terminology - "He is a genius, he is." Is there a term for the "he is" addition to this sentence?
Just as we have tail-questions (or question tags), affirmative additions to affirmative remarks ("so do I", "so did he") and negative additions to negative remarks ("neither do I", "neither would I", etc), is there a term for this kind of addition to a sentence?
- "Despite all the corruption, he was re-elected. He is a masterpiece, he is."
- "She is a fly customer, she is."
- "He is a genius, he is.
Answer
It's called right dislocation, and it's covered in CGEL Ch.16, §8.2 (pp. 1411-1412) where the dislocated constituent is said to be subject to two constraints:
It must be discourse-old—the entity referred to must have been previously introduced into the discourse.
It must be topical—the entity referred to must be the topic of the immediately preceding discourse.
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