Cleft And Pseudo-cleft Sentences In Mandarin Chinese

This thesis investigates two important focus constructions in Mandarin Chinese: the cleft sentence and pseudo-cleft sentence. Cleft sentences are defined as a structure with a focused element by means of a focus operator "shi". Pseudo-cleft sentences are those taking the form of"... de shi", and "de" here is treated as a complementizer.Both of the constructions contain a focus operator "shi". But it plays different roles in the two constructions, hi cleft sentences, it acts as an adverb, and in pseudo-clefts, "shi" is in the position of a verb. Both "shi's" can be treated as focus operators expressing exclusion and contrast. In cleft sentences, the focalization is realized by way of operator floating and in pseudo-clefts by way of presupposition floating.Different constituents in a sentence can be focused in different structures. The thesis distinguishes four classes of constituents: subjects, objects, verb phrases and adverbials and analyze the constraints on focalizing them in clefts and in pseudo-clefts respectively.The thesis interprets clefts and pseudo-clefts in the framework of alternative semantics. Different logical representations are given according to different focused part in clefts and pseudo-clefts.The problem of focus devices in clefts and pseudo-clefts are also discussed in the thesis. It is argued that in Chinese the focus device is an in-situ one: focused part stayed in the original position, and focalizing is realized in the focus operator floating in clefts and presupposition floating in pseudo-clefts.