Irregularities in English word order

Even though the English language has a fixed word order, there are some exceptions. In addition to normal clause patterns, there are variations depending upon a range of semantic, pragmatic and textual factors. The grammar of English allows a set of options for reordering information in the message in order to achieve communicative dynamism. Untypical word order serves to give a special emphasis on particular elements.

Cleft constructions make possible to control the information flow and select which element of the sentence will be given prominence. It is up to the speakers what they want to rhematise = introduce as focus.  Derived from a simple sentence, a cleft sentence is divided into two clauses. If starting with IT, the verb is singular even though the complement is plural. Cleft is a past tense of "cleave" meaning to cut.

When forming cleft sentences: 1. Choose an element you want to put emphasis on. 2. Move X into the initial position, then prefix to it the subject IT and the verb TO BE in an appropriate form. 3. Introduce the rest of the sentence with THAT/WHO.

It was Gollum who destroyed the evil Ring in the last part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It was the evil Ring that was destroyed by Gollum in the last part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It was the last part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in which the evil Ring was destroyed by Gollum.

A pseudo-cleft has a similar function but its subject is a relative clause with a thematic nominalisation. (What I remember is the lecture.) Inverted pseudo-clefts have inverted order of the elements with preceding and following copula BE.

He hates grammar. (Unmarked) -> It's grammar he hates. (cleft) -> What he hates is grammar. (pseudo-cleft) -> Grammar is what he hates. (inverted pseudo-cleft)

With a normal word order S + V + O in “Myrna makes the best cucumber salad” is by the principle of communicative dynamism focus on salad as the last lexical item. In a cleft sentence “It’s Myrna who makes the best cucumber salad.” Myrna is emphasized. To emphasize salad, we can construct a passive sentence “The best cucumber salad is made by Myrna.” where we can focus Myrna in spoken language by intonation, although, in passive an agent is usually not important.

THERE is an unstressed dummy theme which can have a simple patterns (There was a complete silence in the tomb.) but also complex patterns with relative clauses (There is a man who wants to talk to you.) which look like cleft-sentences in their rhetorical motivation. There are two types:

      Existential -  simply postulate the existence with the verb TO BE (There were hundreds of booby traps in the chamber Indiana Jones walked through.)

      Presentative - to bring something on deserving our attention. Other verbs can be used on condition they are intransitive. (There arrived also a mage called Crowley.)

Fronting is a process used to change the information structure by placing the post-verbal element to pre-verbal position. It can contribute to the cohesion of the text by creating special focus but it is relatively rare. The fronted elements should be an obligatory complement to the verb, it should not be an optional element such as adverbials whose position is relatively movable and it should not be adjuncts. There are two types:

      Focus pre-posing - pre-posed constituent contains the focus of the utterance and bears tonic stress. (A Welshman I was born, and a Welshman I shall die.) Focus fronting is also frequent in advertising (Fish & chips is our name. Health is our aim.) and echoing, typical of adjacency pairs, such as question-answer, by means of which the speaker requests a confirmation or expresses doubt. (Waiter: Large beer you ordered?)

      Topicalisation - the fronted element is recoverable and therefore not prominent, used to create cohesive links by being an anaphoric the prior context.

Inversion is any change in word order. Unlike fronting, inversion is a process that allows also the subject of the utterance to be highlighted by placing it in the final rhematic position in the utterance. It is relatively rare, found mainly in written register.

1. To emphasize a particular part of a sentence or the appearance on the scene

And then comes the boss. Came the King Robert with his wife and children.

2. To describe the scene with emphasis on a certain aspect.

In the middle of the room was a table. At the top of the hill stood a solitary tree.

3. In formal writing with negative adverbs of frequency (never, hardly, little, scarcely, rarely)

Hardly had he sat down when he started to talk.

Scarcely had she got home when the phone rang.

Little did they expect so many supporters.

4. After direct speech

“Switch off the light,” said Peter/ (Peter said/he said)

5. In conditional clauses to replace IF-clause and produce extremely polite sentences

Should you change your mind, please let us know.

6. In inventive literary writing

Bang went the door. In came the assassin.

Dislocation is similar to fronting. Left dislocation is derived from the same underlying structure (I can't stand Peter.) but difference in meaning and is set off the rest of the utterance by a pause and represented in writing by a comma. (Peter I can't stand. - fronting. Peter, I can't stand him. - left dislocation) Right dislocation is a process opposite to left dislocation. The referent here is post-posed, thus following its referential word (My daughters, I love them. - left-dislocation. I love them, my daughters. - right dislocation)

Formulaic clauses with subjunctive and archaic verb forms.

Long live the queen. So help me God.