Clauses: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
(Created page with "The Clausal Categories (S, S') The Clausal Category S The distribution of S A clause (S) can occur in the following environments: S can occur as an independent declarative cla...") |
No edit summary |
||
| (15 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> | |||
The Clausal Category S | <font size="3"> | ||
The distribution of S | |||
== The Clausal Category S == | |||
=== The distribution of S === | |||
A clause (S) can occur in the following environments: | A clause (S) can occur in the following environments: | ||
S can occur as an independent declarative clause. | |||
S follows a complementizer: | * S can occur as an independent declarative clause: <span style="color: blue>[<sub>S</sub> Pat is ill.]</span> | ||
S follows a subordinate conjunction: Pat arrived before | * S follows a complementizer: <span style="color: blue>[Sandy thinks that [<sub>S</sub> Pat is ill.]]</span> | ||
The internal structure of S | * S follows a subordinate conjunction: <span style="color: blue>[Pat arrived before [<sub>S</sub> we were fully prepared.]]</span> | ||
=== The internal structure of S === | |||
Obligatory elements: | Obligatory elements: | ||
S must contain a | |||
* S must contain a verb | |||
* S must contain a subject. Usually this is an NP (in nominative case), but it can also be an S (<span style="color: blue>[<sub>S</sub> That Kim is always late] bothered Pat enormously.) or a VP[inf] (<span style="color: blue>[<sub>VP[inf]</sub>To have missed the soccer game] bothered Pat enormously.) | |||
Optional elements: | Optional elements: | ||
There may be adverbials at the beginning of S (Last night Pat didn't sleep well., Wisely, Pat locked the door before going to bed., According to recent studies, Germans drink more coffee than beer.) | |||
* There may be adverbials at the beginning of S (<span style="color: blue>Last night Pat didn't sleep well., Wisely, Pat locked the door before going to bed., According to recent studies, Germans drink more coffee than beer.</span>) | |||
The | === Complementizer-introduced sentences === | ||
The | |||
English has 3 words whose function it is to mark that a clause is subordinate: <span style="color: blue>that, whether, if</span>. | |||
* The complementizer <span style="color: blue>that</span> introduces declarative subordinate clauses: <span style="color: blue>Pat thinks [<sub>S</sub> that [<sub>S</sub> Sandy smokes]].</span> | |||
* The complementizers <span style="color: blue>whether</span> and <span style="color: blue>if</span> introduce interrogative subordinate clauses: <span style="color: blue>Pat asked [<sub>S</sub> whether [<sub>S</sub> Sandy smokes]].</span> | |||
* The complementizer <span style="color: blue>if</span> also introduces conditional subordinate clauses: <span style="color: blue>[<sub>S</sub> If [<sub>S</sub> Pat is ill]], we won't hold the picnic.</span> | |||
the | === Special sentence types === | ||
* In constituent questions, the first constituent of a sentence typically is either | |||
** a question word: <span style="color: blue>Pat knows [<sub>S</sub> <u>what</u> [<sub>S</sub> Kim is reading at the moment]].</span> or | |||
** a phrase containing a question word: <span style="color: blue>Pat knows [<sub>S</sub> <u>which book</u> [<sub>S</sub> Kim is reading at the moment]].</span> | |||
* In relative clauses, the first constituent of a sentence typically is either: | |||
** a relative pronoun: <span style="color: blue>Pat knows the author [<sub>S</sub> <u>who</u> [<sub>S</sub> Kim talks about all the time]].</span> or | |||
** a phrase containing a relative pronoun: <span style="color: blue>Pat knows the author [<sub>S</sub> <u>whose most recent book</u> [<sub>S</sub> Kim is reading at the moment]].</span> | |||
<br> | |||
<br> | |||
Navigation: | |||
<div align="center"> | |||
[[Syntax_1_Wiki |'''Main page''']] [[Syntax_1_Wiki:_Week_1| '''Week 1''']] Week 2 Week3 Week4 Week5 Week6 Week7 Week8 Week9 Week10 | |||
Latest revision as of 09:43, 26 April 2017
The Clausal Category S
The distribution of S
A clause (S) can occur in the following environments:
- S can occur as an independent declarative clause: [S Pat is ill.]
- S follows a complementizer: [Sandy thinks that [S Pat is ill.]]
- S follows a subordinate conjunction: [Pat arrived before [S we were fully prepared.]]
The internal structure of S
Obligatory elements:
- S must contain a verb
- S must contain a subject. Usually this is an NP (in nominative case), but it can also be an S ([S That Kim is always late] bothered Pat enormously.) or a VP[inf] ([VP[inf]To have missed the soccer game] bothered Pat enormously.)
Optional elements:
- There may be adverbials at the beginning of S (Last night Pat didn't sleep well., Wisely, Pat locked the door before going to bed., According to recent studies, Germans drink more coffee than beer.)
Complementizer-introduced sentences
English has 3 words whose function it is to mark that a clause is subordinate: that, whether, if.
- The complementizer that introduces declarative subordinate clauses: Pat thinks [S that [S Sandy smokes]].
- The complementizers whether and if introduce interrogative subordinate clauses: Pat asked [S whether [S Sandy smokes]].
- The complementizer if also introduces conditional subordinate clauses: [S If [S Pat is ill]], we won't hold the picnic.
Special sentence types
- In constituent questions, the first constituent of a sentence typically is either
- a question word: Pat knows [S what [S Kim is reading at the moment]]. or
- a phrase containing a question word: Pat knows [S which book [S Kim is reading at the moment]].
- In relative clauses, the first constituent of a sentence typically is either:
- a relative pronoun: Pat knows the author [S who [S Kim talks about all the time]]. or
- a phrase containing a relative pronoun: Pat knows the author [S whose most recent book [S Kim is reading at the moment]].
Navigation: