘It is a book that she gave me’
NOTE: Relative clauses may also be clefted. As shown below, the relative clause is raised to predicate level when it occurs in the predicate position in a copular phrase.
Is í Croinic Thomáis Eccleston is foinse do sheoladh na litreach seo `The Chronicle of Thomas Eccleston is the source of the sending of this letter’
Is é Michael D. Higgins ba chionsiocair leis an Roinn a bhunú sa bhliain 1992. `Michael D. Higgins was the driving force behind the establishment of the Department in 1992.
Adverbial fronting
Is laistigh de bhliain a déanfar é ‘It is within a year that it will be done’
Prepositional phrase fronting
Is sa pháirc a chonaic mé é `It is in the park that I saw him’
Adjective predicate fronting
Is mó atá sí siúd ina ghá ná sinne anso. `She is needed here more than we are.’
NOTE: In phrases where the adjectival predicate is fronted, the noun should still be treated as the predicate with the adjective demoted to adjectival modifier dependent on that noun/the head of the noun phrase.
Is iomaí seift atá á lorg ag údaráis phoiblí ar fud an domhain… `Public authorities all over the world are looking for numerous ways to…’
NOTE
Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether to use the csubj:cleft label or the acl:relcl label for certain phrases. Here are a few steps to help determine which label to use.
- Check to see if it follows the copula-predicate-subject order-if so then it is likely to be a cleft.
- If the phrase is fronted for emphatic reasons then is is likely to be a cleft.
- Categorise by how it’s fronted (PP, NP, AdvP, AdjP)- if it is a fronted NP, then it is more likely to be either a relative clause or a cleft. If the NP consists of an augment pronoun and a noun it is a cleft. However, if the first noun is not an augment pronoun and is being equated with the second NP, then the second NP has an embedded relative clause.
Emphatic (cleft)
Is ise a chuir Dick Spring i mbun na Roinne Oideachais ‘It is her who put Dick Spring in charge of the Department of Education’
Augment Pronoun (cleft)
Is í Máire a chuir Dick Spring i mbun na Roinne Oideachais ‘It is Máire who put Dick Spring in charge of the Department of Education’
í ‘her’ is an augment pronoun - not to be confused with an object predication clause.
Object predication followed by relative clause (not cleft but easily confused!)
- (ise ‘she’ & té ‘the person’)
Is ise an té a chuir Dick Spring i mbun na Roinne Oideachais ‘She is the person who put Dick Spring in charge of the Department of Education’
csubj:cleft in other languages: [ga] [gd] [gv] [la]