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"What was it she died of, the clap?" (The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith)

It seems like the structure is: what is shifted from the position of the complement of of; and there's a subject verb inversion, from: It was [she died of what]? Is this right understanding?

Listenever
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  • This is sort of broken speech. It's in quotes--how the character talks--presumably to try and sound a little uneducated, or casual. "What did she die of? Was it the clap?" would be more correct. – HostileFork says dont trust SE Sep 29 '14 at 12:10

2 Answers2

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What was it she died of, the clap?

The example sentence is fine. The question portion (in italics) of it is in the form of an interrogative it-cleft.

Consider a simple declarative:

  1. She died of [the clap].

and then, a possible it-cleft:

  1. It was [the clap](i) [(that) she died of __(i)].

and now, convert the main clause into an in situ interrogative clause:

  1. It was what(i) [(that) she died of __(i)]?

and now front the interrogative word:

  1. What(i) was it [(that) she died of __(i)]?

You will see that #4 is the same as the question portion of your original example:

What was it she died of, the clap?


ALTERNATIVELY: It could also be looked at in a way similar to the way you were doing it.

Consider an in situ interrogative clause:

   B1. She died of what?

and then, into an it-cleft:

   B2. It was what(i) [(that) she died of __(i)]?

and now front the interrogative word:

   B3. What(i) was it [(that) she died of __(i)]?

which again is the same as the question portion of your original example:

What was it she died of, the clap?

So, you can do it either way. :)

Tyler James Young
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F.E.
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  • +1 I like both your versions, but your second's the best imo. Less stages, more elegant :) – Araucaria - Not here any more. Sep 29 '14 at 22:06
  • (Example New) “I think the reason she wanted to meet you so badly was because of (A) what her mother had just told her,” Strike said. “Lady Bristow had taken a lot of Valium. I’m guessing she wanted to make the girl feel too bad to leave her, so she told Lula (B) what Tony had said about John all those years before” – Listenever Sep 30 '14 at 05:05
  • When it’s not a case of it-cleft (Example New), can ‘what’ be interpreted both ways as your reply? I mean: (i) what=the thing (or something) that; (ii) ‘what’ are shifted from in situ questions respectively: her mother had just told her what? ; Tony had said what about John? – Listenever Sep 30 '14 at 05:06
  • @Listenever For your first question: It sounds like you want to know if the "what" expressions in your examples are part of a fused-relative (NP) or an embedded question (subordinate interrogative clause). Such a topic/answer can sometimes be easy, and, many times, hard to figure out. If you want those examples looked into, then, perhaps open a new question thread specifically for it, for the answer post could end up being long. For related info, there's pages 1068-1073 ([1] to [16]). (I just re-read those pages to refresh my memory.) – F.E. Sep 30 '14 at 09:16
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    @Listenever For your last (2nd) question: Your last two examples have the interrogative word in situ, and are fine. Those two examples involve two topics: in situ interrogative words, and echo questions. Both topics are found in the 2002 CGEL's "Conceptual index" in the back, under: "in situ" on pages 856, 873, 888, 910, 914, 973; "question -- echo" on pages 886-91, etc. The appropriate context is needed to support these types of sentences. – F.E. Sep 30 '14 at 09:17
1

She died of it = It killed her.
What was it?
What was it that killed her? What was it she died of?

What was it you were saying?

TimR
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