Publication ｜Sophia Linguistica
Edith Aldridge
This paper proposes an analysis of Austronesian cleft structure which is parallel to the derivation of basic word order in VOS Austronesian languages. VOS word order is derived by moving the subject or absolutive DP to a low topic position in the left periphery, following which the remnant TP moves to a higher focus position. In a cleft, it is the presupposed relative clause which functions as the absolutive and moves to the topic position, while the focused constituent is pied-piped within the remnant TP to the focus position. Accordingly, this analysis is in agreement with the tradition in Austronesian syntax of analyzing the clause-initial focused constituent as the matrix predicate rather than the subject. However, this approach to Austronesian cleft structure deviates from accepted analyses of clefts in non-Austronesian languages in which the focused constituent is analyzed as the matrix subject. This discrepancy is justified in the present paper by showing that the movements involved in the derivation target the CP layer, specifically the focus and topic positions in the left periphery, where the moving constituents receive their respective interpretations. Consequently, neither the focus nor the headless relative clause resides in the [Spec, TP] subject position. 1.
