Embedded Clauses

Abstract

Abstract The last topic l wish to discuss in detail is that or embedded clauses in the poly synthetic languages. The issues that arise here are partially similar to those discussed in chapter 9. In particular, embedded clauses share with PPs the property of not being NPs. This means that the standard ways of satisfying the Morphological Visibility Condition agreemenl morphology and incorporation-are not well suited to them. From this it follows that argument clauses are more restricted in polysynthetic languages than in languages or other types. This fits well with the fact that polysynthetic languages often have few clear cases of subordinate clauses, as pointed out by Mithun (1984b). However, exactly how languages adapt to this grammatical pressure is rather different for embedded clauses than for PPs. and therefore a separate discussion is warranted. Moreover, there is clear evidence that some CP complements are possible in sore polysynthetic languages, so one must account for how this can be. The Polysynthesis Parameter also has implications for the internal structure of embedded clauses. A straightforward consequence of the parameter is that it is impossible to have typical instances of non finitc complements in a polysynthetic language. This is a property of polysynthetic languages that is known to topologists and functional linguists (Heath l 97’.i, Mithun 1984b, Nichols 1992). Moreover, this property interacts with the theory of PRO to imply that the polysynthetic languages will not have control phenomena in anything like the familiar lndo-European sense.