Clauses and Subordination Flashcards
Sentences are divided by subject and predicate. What’s the difference?
Subject is what the thought is about
Predicate is what is said about the subject
What’s the difference between a simplex and complex sentence?
Simplex has one clause
Complex has more than one
What does finiteness indicate?
Whether a verbal predicate works as an independent or dependent clause
How do languages mark finiteness (if at all)?
Grammatical category is obligatorily marked in independent clause
Grammatical categories typically involved in finiteness asymmetries:
TAM
Person & Number
Politeness
Case
Info Structure
Typical nonfinite forms
(think about that girl who cries)
infinitives (the girl began to cry)
action nominals (The girl’s crying irritates me) NOUNISH
participles (A crying girl entered the room) ADJ-ISH
converbs (The girl entered the room crying) ADVERBISH
Three parameters for analyzing clause combining
Relationship between combining clause and constituent
Properties of the combining clause (finiteness)
Properties of the constituent attached to
coordination & subordination
Coordination (parataxis) yields structural independence and equivalence
Clauses can stand on their own
Subordination (hypotaxis) yields structural dependency and non-equivalence
Four types of subordinate clause based on two factors…
Syntactic function:
- Complement (obligatory)
- adjunct (optional) clause
POS of the head of constituent attached to:
- Nominal projection: the clause attaches to a noun
- Verbal projection: the clause attached to a verb
What is a relative clause?
(optional) clausal modifiers that typically modify a noun
Peter recited a poem [that Anne liked]
What does a nominal complement clause do?
Serve to complete the meaning of a noun or express its contents
The news [that she was dead] shocked us all
What does a verbal complement clause do?
Serve to complete the meaning of a verb
He never expected [that she would come]
What are adverbial clauses?
(optional) clausal modifiers that typically modify a verb or a whole clause
She will come to work [after she gets paid]
[Because it was before dawn], we got up quietly
What are the two types of linkage?
Syndetic: involves linking word
Asyndetic: No linking word
Three types of linking words
Complementizer: typically introduces complement clause
Subordinate: typically introduces different types of subordinate clauses
Conjunction: typically connects words, phrases, etc.
