Complement Clauses Research Articles

Finite Complement Clauses in Disciplinary Research Articles Authored by Filipino Academic Writers

Finite complement clauses (FCCs) are an understudied syntactic structure of L2 advanced academic writing. The present study cross-investigated FCCs in qualitative (QUALI) and quantitative (QUANTI) research articles written by Filipino academic writers (FAWs) in Applied Linguistics (APPLING), Communication (COMM), and Measurement and Evaluation (MEEV). Specifically, it determined the FCCs with the most occurrences across five disciplinary research article sub-registers and identified whether these FCCs differ significantly in terms of frequencies of use. With Hernandez’s (2021) framework adapted from Biber and Gray’s (2016) study, this research analyzed five FCCs in 42 disciplinary research articles. Major results revealed that verb-controlled that-clauses (with 33.69 as normalized frequency count) outnumbered other FCCs in research article sub-registers across disciplines. They were more recurrent in QUALI and QUANTI APPLING research articles (7.91 and 7.54, respectively) and QUANTI and QUALI COMM research articles (7.34 and 6.96, respectively) than in QUANTI MEEV research articles (3.94). In addition, a significant difference exists between them and other FCCs at the p<.05 level in terms of frequencies of use. In view of these findings, it can be concluded that verb-controlled that-clauses are the most useful FCCs in APPLING, COMM, and MEEV research articles. Likewise, FAWs across the three disciplines write more informally as signposted by their repeated use of that complementizer with these FCCs controlled by verbs. The study draws its implications for academic writing instruction.

Is there hyper-raising in European Portuguese?

Abstract Several languages allow for hyper-raising, a structure in which a DP that is interpreted as the subject of a finite complement clause is spelled-out as the subject of the matrix clause. Hyper-raising challenges certain core concepts of syntactic theory related to movement and locality. Various proposals have been made for analysing these structures, the main difference being whether the final position of the DP results from movement or not. It has often been assumed that European Portuguese, in contrast to Brazilian Portuguese, does not allow hyper-raising, or only allows it in very limited contexts. In this paper, we present empirical data extracted from written corpora and experimental results attesting to the production and acceptance of hyper-raising structures by a number of native speakers of European Portuguese. We contribute to identifying the contexts that favour hyper-raising in this variety and outline a preliminary analysis to explain what leads these speakers to produce and accept hyper-raising, while many others systematically reject it. In our proposal, this difference results from the properties of the embedded functional heads T and C, and the way in which their formal features are checked. Specifically, we propose that those speakers dissociate Case features from person-number features.

The diachrony of the Basque marker bait-: from a manner expression to subordinator

Abstract This article analyzes the diachrony of the Basque marker bait-, which is a verbal prefix in subordinate clauses, but also has other functions: for example, it appears in independent clauses and indefinite pronouns. In subordinate clauses, it is used in two ways. First, it co-occurs with clause-initial conjunctions in reason, manner or result clauses or with pronouns in relative clauses. Secondly, it is used on its own, in relative, reason, result and complement clauses (with a limited group of verbs, such as emotive factive predicates or predicates of happening). The article combines evidence from a corpus study (6822 examples from 16th- to 20th-century texts) and internal reconstruction to (1) determine if and in what way the subordinator bait- and the affirmative bai ‘yes’ can be diachronically related, and (2) try to establish diachronic relations between the functions of bait-. It is proposed that the missing link between the subordinator and the affirmative particle might be a manner expression bai which had anaphoric functions. The marker bait- emerged as a reanalyzed form of the manner expression, which then gradually and through various pathways spread to different types of subordinate clauses and was reanalyzed as a subordinator.

Cognitive control affects the reanalysis of reduced complement clause ambiguities

Cognitive control (CC) affects the ability to revise an incorrect parse. It has been shown to be implicated in detecting and resolving conflicts between semantic and syntactic cues during sentence processing. Previous studies in this area have primarily found CC effects with sentences requiring relatively substantial reanalyses, which may be expected to draw more on CC. This study investigates whether CC is also implicated in the processing of ambiguous sentences requiring relatively minor reanalysis. Participants read reduced complement-clause ambiguities in a self-paced reading task. The plausibility of the initial analysis was manipulated. N-back data were collected to assess CC abilities. N-back score interacted with plausibility at the sentence regions signalling the need for reanalysis. The findings show that CC is implicated even in relatively simple sentence reanalyses when conflict between semantic and syntactic cues must be resolved.

Causal clauses as source of sentential complementation: cross-linguistic evidence and methodological issues

Abstract In many languages, causal clause markers can also function as – or are formally identical to – complement markers (e.g., Bulgarian če, Twi se, or Latin quod). This isomorphism is often explained as the result of independent developments from a common source (interrogatives, relativizers, etc.). By contrast, it is also frequently accepted that in some cases the aforementioned identity originates in a type of structural change by which causal clauses are eventually reanalysed as factive complements. However, the nature of the proposed CAUSE > COMPLEMENT development, involving both semantic adjustments and syntactic integration, is not yet fully understood, and it remains unclear how recurrent this phenomenon might be from a cross-linguistic perspective. This article aims to shed light on these questions by analysing diachronic and cross-linguistic data and assessing some of the evidence given for the development of complementation from causal adverbial clauses. The observations reveal significant documentation gaps for postulated models of the emergence of complement clauses and highlight methodological issues that qualify previous explanations about the diachronic relationship between causal and complement clauses.

Italian and Arbëresh (Albanian) causatives

Causative verbs in the Albanian variety of Arbëresh take a finite complement clause, with the causee realized as a nominative or as an oblique (like the dative/instrumental causee in Italian). We argue that causatives are biclausal and that their complement is non-phasal, of different sizes (e.g., vP in Italian and IP/CP in Arbëresh). Being non-phasal, it is transparent to φ-Agree with the matrix v*. The non-phasal vP-complement in Italian triggers an ergative alignment, with the causee realized as an oblique in transitives (or accusative with intransitives/unaccusatives). This option is also available in Arbëresh under contact with Italian, although with a finite complement. The option of a nominative causee in Arbëresh is directly accounted for as φ-Agree with the embedded I. Standard Albanian (and Greek) have an accusative causee, as in English. Given that the embedded I is finite in Albanian, φ-Agree with matrix v* is an instance of hyper-raising. We argue that this option is linked to the null-subject property of Albanian. Finite I is ‘strong enough’ to label by itself (Chomsky 2015), freeing the DP to enter Agree with a higher φ-probe.

Element Commonality in the Relationship between Complement Clause and Main Clause within Turkey Turkish

Türkiye Türkçesinin tartışmalı konularından birisi de birleşik cümlenin tanımı ve sınırlarına dairdir. Buna bağlı olarak fiilimsilerin birleşik cümle kurup kurmadığı konusunda araştırmacılar arasında ihtilaf vardır. Bu çalışmada fiilimsilerin yan cümle kurduğu ve temel cümleye ortak öge ile bağlanabildiği gösterilmeye çalışıldı. İsim-fiil, sıfat-fiil, zarf-fiil ve şart-fiil ile kurulan yan cümleler temel cümleyle öge ortaklığına sahip olabilir. En az çaba yasası doğrultusunda gerçekleşen bu ortaklıkta bazen belirsizlikler de görülmektedir. Cümlenin bazı unsurlarının yan cümleye mi temel cümleye mi ait olduğu açıkça anlaşılmaz. Dil bilgisi yönünden bir eksiklik veya kusur taşımadığı sürece bu tür belirsizlikler cümlenin derin yapısını ortaya çıkarmakla giderilebilir. Öte yandan yan cümle ile temel cümlenin öge ortaklığı söz dizimi kaynaklarında ve cümle çözümlemelerinde göz ardı edilmektedir. Hâlihazırda cümle tahlillerinde yan cümleyle ortak kullanıma sahip ögeler sadece temel cümlenin ögesi olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Konuya dair araştırmalar derinleştikçe birçok ihtilaflı veya muğlak durum da netlik kazanacaktır. Türkiye Türkçesinde yan cümle ile temel cümle ilişkisinin bütün yönleriyle ele alınıp irdelenmesi Türk dilinin yorumlanmasına katkıda bulunacaktır.

Complex syntax input: A single case investigation of increasing preschool teachers’ complement clauses in play interactions

This study investigated the feasibility of a vocabulary-based teacher intervention to increase preschool teachers’ production of complement clauses (e.g. I wonder if we can put the monkey in the tree) in teacher–children play interactions. Using a multiple baseline across participants design we measured the impact of an intervention that promoted preschool teachers’ production of four complement clause verbs (CCVs)— figure out, notice, remember, wonder. Based on visual analysis we established a functional relation between the teacher intervention and the teachers’ production of the target CCVs produced with a complement clause. Asking teachers to increase their use of CCVs in verbal interactions with children is a promising approach to increase teacher complex syntax input in the preschool classroom.

Nominalizations and its grammaticalization in standard Thai

Abstract The focus of this study is on the function and grammaticalization of nominalizations in Thai and the nominalization categories and nominalizing strategies in Thai are described. The Thai language exhibits a composite of derivational and clausal nominalizations marked with three nominalizers: kaan 1 derives nouns or nominalized clauses from lexical verbs and relative or complement clauses; khwaam 1 derives nouns from lexical verbs and adjectives; and kaan 1 thii 3 is used for clauses. The current study posits diachronic developments for nominalizers and addresses related issues. It is concluded that nominalizers kaan 1 and khwaam 1 were originally lexical nouns meaning ‘work’ and ‘matter’. The essential features of the use of nominalizations have remained constant, but certain developments have occurred, which include lexical nominalization to clausal nominalization and the emergence of a new nominalizer, kaan 1 thii 3 . It is found that nominalizers kaan 1 , khwaam 1 and kaan 1 thii 3 are basically in complementary distribution, and language internal evolution and external contact are the primary motivations for nominalization in Thai.

국어 명사절, 관형절의 논리-의미 유형 연구

Objectives In the clause complexing systems of systemic functional linguistics, the logico-semantic types(LSTs) between ‘clause’ and ‘clause’ are realised in different ways in coordinate clauses, subordinate clauses, and em-bedded clauses. The purpose of this paper is to identify the LSTs of Korean nominal clauses and adjective clauses that are distinct form other embedded clauses.
 Methods SFL's clause complexing system consists of three optinal systems: taxis, LSTs, and repercussions. Among the LSTs of Korean embedded clauses, three are used: [projection], [phenomenon], and [extension]. These are realised in different ways in quotation clauses, nominal clauses, and adjevtive clauses, repectively.
 Results After applying the aforementioned methodology, we were able to establish [phenomenon] of the com-plement participants of mental verbs as the common LST of Korean nominal clauses. Based on this, it was further found that the nominal clause ‘-기’ combined with desrative verbs and emotional verbs has the LST of [phenom-enon_ideas]; and the nominal clause ‘-음’ combined with cognitive verbs has the LST of [phenomenon_facts]; and the nomonal clause ‘-는 것’ combined with perceptual verbs has the LST of [phenomenon_acts]. On the other hand, the LSTs of adjevtive clauses were broadly distinguished as [projection] and [expansion]. The [projection] semantics of adjevtive clauses are mainly realised in the complement clauses of superordinate Projective Nouns and Factual Nouns.
 Conclusions The LSTs between ‘clause’ and ‘clause’ in clause-complexing systems in systemic functional lin-guistics are big research topics. This can be realised in different ways in coordinate, subordinate and embedded clauses. So far, this paper focuses on the LSTs that appear in nominal clauses and adjective clauses, examining them in detail using examples from the Korean language dictionary, and summarising the results. It is hoped that further research could conduct to investigate the LSTs of the entire Korean clause complexing systems.

Re-analyzing ‘say’ complementation: Implications for case theory and beyond

This paper argues based on data from Uyghur (Turkic) that clausal complementation structures involving a special form of the verb ‘say’ are actually adjunct clauses headed by the verb ‘say’ that merge at two heights: VP or TP. I demonstrate that properties unique to ‘say’ as a main verb extend to ‘say’ in these adjunct clauses. Accusative subjects are a primary focus, where it is shown that the re-analysis of clausal complementation has implications for Case Theory in Uyghur and beyond.

From derivation to inflection: the case of the Turkish nominalizer (y)Iş

Abstract The Turkish nominalizer -(y)Iş demonstrates a broad spectrum of functions ranging from a deverbal word-formation device that forms lexicalized nouns with concrete and abstract meanings to an inflectional marker used in nominal clauses, especially in clausal complementation. In some uses, the item conveys manner semantics. While the item itself has been variously investigated and forms an established part of any Turkish grammar description, there is still a lack of consensus on its functional and semantic properties. This article investigates the morphosyntactic functions and the semantic features of the nominalizer -(y)Iş in light of the claims in the linguistic literature on the one hand, which include manner, countable events, factive imperfective, single instance of an event, direct reference to the inner process of an action, etc., and of examples from primary sources on the other, and evaluates the findings from the perspective of grammaticalization. It will be argued that the range of functions of this item and the fact that it seems to resist any straightforward analysis result from its transition from a derivational marker to an inflectional marker with tasks including complementizer functions, a process in which manner semantics will be argued to play a role.

A dialectological approach to complement variability in global web-based English

Computer-Mediated Communication is part of the everyday lives of a great many people of all ages, cultures, social statuses, and geographical locations. In the present study, I explore non-categorical syntactic variability in internet language with data from the Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE), which includes material from blogs, forums, comments, and other types of websites. The focus is on how the geographical area of internet users affects the use of the clausal complementation patterns available for the verb regret. The analysis of more than 10,000 examples from Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Singaporean, Malaysian, Philippine, Hong Kong, British, and American Englishes shows that geographical origin does have a bearing on the complementation system of this verb, in terms of both the factors that determine variability and the preferences for particular patterns. The varieties displaying more similarities are those that are geographically close, making the distinction between three geographical areas possible: South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), South-East Asia (with Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines) and East Asia (Hong Kong).

L1 novice writing as a missing piece in the Learner Corpus Research puzzle

Abstract This paper investigates the possible benefits of integrating an L1 novice corpus into the study of learner writing, through a study on hedging adverbials and complement clauses. A more traditional tripartite comparison is first drawn between French EFL learner writing, L1 English novice writing, and English expert writing. Then, a comparison is made between L1 French novice writing and French EFL learner writing. The study uses data from the following corpora: the Varieties of English for Specific Purposes dAtabase (VESPA; Paquot et al., 2022) (French EFL learner writing), the British Academic Written English (BAWE; Heuboeck et al., 2008) corpus and the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP; Ädel & Römer, 2012) (both L1 English novice writing), the Kulturell Identitet i Akademisk Prosa: nasjonal versus disiplinavhengig (KIAP‑EN; Fløttum et al., 2006) corpus (English expert writing), and the The French Academic wRiting (FAR) corpus (L1 French novice writing). The results speak to the importance of including a L1 novice component to the current methodologies employed in Learner Corpus Research (LCR), since such inclusion helps to provide a better and more nuanced interpretation of the findings obtained by means of a more traditional tripartite approach.

Preparing Student Clinicians to Provide Recast Therapy on Complement Clauses: A Training Program.

This study reports on a program to train student clinicians to provide recast therapy on complement clauses to children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To determine the efficacy of the program, we conducted secondary data analysis based on Owen Van Horne et al. (2023) and examined student clinicians' recasts after training and children's progress after treatment. Three student clinicians received a two-stage training, followed by a real intervention program targeting complement clauses in six children with DLD. A third of the intervention sessions were coded for the total number and number of unique verbs in complement clauses provided by the student clinicians. An elicited production task was completed to test children's knowledge of the target structure. On average, student clinicians provided 30 targeted recasts to each child during each intervention session. They provided a greater number of and more variable input for that compared to WH complements. Children demonstrated significant improvement only in WH, but not in that, complements. A targeted training program could strengthen clinicians' ability to provide recast therapy on complex syntax; however, future refinements should shorten and broaden training to include more targets. A mismatch between input patterns and learning patterns was observed. WH complement input is more stable than that input, given the less variable complement-taking verbs provided by the student clinicians and the overtness of the WH word as a stable complementizer, which may have facilitated the identification and extraction of the target syntactic structure.

Bound Noun Pa in Korean

This paper addresses the syntatic aspect of a bound noun pa in Korean. Woo (2006) extensively discusses the bound noun pa in terms of syntax, semantics, and grammaticalization. Woo (2006) argues that there are two different syntactic structures of pa: a relative-clause structure with an ellipsis operation and a noun-complement-clause structure. However, the two structures appear to have empirical problems. Unlike normal relative clauses, pa cannot be separated into two different clauses, and the elided parts cannot have full pronunciation. The problem of the noun complement clause is that pa cannot be modified by adjectives. Given that pa can be replaced by a bound noun kes in general (Woo 2006), we may assume Kim’s (2016) N-to-n movement of kes. However, we find a difference between pa and kes in terms of an adjectival modification pattern. In this paper, I argue that pa directly merges in small n, and it takes an NP complement which is headed by a null noun. This analysis has more explanatory power than Woo (2006) in that it accounts for the related phenomena seamlessly, and its grammaticalized nature is directly reflected in the structure.

한국어 인용절의 논리-의미 관계 연구

Objectives The purpose of this paper is to identify the types of logico-semantic relations that Korean quotation clauses have with their main clauses.
 Methods The clause complexing system of systemic functional linguistics separates the logico-semantic relations of quotation clauses and the Taxis into a optional system. This method can solves the previous problems of mixing the two criteria within the framework of embedded clauses.
 Results First, we argued that the logico-semantic relationship(projection) and clause complexing of quotation clause are independent systems, so that quotation clause can be used as a paratactic, hypotactic, or adverbial clause. we, also, explained that projecting nouns and fact nouns require adjective clauses as complement clause, and some factual cognitive verbs require nominal clauses as complement clause. Second, we explained that Korean quotation clauses can be logically and semantically categorized into locution, idea, and fact projections, respectively. Each of these is governed by the locution verb, the idea verb, and the fact noun in the main clause. In addition, a projecting clause always functions as a proposition or a proposal: thus, projenting clause can be defined as an obligatory bound clause that functions as speech acts of proposition or proposal. Third, from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics, we proposed the morpho-syntactic structures of quotation clauses as paratactic, hypotactic, and adverbial clauses, reflecting the aforementioned logico-semantic types and clause complexing system of quotation clauses.
 Conclusions The clause complexing system of SFL adopted in this paper is expected to provide a more comprehensive explanation than existing grammar theories because it reflects both logical-semantic types and the Taxis.

Beyond anaphoric and emphatic: diversity and unity in the functions of literary Chinese reflexive zì

Abstract In this paper, I examine the Literary Chinese reflexive zì, which exhibits a crosslinguistically uncommon pattern: it performs both anaphoric and emphatic uses in adverbial position. I show that it has several uses: signalling coreference between the subject and the object, the object’s possessor or the topic or focus of a complement clause, emphasising that the subject’s identity, and indicating that the event affected the subject itself or had no external cause. I argue against categorically dividing these uses into anaphoric and emphatic uses. I propose four properties to unify the various uses: the referent of zì is centrally relevant to the event denoted by the predicate, coreferential with the subject, unexpected in its role in the event, and often contrasts with an alternative referent that may play same role. I compare my account to properties of reflexives in other languages, and argue that zì only partially supports Levinson’s (Levinson, Stephen C. 1991. Pragmatic reduction of the binding conditions revisited. Journal of Linguistics 27(1). 107–161) theory of the development of anaphoric reflexives from emphatics.

The syntax of two existential unaccusative verbs in Polish

Abstract The paper examines the syntax of two unaccusative verbs in Polish – ubyć. perf/ubywać.imperf ‘to disappear, to decrease’ and przybyć. perf/przybywać.imperf ‘to arrive, to increase’ – with a view to shedding light on the structure of existential unaccusatives. The two above-mentioned verbs appear in two distinct paradigms – the disappearance/motion verb and the existential one – both of which are taken to represent subtypes of existential structure. Existential verbs are treated here as monadic predicates with a single small clause complement, whose internal structure may vary, depending on the predicate. The two existential unaccusatives analysed in the paper may select two different types of small clause complement, which are different from the small clause selected by the existential być ‘to be’. Thus, Polish seems to make use of three different small clause structures in existential clauses. The paper also provides evidence that in Polish, like in English, existential unaccusatives are structurally distinct from change of state unaccusatives, and thus in the two languages there is more than one way to be structurally unaccusative. The account bears on the analysis of the genitive of negation in Polish, especially the issue of its inapplicability to existential unaccusatives versus its presence with the existential być ‘to be’.

The Argument/Adjunct Distinction Does Not Condition Islandhood of PPs in English

I argue that the well-known islandhood of adjunct prepositional phrases does not substantially derive from their adjuncthood. Instead, islandhood of these domains derives from various factors that are orthogonal to the argument/adjunct distinction, including PP-internal structure, lexical properties of prepositions, and semanticopragmatic construal. To show this, I demonstrate that PP islandhood crosscuts the argument/adjunct distinction. In particular, (a) PPs with NP complements are generally not islands, (b) PPs with tensed clausal complements are generally (strong) islands, and (c) PPs with gerundive complements are generally (weak) islands. These generalizations hold whether or not the relevant PP has a prototypical adjunct function.