Handout Embedded Clauses

8/9/2019 Handout Embedded Clauses

1/8


2/8

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing 2

- He expects me in his office at 12.

- He considered the girl a good student.

- He thinks the decision very unwise.

- He judged the man in his fifties.

- He found the assignment more difficult than he had expected.

- You can count yourself lucky.

-

His attitude made real communication impossible.

Non-finite and small clauses with subject introduced by 'with(out)'- With the children (being) at school, we can't take our vacations when we want to. (Absoluteconstructions)

Subclasses of non-finite clauses: To-infinitive, Bare infinitive, ing part. clauses, ed part. clausesFor more detailed presentation of infinitive, gerund, participle forms, and participial and verbless clauses see Rianovi2007, ch: 23, 27, 28, 29.

TASK 4: Identify subordinate clauses and their classes and subclasses.I asked why a penknife or a small safety razor could not be used instead of the thumb nail to take off the old labels

from the bottles. I was expertly informed that knives or razors would scratch the glass thus depreciating the value

of the bottles when they were to be sold.

I enjoyed meeting the time clock, and spent a pleasant half-hour punching various cards standing around,

and then someone came in and said I couldn't punch the clock with my hat on.

Functional classes of embedded clauses

Nominal "nominal" functions, ie. subject and complements (object, predicational and adverbial

complement, complements of adjectives and prepositions)

Adverbial function as "adjuncts" (vp-adverbials) and disjuncts, conjuncts (comment clauses)

Modifying:

Relative finite, restrictive or non-restrictive modification of nouns in NPs (semantically similar to

adverbial cl. which modify verbs)

Postmodifying non-finite cl., appositive.

Comparative finite, with some special structural properties.

Functions of embedded clausesSubject

D Object

IOPc - SC

Pc - OC

Ac

that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, excl.-cl. (extraposed), nominal rel.-cl,to-inf.-cl, ing-cl., bare-inf. cl.,

that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, excl.-cl., nominal rel.-cl, to-inf.-cl,ing-cl., verbless-cl.,nominal rel.-cl onlythat-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, nominal rel.cl.to-inf.-cl, ing-cl.,bare-inf. cl.,nominal rel. cl., bare-inf. cl.

nominal rel. cl. ?

nominal clauses

with complex tr.

verbs

APostmodifier in NPComplements in NPsPrepositional complementAdjectival complementAppositive

adverbial clauses (finite and nonfinite)1

relative cl., nonfinite cl.,non-finite cl. (inf.),that-cl (inonly), wh-cl, excl.-cl., nominal rel.-cl, ing-cl.that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, to-inf.-cl2., ing-cl.,that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, nominal rel.-cl, to-inf.-cl,

ing-cl.,

AA, Mod.nominalnominalnominalMod.

Non-finite clauses in nominal functions - examples

Subject: to-infinitive, -ing clauses, bare infinitive, verbless (rare),

1

When ripe, the oranges are picked and sorted. He took up anthropology, stimulated by our enthusiasm. She hesitated,being very suspicious, to open the door. He opened his case to look for a book.2Bob is slow to react. Bob is hard to convince.


3/8


DO: to-infinitive, -ing clauses,

Pc (SC): to-infinitive, -ing clauses;

Appositive: to-infinitive, -ing clauses,

Adjectival complement: that-clause, wh-clauses..., to-infinitive, -ing clause see (12.11-13). Examples III:1. When ripe, the oranges are picked and sorted. He took up anthropology, stimulated by our enthusiasm. She

hesitated, being very suspicious, to open the door. He opened his case to look for a book.

2.

Bob is slow to react. Bob is hard to convince.3. For a bridge to collapse like that is unbelievable.4. Telling lies is wrong.5. Turn off the tap was all I did.6. Wall-to-wall carpets in every room is too expensive.7. He wants to be happy.8. No one enjoys deceiving his own family.

9. My wish is to be a pilote. They considered him to be an honest person.10. His favourite pastime is playing practical jokes. I found him driving my car.11. His ambition, to ba a straight actor, was never fulfilled.12. His hobby, collecting stamps, has completely absorbed him.13. I'm sure that he is an honest man.14. I'm glad to help you, Bob is hesitant to agree with you (A+to-inf.)

15.

The children were busy building sandcastles.

Thatclauses:We are glad that you are able to join us on our wedding aniversary.

S V SC

SC = APA that-clause (adj. complement)

That-cl = Sub. S V SC

SC = APA to-inf. clause (adj. compl)

To inf. cl.(S) V DO AExercices: I'm not sure who's coming. What he is looking for is a wife. The children were busy building sandcastles

Adverbial clauses 11.20-36

Of Time. Subordinators: after, as, since, when ....

Of Place. sub. where, wherever...

Of Condition (11.24-25), Concession (11.26-28)

Of Reason/cause: Sub.: since, because, for, as; -ing cl. without sub.

Of Circumstance:because, since, as, seeing that. non-finite without sub.

Of Purpose: so as to, in order, 'to inf.' without a subordinator, in case, for fear...

Of Result: so that, so (tako da je/su...); function as disjuncts;

Of Manner: (exactly/just) as.

Of Comparaison: as if, as, (AmE infml), like (of. similarity)

It was just like I imagined it would be (sub. premodified by 'just')

Of Proportion. as (... so), the .... the; eg. As she got older, her hair became gray.

analysis: The more she thought about it, the less she felt peaceful.S = A S V SC ...... A = adv. cl.corr sub. S V O ...

Of Preference: rather than, sooner than + non-finite cl. (bare inf.), finite possible

Comment cl.:parenthetical clauses, separated from the rest of the clause, disjuncts.

analysis: Kingston, as you probably know, is the capital of Jamaica.

S = S A V SC Adisjunctcomment clausesub. S A V ...

Sentential relative clauses:refer back to a predicate or predication, disjuncts.

-

He said he wanted to leave early, which was a surprise for me.

S = S V DO A

Asentential rel. cl. (disjunct)S V SC S = relative pron. which

... in which case I cannot see him off to the airport

A sent. rel.cl. (disjunct)A S V DO (Particle) AA = PPP NP NPdet N detrel determinerwhich


4/8


Absolute clauses 11.35 + Rianovi2007 ch. 29.

Comparative clauses and comparative sentences

[comp. sentence [comp. clause ]]

Difficult to fit into any major functional categories. Often have appearance of adverb or adjective modifiers:

-

I love you [moredeeply than I can say]

-

He's not [asclever a man [as I thought]].

- typically, constituents within adjective or adverb phrases (embedded within AdvP or APs); licensed by a

correlativeelement (a comparative adjective or adverb or quantifier).

Analysis:

1. Jane is [as healthy as her sister (is)] healthy comparativeel., as intensifier; correlativeel.

S = S V SC

SC = APAdvP(corr.el.) A Comp-cl

AdvPAdv.as (degree)

Comp clausesub. S (V SC)

sub.as

Sher sister

2. Jane is healthierthan her sister (is)

3. She works as hard as she ever did

4. He eats vegetables more than (he eats) any other food. On jede povre vie nego bilo koju drugu hranu.

SS V DO A

AAdvPAdv (corr. el.) Comp.Cl

Advmore (quantifying and comparative)

Comp.Clsub. (S V) DO

5. He eats [more vegetables than (he eats) any other food] On jede vie povra nego bilo koje druge hrane.

6. More people use this brand than (?theyuse) any other window-cleaning fluid.

6' People use this brand more than .... SS V DO A

7. She knows [more history than most people (know (it/*history))]8. That toy has given more children happiness than any other (toy has).

Cases of nonclausal comparison:

I weigh [Ac more than 200 pounds], I goes [Afaster than 100 miles per hour]

Ambiguous comparison constructions: Morton has more expensive clothes than I have.

Ellipsis in comparative clauses and ambiguity

He loves his dog more than (he loves) his children. - ellipsis of S and V

He loves his dog more than his children (love it). - ellipsis of T' (V + DO)

Infinitive clauses linked to 'enough' and 'too' degree adverbs

1.

They're rich enough to own a car

SS V Pc PcAPA PostM

PostMAdvPAdv to-inf Cl. (compl. of Adv)Advenough (degree)

to-inf. Cl(S) V DO ...

So ... that, such ... that

11. It's so good a movie that we mustn't miss it. SS V Pc, PcDPAdvP (corr.el.) Det N that-cl

12. It flies so fast that it can beat the speed record. S S V A AAdvPAdvP A that-cl

Relative clauses

Postmodifiers in NP (see p. 377-84)

introduced by relative pronouns: zero, that, which, whose, who(m), and relative adverbials: where, why,

how, when...; function as restrictive or non-restrictive postmodifiers in NP.I saw the house whose roof is damaged, I saw the house (that) he built last year


5/8


Nominal relative clauses

Can have functions typical of noun phrases: subject, object, Pc or Ac, appositive modification of nouns,

complements of prepositions. Examples IV:- What you need is a bit of luck. (pseudo-cleft)

- Luck is what you need most. (pseudo-cleft)

- They went where everybody whants to go: Paris.

-

They must call her whatever she wants them to call her.- You can put the book wherever you want to.

- We need to know your college address (that is): where you live in term time.

- You can write about whatever topic you choose.

whoever ko god, whatever ta god, etc.

Ambiguous structures: - They asked me what I knew. Pitali su me sve/ono to znam. or Pitali su me ta

znam.

Formal indicators of subordination

- are generally found in the subordinate clause.

- are of several kinds: Sub. conjunctions (subordinators), wh-items, "relative" that, the absence of a finite

verbal form, inversion.

Subordinators

Head elements: that, if, for (Complementizers)

Phrasal elements: eg. wh-elements (when) (wh-adverbs), combination of a subordinator (marker of

subordination) and a sentence element (such as S, O, A)

1.

one word : after, before, since, that, if; when, whereas...

2.

multiword: in that, so that, such that... now (that), provided (that), supposing (that) ... as far as, so as,

... sooner than, rather than;

3. Correlative sub. combinations of two markers, one of which is a subordinator in the subordinate

clause, the other being in the main clause (normally an adverb).

if .... then as .... so the .... the

Borderline subordinators: see 11.8

Other indicators of subordination1.

Interrogative items (wh-): markers in interrogative subord. clauses, and exclamative clauses, in wh-

relative clauses, in conditional-concessive clauses. (I don't know whereI put my umbrella.)

2.

The relative pronoun that in restirctive relative clauses.

3. Subject-operator inversion: in conditional clauses (Shouldheask questions, ...)

4. Predication fronting:Honestthough he might be, he won't get the position so easily.

5. The absence of a finite verbal form is most often an indication of subordination: non-finite clauses

are normally subordinate clauses.

6. No indication: nominal that-clauses with 'that' omitted : He said he would come to the meeting.

restrictive relative clauses without a rel. pronoun: The bookI boughtwas on the table.

The V-element in subordinate clauses 11.47-58

The simple present tense referring to future events after subordinators: after, until, when, if, in case, as

(manner), ... Bosnian can have a future verb : Ako sutranji mebude odgoen .... if the match is cancelled.Direct and indirect speech The most important change which applies to the V-element is BACK-shift: the

change of tense. When the reporting verb is in the past tense, verbs in the reported clause change as follows:

Presentpast

Past, present perfect, past perfectpast perfect.

Future"future in the past" (should, would)

Imperativeinfinitive


6/8


Fronting (preposing), clefting, pseudo-clefting; extraposition, postponement.

Topicor theme old information. Focus new information

Fronting

TASK 4: Recognize sentence element fronted:

1. Joe his name is. 2. Holiday you call it! 3. Really good coctails they made at the hotel. 4. His face I'm not fond of.5. ... but his character I despise. 6.Rich I may be, but that doesn't mean I'm happy. 7. In London I was born, and

in London I'll die.

Subject-verb inversion: Away he goes. vs. Away goes the servant.

Subject-operator inversion: So absurd was his manner that everyone stared at him (comparative corr. s.).

Under no circumstances must the switch be left on. Hardly had I left before the quarrelling started. I worked

and so did the others.

TASK 5: Recognize the fronted/inverted elements:Should you change your plan...

Keen though I am...

Say what you will of him...

Cleft sentencesgiving prominence to certain sentence elements (contrastive focusing).John gave this book to Bill on Saturday.

Subject: It was John whogave this book to Bill on Saturday.

Object: It was this book that John gave ...

Atime: It was on Saturday (that...)

Aplace: It was at the bus-stop that John gave ...

A(compl.)destination/goal (prepositional IO): It was to Bill that John gave the book...

Notethat IO realized by an NP cannot be clefted: *It was Bill that John gave this book... (from 'John gave Billthis book on S...)

Adverbial clauses: John gave this book to Bill on Saturday because it was his birthday. It was because it was hisbirthday that John gave Bill....

The focused element in a cleft sentence can be NP, PP or an adv. clause.STRUCTURE:It BE[ focus] that/who/which clause.

Predicative adjunct in the focus position: It was dark blue that we painted the fence.

Pc: restrictions: ??It is very successful that they are; It was a linguist that he became.

Analysis:

Cleft-SS V Focus "Rel"-clause

S expletive it

V BE

FocusS/O/...

rel.-clrel.pr.(S/O/...) ...My brother bought his new car from our next-door neighbour last Saturday.

It was my brother who bought his new car from our neighbour last Saturday.It was last Saturday whenmy brother bought his new car from our neighbour.

It was a new car thatmy brother bought from our neighbour last Saturday.

It was our next-door neighbour thatmy brother bought his new car from last Saturday.

Pseudo-cleft sentences - applicable to verbs and their complements.

John gave this book to Bill on Saturday. - What John did was [give the book to Bill on Saturday].

Examples V:What Bill will do is have a quick shower before he leaves.

What Anne didwas open the box and take out the gun.

simple asp. bare inf.-clWhat I am doing is trying to clear up this mess.

progressive asp. ing-cl


7/8


8/8


He made it his objective not to come back.

*He made not to come back his objective.

He considered it very interesting to provoke the chairman.

*He considered to provoke the chairman very interesting.

He explained it to me that he would not be coming back. (Ac)

*He explained that he would not be coming back to me.

-ing clauses are only optionally extraposed:

They do not find being in the same office a stress. current attribute

They do not find it a stress [being in the same office]

But:I madesettling the matter my prime objective.

*I madeit my prime objective settling the matter. resulting attribute? extraposition blocked

"She is a pleasure to teach"

To teach her is a pleasure (subject ext) It is a pleasure to teach her - She is a pleasure to teach.

Quirk: adj. + compl. clauseExtraposition:

It is certain that we'll forget the address.It seems that you've made a mistake

It is known that he's a coward.

S V SC S(extraposed)

We are certain [ (subj) to forget the address]

You seem [ (subj) to have made a mistake]He is known [ (subj) to be a coward]

Postponment

"Heavy" (very long) DO in DO Pc/Ac structuresThey prnounced guilty every one of the accused except the man who had raised the alarm.

Discontinuous nounphrases

The plumber arrived who we had called earlier. (who we had called earlierhas been extraposed from its

normal position afterplumber.)

Documents

Handout Embedded Clauses