Unless절의 용법 및 문장 내 분포

Abstract

This study examines the usages of unless and analyzes the distribution of unless-clauses in a sentence. Based on Chafe (1984), unless-clauses are divided into four types according to their position and boundness related to main clauses. A total of 200 unless-clauses were analyzed using academic writings and spoken data in COCA in order to represent written and spoken English. The results showed that unless-clauses tend to be positioned after the main clause, as opposed to if-clauses. Unless-clauses were postposed a little more often in written English than spoken English. According to the four types, unless-clauses were used most frequently in type B (postposed bound) in both written and spoken English. It was shown that Type B unless-clauses convey new information while main clauses express given information. While if means unmarked open conditions, unless signifies marked exceptive and exclusive conditions. Due to this semantic property, unless-clauses are thought to represent new information of heavy significance. This may be interpreted to contribute to a strong tendency of unless-clauses to be postposed in English sentences.