That‐adverbials in Cameroon English1

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper examines that‐adverbials in Cameroon English. That‐adverbials are that‐clauses that appear in adjunct position. We have explained the phenomenon by positing formal coalescence, according to which there is structural levelling‐out so that structurally similar sentences carry different meanings depending on context. On the basis of their immutability, formal disadverbialization has been posited and that‐adverbials have been termed unmarked complements. It is also a property of that‐adverbials that they can be questioned, unlike other subordinate clauses in British English (BrE). When this happens, the sentence is meant to be a reproach and the relationship between the superordinate and the subordinate clauses is that of non‐reason, which is not attested in BrE. Contrast needs to hold between the main and the subordinate clauses for that‐adverbials to be generated. The verb in the main clause must either be in the past or have no implication for future action. That‐adverbials can co‐appear with that‐complements. In such a case, both clauses, with different functions, are not conjoins but form a continuum of the same sentence.