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Cleft (view source)

Revision as of 18:47, 5 December 2023

1,358 bytes removed ,  18:47, 5 December 2023
remove focus vs. topic aside and link to new article
(→‎nä with noun phrases: fix subordination-ending commas)
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(remove focus vs. topic aside and link to new article)
 
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{{refgram|syntax|the cleft verb}}
{{refgram|syntax|the cleft verb}}
{{feature|See also|[[Focus, topic, cleft]]}}
In Toaq, the word {{t|nä}} is used to create so-called '''clefts'''. A cleft is a complex sentence that rearranges the contents of a simple sentence. In English, this is often used for emphasis (<i>It is <u>my purse</u> that they stole</i>). In Toaq, this functionality already lives in [[focus marker]]s, and so {{t|nä}} is primarily '''a tool for rearranging sentence structure'''.
In Toaq, the word {{t|nä}} is used to create so-called '''clefts'''. A cleft is a complex sentence that rearranges the contents of a simple sentence. In English, this is often used for emphasis (<i>It is <u>my purse</u> that they stole</i>). In Toaq, this functionality already lives in [[focus marker]]s, and so {{t|nä}} is primarily '''a tool for rearranging sentence structure'''.


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<blockquote><poem>
<blockquote><poem>
{{t|{{green|Ꝡä tua shaı hóaq nháo lóebeaq dûı chuı jôro}}, nä tua dua nháo sía poq, ꝡä mala faq {{green|hóa}}.}}
{{t|{{green|Ꝡä tua shaı hóaq nháo lóebeaq dûı chuı jôro}}, nä tua dua nháo sía poq, ꝡä mala faq {{green|hóa}}.}}
<i>{{green|That he’d sinned by snuffing the candles out prematurely}}, he let nobody know {{green|such a thing}} ever happened.</i>
<i>{{green|That he’d sinned by snuffing the candles out prematurely}}, he let nobody know {{green|such a thing}} had ever happened.</i>
</poem></blockquote>
</poem></blockquote>


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</poem></blockquote>
</poem></blockquote>
You can think of {{t|nä}} as serving the role of the comma in the English translation.
You can think of {{t|nä}} as serving the role of the comma in the English translation.
== {{t|nä}} and [[topic|{{t|bï}}]] ==
{{refgram|syntax|topic}}
There are a couple slight differences between the two:
* {{t|bï}} designates the so-called [[topic]] of a clause, while {{t|nä}} is a purely syntactic gesture (and does not impart [[focus]] – that’s the job of particles like {{t|kú}}, see linked article).
*: This is the difference between <i>My grandmother, I love her</i> and <i>As for my grandmother, I love her</i>. In the latter of the two examples, <i>as for my grandmother</i> establishes that it’s your grandmother that you’d like to talk about – provide new information about.
* For noun phrases, {{t|bï}} does not bind {{t|hóa}}. You must use another anaphoric pronoun if you want to refer back to the topic. The crucial difference is that {{t|bï}}’s complement, the topic established, is not required to appear in the clause! So for example, this is valid Toaq (and valid English, although some languages like Japanese like this pattern better than English does) and the extra specification in square brackets is not required at all:
*: {{t|Báq kası bï, he duq garabıa jí <i>[gêm máq]</i>.}}
*: <i>As for walnuts, I tend to get nausea <i>[from them]</i>.</i>
* Officially, {{t|bï}} requires [[definite]] topics. For example, {{t|sía gama bï}} <i>as for no camel</i> is invalid (for semantics reasons).
* Officially, {{t|bï}} does not take adverbials.
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