This paper focuses on pseudo-clefting, a syntactic transformation rule (T-rule) frequently used in English to give focal and thematic prominence (cf. Lăcătușu, 2005: 77) to various structural constituents, be them phrases or clauses. As its name suggests, it is related to clefting, another T-rule we elaborated on in our paper “Clefting: A Stereotypical but Resourceful and Handy Transformation of the English Simple Sentence” issued in the Messages, Sages and Ages Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2 / 2019, pp. 31-37. Although the purpose of both these transformations is quite similar semantically speaking (i.e. laying unequivocal emphasis on one constituent or another in a particular sentence), there are also significant differences which are to be found at the level of the syntax of the sentence so transformed, differences detailed on in the present paper.
Valentina Curelariu
Author
Valentina Curelariu is a PhD Lecturer with the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department. Her work focuses on English language areas such as Syntax, Stylistics, Psycholinguistics, and Rhetoric, but also on ELT Methodology.