Las funciones informativas de las construcciones focalizadoras con lo de carácter valorativo [lo bueno es que + indicativo/subjuntivo]: estudio de la percepción de hablantes nativos del español de España

Abstract

This paper examines the informative functions of evaluative cleft sentences with lo. In this framework, there exist mutually exclusive theories. On the one hand, according to several references the distribution of theme and rheme in the sentence varies according to the mood of the subordinate verb. On the other hand, certain authors maintain that the subordinate clause always represents the rheme, regardless of the mood of its verb. To corroborate one or another speculation, 338 native speakers from Spain were asked to identify the most relevant information in ten different cleft sentences with lo. Results demonstrate that the absolute majority of the informants identified the focal information in the subordinate clause of every sentence, regardless of the mood of its verb. In this regard, this evidence excludes mood selection as a determining factor of informative functions, and validates the theory for which the subordinate clause always constitutes the rheme.