[FOC + Que] constructions in Libolo Portuguese

Abstract

Based on the typology of cleft sentences in Portuguese, this study presents the strategies applied in the [Foc+Que] constructions in Portuguese spoken in Libolo (LBP), Angola. The canonical form of a cleft construction consists of a bi-clausal structure in which there is a copula followed by a focused phrase which is, by turn, followed by a sentence headed by a 'que'. However, it is observed that in LBP there are “clefts without copula”, constructions that have been identified in the literature as “innovation of Brazilian Portuguese”. In our analysis, we not only consider that these LBP structures are mono-clausal – not belonging to the scope of cleft sentences – but we also intend to corroborate the phenomenon of linguistic contact and evidence of formal grammar features attested in the substrate and "reinforced" in the LBP as the non-occurrence of "clefting".