TITLE:
The Focus in Cleft Constructions in Gbaya: A Cartographic Approach
AUTHORS:
Dieudonné Bago Kaptel
KEYWORDS:
Gbaya, Cleft, Focus, Relativization, Designation Phrase
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.16 No.2,
April
30,
2026
ABSTRACT: Gbaya is a language featuring specific particles that warrant meticulous analysis. To analyze them, the linguistic data must undergo transformations that strengthen the morphological material. This is achievable through information transmission, in so far as the notion of the cleft is intrinsically linked to focus via its canonical ‘nɛ́.… a’ structure, which conveys new information and exhibits a cleft operator co-indexed with the focalized element. This cleft structure may undergo elision of the introductory element, unlike the exclusive marker of the cleft. Within this framework, Bago Kaptel (2022) distinguishes between relativization and clefting. The cleft formation process is based on the element marking the illocutionary force upon which the cleft rests, establishing a Cleft Phrase. Meanwhile, the introductory element ‘nɛ́’ identifies the focalized constituent among others, invoking a projection suggested here as the Designation Phrase (DesignP). These specificities of Gbaya clefting contribute to the refinement and enrichment of the theory while laying the groundwork for future research.