Subordination and Coordination plus Clauses Descriptive Grammar 2

Subordination and Coordination (plus Clauses) Descriptive Grammar – 2 S, 2016 Mrs. Belén Berríos Droguett

Remember… Sentences are the biggest units in Grammar analysis A simple sentence = one clause Complex/Compound sentences = more than one clause The relation among clauses can be of: subordination or coordination

Subordination & Coordination These two types of relation can be seen at different levels: Clauses Phrases Words The difference is that subordination refers to units being part of other units; while coordination is the joint of elements of the same level, usually by the use of a conjunction Subordination: [[If you go to the party], you’ll meet the new students] Coordination: [You go to the party] and [you’ll meet the new students]

Subordination Function A subordination clause (SCl) can act as: Subject: [[What the program requires] is a committed student] Object: [Everyone should be aware [what the program requires]] Complement: [Committed students is [what the program requires]] All of the above are similar to NPs, so we’ll call them Noun Clause (NCl) It is possible also have adverbial clauses, having an adverbial function inside the sentence: [The man left the room [while she was explaining the problem]]

Subordination Structure Similar to any clause, since you can identify S, P, O, C, A. If they don’t have these elements, they cannot be called clauses per se. They have some indicators: 1. Subordinating Conjunction (EGFT p. 61) 2. Wh- element (a phrase with a wh- element EGFT p. 73) 3. Tenseless predicator: Cli, Cling, Clen Examples: 1. As soon as I opened the door, my cat ran to the kitchen 2. My cat wants whatever I have in my bag 3. We consider buying the blue house

Subordination Structure Distinguishing a WH- element of a Conjunction: WH- elements are the central element of a clause (S, O, A) They also have a special function in interrogatives and relative clauses/phrases Conjunctions are particles at the beginning of a Clause, which don’t have any specific function Tenseless clauses don’t have subject (mostly) The opening element in a clause is the indicator of which type of clause we are facing

Subordination Problems Overlapping: wh-elements and conjunctions have members which belong to both classes Zero clauses: clauses with no introductory element marker

Tensed Subordinate Clause Types Noun Clause – NCl Adverbial Clause – ACl Relative Clause – RCl Comparative Clause – CCl Prepositional Clause – PCl

Tensed Subordinate Clause Noun Clauses (NCl) There are three main types: That–clause: it begins with that e. g. The new student is sure [that his new class starts on Friday] Zero that–clause: omitting that (test: adding that) e. g. The new student is sure [his new class starts on Friday] Wh–clauses: it begins with a wh-word (working as S, O, C, A) e. g. Karen doesn’t remember how old her first boyfriend was

Tensed Subordinate Clause Adverbial Clauses (ACl) It is introduced by a conjunction (mostly) There is a semantic classification to this type of clause (EGFT P. 108) We must be careful with overlapping elements (more than one interpretation) There are possibilities of finding Wh-adverbial clauses and Zero-adverbial clauses, however, it is very uncommon to face this ACls are similar to relative clauses, in the sense they make a comment or add information to the whole sentence

Tensed Subordinate Clause Relative Clauses (RCl) They act as post-modifiers, similar to NPs in PPs They are indirectly part of another clause They usually begin with a relative pronoun, connecting the clause to the word or head of the NP Types: WH-RCl, That-RCl, Zero-RCl Where, when, that they can introduce relative clause

Tensed Subordinate Clause Comparative Clauses (CCl) They are very similar to RCl, in the sense they also act as modifiers, not only of nouns, but also of adjectives and adverbs Typically, a CCl follows a comparative structure such as: as…as, so…that

Tensed Subordinate Clause Prepositional Clauses (PCl) As with PP, a PCl begins with a preposition They have a structure similar to: p + NCl = PCl It can act as an adverbial or a post-modifier

Function Subordinate Clauses Directly Subordinate Clauses Noun Clauses Adverbial Clauses Prepositional Clauses SOC A A Compare: NPs Compare: Av. P Compare: PP Indirectly Subordinate Clauses Relative Clauses Comparative Clauses Prepositional Clauses M in NP Compare: Aj, PP M in NP, Aj. P, Av. P Compare: Av, PP M in NP, Aj. P, Av. P Compare: PP

Tenseless Subordinate Clauses Infinitive Clause Cli Ing. Clause Cling En-Clause Clen Tenseless Subordinat e Clauses Types

Tenseless Subordinate Clauses Tenseless Clause Cling NCl ✓ ✓ ACl ✓ ✓ ✓ RCl ✓ ✓ ✓ CCl ✓] ✓] PCl ✓ Clen

Direct and Indirect Subordination Direct: a unit inside another of its same rank e. g. a clause inside another clause Indirect: a unit embedded into a lower ranked unit e. g. a clause inside a phrase

Direct and Indirect Subordination Direct Clauses within clauses: [ [ ] ] Phrases within phrases: ( ( ) ) Words within words: compounds Indirect: Clauses within phrases: ( [ ] ) Subordination can be a non-ending analysis, since there might be many different interpretations to the composition of a clause and phrase, specially when we face complex units with lots of subordinate elements

Skeleton Analysis It is a simplified form of notation, closer to the bracketing, where we either omit form and function levels or we get rid of words and we use only symbols: There are skeleton phrase analysis and skeleton clause analysis

Coordination is related to the use of coordinator elements such as conjunctions, e. g. and, or, but Clauses, phrases and words can be conjoined to create more complex units, but at the same level/ranking In coordination, we can use a specific symbols to enclose the elements: < > Finally, if we omit the conjunction (unlinked coordination), we have to use a comma in the notation to represent it