Grammaticalization of copula to thematic structure articulator

In the general schema of the pseudo-cleft construction

Pseudo-cleft sentence
[	[	... [Pron/∅]_C.i ...	]_^↴S	(Cop)	[ F ]_C.i	]_{S_↴}
	[	subject	]		non-verbal predicate
		empty place			focal component
[	[	oriented open clause	]	non-verbal clause		]
[	[	dependent clause	]	main clause		]

the default order is for ^↴S to precede S_↴, which conveys suspensive focus. Since S_↴ contains the focus of the complex sentence, the focal component comes after the internal clause boundary and, if the equative construction involves a copula, it comes after the copula. The present section concentrates on this configuration.

This construction may be grammaticalized to produce a clause with a flatter information structure (Lehmann 2008). In the course of grammaticalization, all the formal apparatus necessary for the formation of a pseudo-cleft construction, including Pron_C and any operators of subordination associated with ^↴S get lost, and only the copula survives and ends up as a thematic structure articulator or, more specifically, as a focus marker. Such a development has been attested from various languages. In addition to the languages treated on the following pages, different varieties of Spanish and Spanish-based creoles may be mentioned (Hengeveld 2010, Méndez Vallejo 2013).

References

Hengeveld, Kees 2010, The focalizing copula in Colombian Spanish. Unpublished presentation.

Méndez Vallejo, Catalina 2013, Focalizing ser (FS) in Colombian Spanish. Online.