Tense in Cleft Constructions

This work seeks to add further depth to our knowledge of cleft constructions by examining the tense of the matrix copula. There are numerous accounts describing the semantics of clefts, but none of these have integrated the matrix tense, meaning that any current theory of cleft constructions would claim that (1) and (2) have the same formal meaning.
(1) It was John who died.
(2) It is John who died.
This work seeks to describe the meaning the matrix tense contributes in cleft constructions and to integrate the matrix tense into an established cleft operator.