position of the pause

[daruk]

Hello,

If we pause at ... in the below, will there be any meaning or nuance difference?

1. The problem ... is that we have low supply.
2. The problem is ... that we have low supply.

Or, rather generally, in the structure, A is B, does the position of the pause matter?


Some help or hint would be greatly appreciated.

 

[grassy]

1. The problem ... is that we have low supply.

I would not make a pause here, unless I was hesitating over what to say next.

 

[sound shift]

Why are you thinking about a pause in that sentence, daruk?

 

[dojibear]

Spoken English has pauses, stress, and voice intonation. Written English does not.
Written English has punctuation. Spoken English does not.

In many cases, a spoken pause is in the same place in a sentence that a punctuation mark is.
Different punctuation expresses different meanings. Pauses express different meanings.

1. The problem ... is that we have low supply.
2. The problem is ... that we have low supply.

In this sentence, I would not add punctuation in writing, so I would not add a pause in speaking.
Here is a different version of this sentence:

3. The problem is this: we have a low supply.

Here I need a punctuation mark (':') in writing, so I need a pause in speech. The pause is in the same place: after the word "this".

 

[daruk]

Why are you thinking about a pause in that sentence, daruk?

Thank you, sound shift!

0. The problem is that we have low supply.

In Korean, the sentence 0 can have two possible meanings, which are expressed through Post-position.
So, almost every A is B structure can be expressed and understood in two ways.

Like Specifying and Ascriptive meanings in English, which is explained in Huddleston's grammar book.

ASCRIPTIVE This is {a good idea, fair}.
SPECIFYING The only problem is the cost.

For example, in Korean.

I am tall.

Ascriptive: As for me, I am the kind of person who is tall.
Specifying: Who is tall here? It's none other than me who is tall.

This contrast is expressed through different Post-positions in Korean language.

Thus, I happened to think about the possible connections between English Ascriptive Vs specifying and Korean.

Then, sentence 0 might be interpreted in two ways.

Ascriptive: As for the problem, we have low supply.
Specifying: What is the problem? That we have low supply is the problem.

I happened to think a Pause might be involved here, but I was not sure.

 

[daruk]

Spoken English has pauses, stress, and voice intonation. Written English does not.
Written English has punctuation. Spoken English does not.

In many cases, a spoken pause is in the same place in a sentence that a punctuation mark is.
Different punctuation expresses different meanings. Pauses express different meanings.


In this sentence, I would not add punctuation in writing, so I would not add a pause in speaking.
Here is a different version of this sentence:


Here I need a punctuation mark (':') in writing, so I need a pause in speech. The pause is in the same place: after the word "this".

Thank you so much, dojibear!

This is a great help for me.

 

[JulianStuart]

Thank you, sound shift!

0. The problem is that we have low supply.

In Korean, the sentence 0 can have two possible meanings, which are expressed through Post-position.
So, almost every A is B structure can be expressed and understood in two ways.

Like Specifying and Ascriptive meanings in English, which is explained in Huddleston's grammar book.

ASCRIPTIVE This is {a good idea, fair}.
SPECIFYING The only problem is the cost.

For example, in Korean.

I am tall.

Ascriptive: As for me, I am the kind of person who is tall.
Specifying: Who is tall here? It's none other than me who is tall.

This contrast is expressed through different Post-positions in Korean language.

Thus, I happened to think about the possible connections between English Ascriptive Vs specifying and Korean.

Then, sentence 0 might be interpreted in two ways.

Ascriptive: As for the problem, we have low supply.
Specifying: What is the problem? That we have low supply is the problem.

I happened to think a Pause might be involved here, but I was not sure.

In Engish, it is usually the context, rather than another word (post-position, etc) that allows the distinction you make in Korean. For example, the "I am tall" might be the answer to one of (at least) two different questions:
Who here is tall? I am tall
Are you short or tall? I am tall.
Or even a challenge to someone else's statement: "You're not all" "I am tall"

In isolation , the "I am tall" is a simple statement of fact containing no further nuance. In isolation, there would be no pause. When spoken, the stress/emphasis can convey your distinction.

 

[daruk]

In Engish, it is usually the context, rather than another word (post-position, etc) that allows the distinction you make in Korean. For example, the "I am tall" might be the answer to one of (at least) two different questions:
Who here is tall? I am tall
Are you short or tall? I am tall.
Or even a challenge to someone else's statement: "You're not all" "I am tall"

In isolation , the "I am tall" is a simple statement of fact containing no further nuance. In isolation, there would be no pause. When spoken, the stress/emphasis can convey your distinction.

Oh, thank you so much, JulianStuart!

This is a great help and enlightening!

 

[dojibear]

Ascriptive: As for me, I am the kind of person who is tall.
Specifying: Who is tall here? It's none other than me who is tall.

This contrast is expressed through different Post-positions in Korean language.

I assume this refers to the "topic" post-position and the "sentence subject" post-position. English is different. It is possible to say "As for me, " but it is not common. In English, the topic is normally the first sentence subject, then in later sentences pronouns are used to refer to the topic. For example all the pronouns in bold refer to Tom:

Tom is my boss. He is tall. His sister is tall too. His brother is taller than him.

---

I don't understand "ascriptive/descriptive difference". I am not sure it exists in English. This is not a meaningful sentence to me:

I am the kind of person who is tall.

There isn't a "kind of person who is tall". That simply doesn't exist.

As for the problem, we have low supply.

That is not idiomatic in my English. It could be worded this way:

The problem is this: we have low supply.

 

[daruk]

I assume this refers to the "topic" post-position and the "sentence subject" post-position. English is different. It is possible to say "As for me, " but it is not common. In English, the topic is normally the first sentence subject, then in later sentences pronouns are used to refer to the topic. For example all the pronouns in bold refer to Tom:

Tom is my boss. He is tall. His sister is tall too. His brother is taller than him.

---

I don't understand "ascriptive/descriptive difference". I am not sure it exists in English. This is not a meaningful sentence to me:

There isn't a "kind of person who is tall". That simply doesn't exist.


That is not idiomatic in my English. It could be worded this way:

Thank you so much for the explanations!

Here's an example in CGEL, written by Huddleston and Pullum.

i His daughter is a highly intelligent woman. [ascriptive]
ii The chief culprit was Kim. [specifying]

 

[dojibear]

Here's an example in CGEL, written by Huddleston and Pullum.

i His daughter is a highly intelligent woman. [ascriptive]
ii The chief culprit was Kim. [specifying]

I understand these examples. Thanks.