Subordinate clauses filling an argument position

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-236
Author(s):  
Harm Pinkster
Keyword(s):  
Argument Position ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Nominal Clauses

Chapter 15 deals with subordinate clauses, both finite and non-finite, which function as argument of their governing verb (traditionally called complement clauses). A distinction is made between declarative, interrogative, and imperative subordinate clauses. They are discussed according to the various subordinating devices: subordinators (e.g. quod, ut), question particles, infinitives (including accusative and infinitive clauses), gerunds, gerundives, and nominal clauses.

scholarly journals Coordinate and subordinate clauses in the Slavic languages

2008 ◽  
pp. 189-197
Author(s):  
Snjezana Kordic
Keyword(s):  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Slavic Languages ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Complement Clauses

This article provides a survey of major findings on complex sentences in the Slavic languages. It treats coordinate and subordinate clauses, together with their conjunction. As for the subordinate clauses, it deals with complement clauses.

Subordinate clauses

2019 ◽  
pp. 237-288
Author(s):  
Jan Terje Faarlund
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Infinitival Clauses ◽  
Finite Verb ◽  
Nominal Clauses

In subordinate clauses, the C position is occupied by a complementizer word, which may be null. The finite verb stays in V. SpecCP is either empty or occupied by a wh-word, or by some other element indicating its semantic function. Nominal clauses are finite or non-finite. Finite nominal clauses are declarative or interrogative. Declarative nominal clauses may under specific circumstances have main clause word order (‘embedded V2’). Infinitival clauses are marked by an infinitive marker, which is either in C (Swedish), or immediately above V (Danish). Norwegian has both options. Relative clauses comprise several different types; clauses with a relativized nominal argument are mostly introduced by a complementizer; adverbial relative clauses relativize a locative or temporal phrase, with or without a complementizer; comparative clauses relativize a degree or identity. Under hard-to-define circumstances depending on language and region, subordinate clauses allow extraction of phrases up into the matrix clause.

scholarly journals Tense in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

2015 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ana Arregui ◽  
Kiyomi Kusumoto
Keyword(s):  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Sequence Of Tense

The behaviour of tense in subordinate clauses is not uniform across languages and theories that deal with the interpretation of tense try to explain this. The interpretation of past and present tense in complement clauses is one of the well known puzzles. Languages differ on this respect, and have been classified accordingly as sequence of tense languages (e.g. English) and non-sequence of tense languages (e.g. Japanese). In this paper we will be concerned mainly with the interpretation of tenses in temporal adjunct clauses (TACs). We will discuss the analysis proposed by Ogihara [1994, 1996] and argue that the differences in tense distribution that we observe between English and Japanese TACs are not to be explained as a case of sequence of tense.

scholarly journals Complement clauses as turn continuations

Pragmatics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eeva-Leena Seppänen ◽  
Ritva Laury
Keyword(s):  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Definition Of

This paper examines the use of että-clauses in Finnish everyday conversation for extending a speaker’s turn after a possible point of turn completion for the purpose of pursuing uptake from a turn recipient. Although että-clauses are considered complements in most grammatical descriptions of Finnish, the paper questions their status as subordinate clauses. We show that they nevertheless could be considered to function as increments, as either Extensions (Glue-ons, in terms of Couper-Kuhlen & Ono, this volume) or Free Constituents. This is interesting in view of Ford, Fox & Thompson’s (2002) definition of increments as “nonmain-clause continuations after a possible point of turn completion.” We also show that what makes että-clauses ideal for the pursuit of uptake is that both as a conjunction and particle, että functions to open up the participation framework and import new voices to the conversation.

Subordinate clauses with nouns, adjectives, and adverbs

2021 ◽  
pp. 435-470
Author(s):  
Harm Pinkster
Keyword(s):  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Nominal Clauses

Chapter 17 deals with subordinate clauses, both finite and non-finite, which depend on nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Some of these clauses are required by the meaning of the governing word, others are optional. A distinction is made between declarative, interrogative, and imperative subordinate clauses. They are discussed according to the various subordinating devices: subordinators (e.g. quod, ut), question particles, infinitives (including accusative and infinitive clauses), gerunds, supines, and nominal clauses.

The distribution of embedded Verb Second and Verb Third in modern Icelandic

2020 ◽  
pp. 240-264
Author(s):  
Ásgrímur Angantýsson
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Written Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Embedded Contexts ◽  
Language Meaning

The aim of this chapter is to give a comprehensive and current overview of the key empirical facts regarding embedded V2 and V3 in Icelandic and to compare this to what has been shown for other Scandinavian varieties. It is shown that Icelandic is a robust symmetric V2-language, meaning that it exhibits V2 as the default word order in both matrix and subordinate clauses. In general, preposing is easier in matrix clauses than in subordinate clauses, with the exception of Stylistic Fronting (SF), which is more easily applicable in embedded contexts. It turns out that Icelandic is not as different from the other Scandinavian languages as is sometimes assumed in the literature, and also that there is considerable age-related variation with respect to embedded V2/V3 and related constructions within Icelandic. The fact that younger speakers of Icelandic do not accept embedded topicalization and SF as much as older speakers could be interpreted as an ongoing change in Icelandic. However, it must be taken into account that these constructions are more common in the written language and in a formal style of speech. If the results regarding V3 in Icelandic are taken to indicate an ongoing change, then there are two changes that must be recognized: in relative clauses the conditions for V3 are reminiscent of the conditions for Topicalization and SF (less accepted by younger people), while in complement-clauses V3 is more accepted by younger people than older (innovation).

scholarly journals Contact-induced usages of volitional moods in East Caucasian languages

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 559-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Dobrushina
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Turkic Languages ◽  
High Level ◽  
Purpose Clauses

Aims and hypothesis: The aim of this article is to introduce a case of syntactic borrowing. I test the hypothesis that the uses of volitional forms (optative, imperative, hortative and jussive) in complement clauses of the verbs of wish and in purpose clauses in East Caucasian languages evolve under the influence of Azerbaijanian. Design/methodology/approach and data and analysis: The data of 13 languages are considered in the paper. To prove that shared features are contact-induced, two control languages are included in the sample. Archi belongs to the same genetic group as the languages that use volitionals in subordinate clauses, but is exposed to Azerbaijanian to a lesser extent. Axaxdərə Akhvakh belongs to another group, but has strong contacts with Azerbaijanian due to recent migration. Findings/conclusions: A survey shows that volitionals are used in subordinate clauses most extensively in those languages whose speakers exhibit a high level of bilingualism in Azerbaijanian, and where the contact has been longer. I assume that there is a hierarchy of borrowability of subordinate constructions involving volitionals. Originality: Although the influence of Turkic languages on the languages of the Caucasus in the domain of syntax has been previously discussed, the usage of volitionals in subordinate clauses has not. Significance/implications: It is acknowledged that social factors play an important role in shaping the linguistic consequences of contact. However, evidence of the correspondence between social factors and structural outcomes of language contact is still very scarce. The relevance of two social factors is shown in this paper: the ratio of bilingual speakers and the duration of contact. Limitations: I advance the hypothesis that connects the borrowability of particular constructions to their typological frequency, but the typology of subordinate uses of volitionals is not well enough investigated to make final conclusions.

scholarly journals Purepecha, a Polysynthetic but Predominantly Dependent-Marking Language

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudine Chamoreau
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Noun Incorporation ◽  
Relevant Characteristic ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Finite Clause ◽  
Purpose Clauses ◽  
Typological Classification

Purepecha (language isolate, Mexico) has one relevant characteristic that leads to identifying it as a polysynthetic language: productive verbal morphology (in particular locative suffixes). Purepecha is a predominantly dependent-marking language, as its pronominal markers are enclitics, generally second position enclitics. But, in some contexts Purepecha shows head-marking characteristics. Today, pronominal enclitics exhibit variation, tending to move to the rightmost position in the clause; they may encliticize to the predicate itself, showing a head-attraction or polypersonalism strategy and making Purepecha more polysynthetic. But this language lacks noun incorporation. Purepecha has three types of non-finite clause: two subordinate clauses (non-finite complement clauses and purpose clauses) and a syntactically independent clause (the chain-medial clause). This seemingly inconsistent situation (characterized by a correlation of different properties, some of which have not been identified as polysynthetic) calls for addressing the typological classification of Purepecha among the polysynthetic languages.

scholarly journals Complementation

Linguistics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Achard
Keyword(s):  
Argument Position ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
Spoken Text ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Realistic Representation ◽  
Good For ◽  
Waking Up ◽  
And Control

In its more general sense, a complement is an argument of a predicate, and generally opposed to an adjunct, a non-argument position. In this bibliography, however, complementation more narrowly refers to complement clauses, namely clausal arguments of predicates. For example, in I believe that she came back, the complement clause she came back functions as the object of the predicate believe. The study of complementation involves the detailed investigation of the different types of clauses that follow specific semantic classes of predicates. Obviously, complement forms vary greatly across languages; in English, they includes bare infinitives (I saw John eat a cookie, Mary made John eat a cookie), gerunds (I hate waking up early), as well as instances where the complement clause is introduced by the complementizers that, wh, POSS-ING, to, and for to, respectively illustrated in I think that coffee is good for you, I wonder whether coffee is good for you, I am worried about John’s being angry all the time, The president ordered the clerk to resign, and I would like for the board to recognize your promotion. The literature on complementation reflects the theoretical eclecticism of the field. Syntactic research primarily focuses on the mechanisms by which complement clauses acquire their surface forms. More semantically oriented analyses concentrate on the possible pairing of the various complement forms with specific semantic classes of predicates, as well as on the semantic import of the different components of complement constructions (predicates, complementizers, the complement forms themselves). The main focus of usage-based accounts is to provide a realistic representation of the frequency and distribution of the various constructions in written and spoken text. This overview of the complementation literature is organized in a way that captures this eclectic research and separates the different orientations in different sections. In particular, the syntactic and semantic solutions to the issues of raising and control are presented separately.

scholarly journals Tense in Temporal Adjunct Clauses

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Arregui ◽  
Kiyomi Kusumoto
Keyword(s):  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Sequence Of Tense

The behaviour of tense in subordinate clauses is not uniform across languages and theories that deal with the interpretation of tense try to explain this. The interpretation of past and present tense in complement clauses is one of the well known puzzles. Languages differ on this respect, and have been classified accordingly as sequence of tense languages (e.g. English) and non-sequence of tense languages (e.g. Japanese). In this paper we will be concerned mainly with the interpretation of tenses in temporal adjunct clauses (TACs). We will discuss the analysis proposed by Ogihara [1994, 1996] and argue that the differences in tense distribution that we observe between English and Japanese TACs are not to be explained as a case of sequence of tense.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document