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    Clefts
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    Clefts are copular constructions in which a phrase is emphasized which provides new or otherwise important information.

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    The three main types of clefts are classified depending on the building block that comes first in the construction: It-clefts, Wh-clefts, also referred to as free relative clefts or pseudo-clefts, and There-clefts, also referred to as presentational clefts.

    • It-clefts

      It-clefts, or personal subject clefts contains the following constituents from left to right:

      • The impersonal subject dit it
      • A form of the verb wees be
      • An XP, usually a noun phrase (NP)
      • A relative clause

      An example of an it-cleft is given below

      1
      Dit is toneelstukke van Shakespeare wat ek gesien het.
      it be.PRS plays of Shakespeare that.REL I see.PST have.AUX
      It was plays by Shakespeare that I saw.

      Afrikaans it-clefts can feature the same set of relative pronouns as ordinary relatives. For example, when the antecedent is a person, the pronoun wat who will be used.

      2
      Dit is die man van die bank wat ek daar in die ry gesien het.
      It be.PRS the man of the bank that.REL I there in the queue see.PST have.AUX
      It is the man of the bank that I saw there in the queue.

      The adverbial clauses of reason feature the pronoun daarom why and dat that, but will also allow the free relative waarom why. The noun rede reason may occur with either dat that or waarom why, but not not with daarom.

      3
      a. Dit is daarom dat hy nie meer wil kom nie.
      it be.PRS PN.why that.COMP he not anymore want.to.AUX.MOD come PTCL.NEG
      That is why he doesn’t want to come anymore.
      b. Dit is die rede dat hy nie meer wil kom nie.
      it be.PRS the reason that.COMP he not anymore want.to.AUX.MOD come PTCL.NEG
      That is why he doesn’t want to come anymore.
      c. *Dit is die rede daarom dat hy nie meer wil kom nie.
      it be.PRS the reason PN.why that.COMP he not anymore want.to.AUX.MOD come PTCL.NEG
      That is why he doesn’t want to come anymore.
      d. Dit is waarom hy nie meer wil kom nie.
      it be.PRS REL.why he not anymore want.to.AUX.MOD come PTCL.NEG
      That is why he doesn’t want to come anymore.
      e. Dit is die rede waarom hy nie meer wil kom nie.
      it be.PRS the reason REL.why he not anymore want.to.AUX.MOD come PTCL.NEG
      That is why he doesn’t want to come anymore.
    • Wh-clefts

      Wh-clefts, or pseudo-clefts, contains the following constituents from left to right:

      • A free relative clause
      • A form of the verb wees be
      • An XP, usually a noun phrase (NP)

      An example of a wh-cleft is given below:

      4
      Wat ek gesien het, was 'n ramp.
      what I see.PST have.AUX be.PST a disaster
      What I saw was a disaster.

      In case a Wh-cleft is chosen containing a relative clause of reason, the relative clause of reason can either be introduced by waarom or hoekom why as illustrated in the examples below:

      5
      a. Waarom Johan nie kon kom nie, is omdat hy siek is.
      why Johan not can.AUX.MOD.PRT come PTCL.NEG be.PRS because he ill be.PRS
      Why Johan did not come was because he is ill.
      b. Hoekom Johan nie kon kom nie, is omdat hy siek is.
      why Johan not can.AUX.MOD.PRT come PTCL.NEG be.PRS because he ill be.PRS
      Why Johan did not come was because he is ill.

      Although the complementiser dat that can, in some cases, also be used to introduce a relative clause of reason, the sentence is somewhat marked. Compare the following pair of examples :

      6
      a. ?Dat ek kon wen is waarom hy stadig gehardloop het.
      that.COMP I can.AUX.MOD.PRT win be.PRS why he slowly run.PST have.AUX
      That I could win is why he ran so slowly.
      b. Hy het stadig gehardloop dat ek kon wen.
      He have.AUX slowly run.PST that.COMP I can.AUX.MOD.PRT win
      Hy ran slowly so I could win.
    • There-clefts

      A there-cleft contains the following constituents from left to right:

      • The impersonal subject daar there
      • A form of the verb wees be
      • A noun phrase (NP)
      • A relative clause

      An number of example of a there-cleft is given below:

      7
      En dan is daar nog die wat dink die DA kan oposisie wees?
      and then be.PRS there still those that.REL think the DA can.AUX.MOD opposition be.INF
      And then there are still those that think the DA can be the opposition?
      VivA-KPO
      8
      Maar daar is die wat nie so gelukkig is nie.
      but there be.PRS those that.REL not as lucky be.PRS PTCL.NEG
      But there are those that are not as lucky.
      9
      Daar is van hulle wat eenvoudig net nie wil betaal nie.
      there be.PRS of them that.COMP simply just not want.to.AUX.MOD pay PTCL.NEG
      But there are some of them that simply doesn’t want to pay.
    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Adri Breed; Johanita Kirsten
      Category: Afrikaans Syntax
      Keywords: modificationrelative clausesrelative pronouns
      Version: 1.0, May 2020
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Adri Breed; Johanita Kirsten May 2020
      This is a beta version.
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