Clause Research Articles

Short sources, islandhood, and pronominal correlates: New experimental support from German and Spanish for a short source approach to apparent exceptions to the clausemate condition on multiple sluicing

This paper focuses on multiple sluicing (MS) utterances in which the antecedent for sluicing is syntactically complex, insofar as it contains at least one embedded clause. Complex antecedent MS (henceforth caMS) is subject to the clausemate condition (CC). Phrased in sententialist terms, the CC bans sluiced wh-phrases from being base-generated in different finite clauses in the elliptic clause. Under specific conditions, it seems that the CC is obviated. We report results from acceptability judgment experiments on German and Spanish that provide further evidence that elliptic wh-clauses in caMS can be monoclausal in nature and that these monoclausal elliptic clauses (so-called short sources) are judged as significantly more acceptable than their isomorphic, biclausal elliptic clause counterparts. We interpret these results as supporting the view that purported obviations to CC are only apparent, following Cortés Rodríguez (2022a) and Cortés Rodríguez & Griffiths (to appear). Because these experiments are novel in that they focus on caMS configurations involving syntactic islands, their results provide new insights into how putative CC-obviation and islandhood interact and demonstrate that not only personal but also relative pronouns can function as correlates in MS.

Clausal Postpositioning in German Regional Language

This article presents the results of a corpus study of clausal postpositioning, that is, the occurrence of a sentential constituent in the postfield of the matrix clause to which it is syntactically linked, in German regional language. Analysis of 11,027 clauses from 60 spoken regiolect and dialect texts reveals that clausal postpositionings occur most frequently as non-relative finite clauses, followed by relative clauses, and lastly, infinitival constructions. Notably, while non-relative finite clauses comprise a smaller proportion of postpositionings in regiolect compared to dialect, relative clauses and infinitival constructions show the opposite trend. Adjunct clauses occur most frequently, followed by complement clauses, in both regiolect and dialect. Furthermore, in both varieties, postpositioning is more prevalent in verb-first and verb-second clauses than in verb-final clauses. This finding is attributed to restrictions on syntactic subordination. Finally, non-relative finite clause and relative clause types that may be embedded in both the postfield and inner field are center-embedded at mean relative frequencies of 13.42% and 28.17%, respectively. These findings shed light on contradictory claims in the literature regarding the possibility and frequency of clausal embedding in the inner field.

Not every finite CP is a phase

This paper proposes that phases are extended projections containing all the projections in the relevant functional sequence, and that extended projections lacking lower projections in the sequence are in turn not phases. The claim is motivated and supported by a detailed investigation of finite ECM in Korean, where embedded subjects are assigned accusative case across finite CP boundaries. I argue that finite ECM occurs in Korean when the embedded clause lacks a T projection in the verbal domain. A typology of clausal complementation emerges, distinguishing defective finite CPs as distinct entities from full CPs in terms of syntactic locality. The proposal also explains the puzzling individual-level restriction in Korean ECM: a GEN operator must occur in the structure to stopgap the semantic effects of missing T, namely to render the embedded finite clause a proposition of type t. The defective CP analysis extends to other languages exhibiting crossclausal finite A-dependency exclusively with defective CPs.

Coding all clauses in L2 data: A call for consistency

Linguistic complexity is considered a hallmark of language proficiency (Norris & Ortega, 2009), and it is often a focus of second language (L2) research (Pallotti, 2015). Within the construct of complexity, syntactic complexity considers the combination of words and clauses. The term clause, however, is underspecified in the field, and L2 researchers only occasionally define how clause is operationalized in the coding. After a review of the importance of consistent clause coding, this commentary argues that coordinated verb phrases, nonfinite clauses, and verbal small clauses can reach the complexity of finite clauses by the production of another element, making these constructions commensurate with subordinate finite clauses. Since these constructions are structurally similar to accepted clauses (e.g., imperatives), their exclusion from the clausal complexity calculation threatens the validity and reliability of the coding. Because a narrow definition requires an arbitrary division along a continuum of complex verbal constructions, the field should adopt this broader definition of clause. Further, researchers should clarify their methodology choices and acknowledge coding challenges, which are common in L2 data, especially L2 speech data. The increased transparency in research methodology supports the interpretation of research results and facilitates comparisons across L2 studies.

Control in Romanian and Se constructions

In this paper, we account for different patterns found in complement clauses of se constructions in Romanian and Spanish. In Romanian, a se construction cannot host an infinitival complement, an apparently controlled clause, whereas in Spanish a se construction can. However, when an additional se is added to the complement clause (a “double se construction”), the Romanian structure becomes grammatical, while the Spanish equivalent becomes ungrammatical. The Romanian patterns have been previously argued in Giurgea & Cotfas (2021) to be cases of control, with a failed agreement relation forcing the obligatory presence of se in the complement. We propose an alternative based on two major differences found in Romanian and Spanish. First, in se constructions, Spec, Voice is saturated by the external argument in Spanish, but it is unsaturated in Romanian. We argue that this prevents the external argument in Romanian from acting as a controller. Second, Romanian infinitival clauses appear to share properties with finite clauses, in contrast to Spanish. We argue that the grammatical Romanian double se construction is not an instance of control and suggest that it is the finite nature of the infinitival complement that allows for a double se construction.

Asymmetry in Russian metalinguistic comparatives: corpus and experimental evidence

The paper reports a corpus and experimental study of three types of Russian asymmetric metalinguistic comparatives (lučše, skoree, and bol’še meta-comparatives), two parts of which belong to different syntactic categories and/or have different morphological forms. We discuss their morphological and syntactic properties and uncover diversity among their types and various grammatical patterns that they allow. From a morphological point of view, infinitives in meta-comparatives tend to be imperfective, and finite verbs in the subjunctive and indicative mood are generally perfective. From a syntactic point of view, asymmetric meta-comparatives are either bi-clausal, bi-phrasal, or mixed (clausal-phrasal). The bi-phrasal variety shows functional homogeneity. Lučše meta-comparatives are more frequent in the corpus and are evaluated as more grammatical than skoree meta-comparatives. Furthermore, the asymmetric pattern ‘noun phrase + infinitive clause’ is evaluated as more grammatical than the pattern ‘finite clause + infinitive сlause’ for lučše meta-comparatives, while there is no such contrast between these patterns for skoree meta-comparatives. Our study sheds light on the grammatical portrait of Russian meta-comparatives as well as on the use and evaluation of asymmetric meta-comparatives in a natural language in general and thus contributes to the discussion of grammatical asymmetry in parallel syntactic structures, such as comparative and coordinated structures, among others.

A unitary account of indicative/subjunctive mood choice

Abstract In some finite clauses only one of the subjunctive and indicative moods might occur, while in others there is option between these two moods. This is the basic distinction between intensional and polarity subjunctive. This paper questions the sustainability of such division in Portuguese, providing a critical analysis of the major arguments sustaining that those two types of subjunctive need to be considered. Instead, it is shown that a semantic analysis of the indicative and subjunctive moods accounts for the distribution of these moods in European Portuguese (EP), no different explanations being needed for the cases of lexical selection and those of mood choice. In both cases Indicative signals that only p-worlds are taken in account, while Subjunctive signals the consideration of non-p worlds. This allows a comprehensive account of the EP data: Subjunctive or Indicative occurs depending on whether the meaning of the sentence leads to the consideration of non-p worlds or not. However, in other varieties of Portuguese, Indicative occurs in some sentences whose meaning involves the consideration of non-p worlds. Such is the case of Brazilian Portuguese (BP), where, in colloquial speech, the use of Indicative is common in complement clauses of querer (‘to want’), a paradigmatic domain of Subjunctive. The conjecture is made that in this variety resorting to one or another mood is used as a pragmatic, discursive, strategy, even if the meaning of the sentence leads to the other mood.

Competition in the Complementation of Old English Control Verbs with Oblique Marking: A Corpus Analysis

The aim of this article is to explain the syntactic competition found in the complementation of Old English Prevent verbs. The competition on argumenthood involves linked verbal predications and linked nominal predications. Evidence is gathered for continuity both between finite and non-finite linked verbal predications as well as between non-finite and nominalised linked predications. This evidence points to a diachronic development: finite clause > non-finite clause > nominalisation. The main conclusion of the article is that the Interclausal Relation Hierarchy predicts the replacement of the finite clause complementation with non-finite clause complementation in such a way that the syntactically tighter noun phrase involving a deverbal nominalisation constitutes the next step of syntactic development.

The lexical semantics of finite control: A view from Japanese

In this paper, we propose a semantic analysis of control verbs in Japanese that take finite clauses marked by the nominalizer koto. We argue for an analysis in which the invisible subject of the embedded clause is a run-of-the-mill zero pronoun and where the obligatory coreference relation between the controller and the embedded subject is mediated by a primarily semantic factor. At the heart of our analysis lies the idea that there is a common underlying meaning shared across apparently heterogeneous classes of koto-taking control verbs, which consists of a causal relation between a volitional action inherent in the meaning of the verb and a de se attitude denoted by the embedded clause. The semantic analysis we offer not only explains language-internal properties of Japanese control verbs with respect to tense morpheme distribution that have been attributed to syntactic factors in the previous literature, but it also suggests a hitherto unnoticed possible cross-linguistic generalization about finite control and embedded tense interpretation which we dub ‘hypothesis of relative tense in finite control.’

The Structures of Finite Clauses in English for Students at the University of Transport and Communications Campus in Ho Chi Minh City

In terms of syntactic and functional analysis on Finite clauses, English language acquisition has been a long and hard road. During their learning a foreign language, students are often influenced by their native language, even its grammatical and functional rules in organizing and expressing their ideas in a foreign language. This paper employs the advantageous perspectives of corpus analysis (discourse discussion) to categorize clauses clearly and theoretically so that students can enhance and understand all the theoretically and practically functional and syntactic valuation of features and use these structures correctly and effectively.

Marked Themes in academic writing: a comparative look at the sciences and humanities

Abstract Differences between science writing and humanities writing often appear as glosses in guidebooks, but empirical studies comparing these two genres of writing are uncommon. This study investigated the use of a highlighting mechanism – the Hallidayan notion of the marked Theme (MT) – to understand how the sciences and humanities foreground contextual information, and what this implies about the nature of writing in these two broad disciplines. The corpus comprised 80 research articles, 40 each from the sciences and humanities. MTs were analyzed for their grammatical forms and functions using the Hallidayan framework. The findings revealed that while both genres of writing had roughly the same proportions of MTs used, they differed in their use of thematized clauses. More non-finite clauses were found in science writing, and more finite clauses in humanities writing. Science writing favored the use of Cause MTs, whereas humanities writing used more Contingency and Angle MTs. These findings suggest that science writing values brevity and authorial presence. Humanities writing, by contrast, prefers a more elaborate writing style, with a focus on establishing the conditions needed for the authors’ interpretations, and integrating the viewpoints from other scholars. Suggestions for further research involving other disciplines and multi-disciplinary fields of study are recommended.

A syntactic analysis of finite clause as an adjective complementation in English

A syntactic analysis of finite clause as an adjective complementation in English

Brazilian Portuguese argument ellipsis

The present study puts forward a novel analysis of argument ellipsis (AE) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), according to which AE in BP takes place in a clitic doubling configuration, where the clitic is a phonologically null clitic and AE targets the clitic doubled DP. The clitic doubling analysis accounts for a number of the properties of AE in BP. Specifically, it accounts for the ability of AE to target object DPs; for the inability of AE to target subject DPs, including not only subjects of finite clauses but also subjects of small clauses and infinitival clauses; and for the inability of AE to target non-specific indefinite DPs and idiomatically construed DPs. The present study also reviews the influential anti-agreement theory of AE and argues that it does not offer a viable account of AE in BP, as it both undergenerates and overgenerates AE in BP.

Case and agreement puzzle in the Moksha debitive

Abstract This paper is dedicated to the debitive construction in Moksha Mordvin, which exhibits patterns unusual for a dative-infinitive construction (DIC). The non-finite verb can agree with its internal argument but not with the external one. The internal argument can bear both the definite nominative case, which is otherwise restricted to subjects of finite clauses, and the definite genitive case, which can mark both direct objects and definite possessors. Personal agreement is mandatory in the former case but prohibited in the latter. I propose that the Moksha debitive construction includes a null modal verb that assigns dative to the external argument of the infinitive. The case marking on the internal argument is determined by its structural position, in accordance with Dependent Case Theory. The case of Moksha demonstrates that the dative case in DICs can be inherent (contra what has been argued on the basis of Russian DICs) and that an argument for biclausality can be constructed based on case and agreement patterns.

Ezafe in Northern Kurdish

This chapter describes the forms and functions of the Ezafe in Northern Kurdish. The NP in this language is head-initial and Ezafe is used to link modifiers, including possessors, in the postnominal domain to their head nouns. The Northern Kurdish Ezafe reflects the phi-features such as number and gender, and the definiteness of the head noun, and it has different functions. It behaves like a typical adnominal linker that connects any type of postnominal modifier, such as attributive adjectives, adpositions and finite clauses, to the head noun. It also appears after null Ns and behaves like a prosodically independent element. Lastly, in certain Northern Kurdish dialects, it functions as a part of the verbal predicate and expresses stative, existential, and tense/aspectual readings.

Old English perspectives on the complement shift

Abstract This article gathers a motivated inventory of Old English self-manipulative verbs, including Abstain verbs and Refrain verbs, analyses their semantics and syntax and offers diachronic perspectives on the replacement of that-clause complementation with the from + -ing construction. Such perspectives go in two directions. Firstly, the semantics of the that-clause remains intact throughout the change to the from + -ing construction. Secondly, deverbal nominalisations contribute to the semantics and syntax required by the gerund. The main conclusion is that Refrain verbs are exceptional because the competition leading to the Complement Shift does not hold between finite and non-finite clauses, but between finite clauses and deverbal nominalisations. This has two important consequences: the status of derived nominal linked predications must be acknowledged, and deverbal nominalisations must occupy the top of the syntactic ranking of clause linkage.

A Comparative Analysis of Romanian and Southern Italian Untensed Finite Clauses

The paper compares the Balkan phenomenon known as “infinitival loss” in two varieties of Romance that have not been in direct contact, i.e., Romanian and some southern Italian dialects. The aim is to investigate how the Romance clausal structure realizes a phenomenon that does not generally appear in Romance. We focus on two main properties: the fine structure of the complementizer field, with left-dislocated elements sandwiched between two overt complementizers, and that of the inflectional field, in which clitic pronouns and clausal negation adjoin to Tense and Mood, respectively. The differences between the two varieties of Romance are reduced to the different first-merge positions of the particles characterizing untensed finite clauses. Comparison with Romanian permits a better understanding of the southern Italian dialects, which show micro-variation and optionality in the position of complementizers and particles and the realization of negation.

THE EPILOGUE OF DENNIS LEHANE’S MYSTIC RIVER: A SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS

The study aims to analyze the epilogue of Lehane’s Mystic River. It employs syntactic approach, and it is qualitative in nature. Departing from the fact that novel is considered as a form of creative writing, syntax with its syntactic analysis then enables the researcher to go deeper into the epilogue of Lehane’s to understand its creative use of language. The five sentences in the epilogue are studied to find out how Lehane produces his clause types and thematic relations in his novel. The results yield the five sentences in the epilogue are all finite clauses for they have a finite verb in each. In terms of thematic relations, each verb in the five sentences of Lehane’s epilogue assigns different thematic roles. Each verb has different lexical representation. Verb come in Datum 1 assigns Agent and Source. Verb pull in Datum 2 assigns Agent and Theme. Verb look in Datum 3 assigns Agent and Location. Meanwhile Datum 4 has two thematic roles (Theme and Location). Datum 4 has no Agent in it. Verb block in Datum 5 assigns Agent, Theme, and Location. The four thematic roles have different state of percentage where Agent occupies the highest number of 36.36%. It is followed by both Theme and Location of 27.27% respectively. Source, in contrary, has the lowest number of 9.09%.

Chinese finiteness: Changeability, actuality, durationality and telicity

ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on declarative sentences to demonstrate how four major concepts: changeability, actuality, durationality and telicity, work together in shaping Chinese finite clauses. In the Chinese lexicon there are changeable and unchangeable verbs distinguished by the latter's inability to co-occur with aspect particles in a finite clause. The changeable declaratives are further divided into two kinds: durational and nondurational, as the latter cannot occur alone without either the perfective le 1 in realis, or a modal auxiliary. Moreover, the durational declaratives can occur in either irrealis modality negated by bù or realis modality negated by měi(yǒu) . The declarative sentences for durational events are linguistically distinct in terms of telicity: the progressive zài and imperfective zhe are atelic, and the perfective le 1 and experiential guo are telic. Just like other world languages as was noted by Givón (1995, 2001), Chinese finiteness is also characteristically gradient, with the least finite forms functioning like a noun and the most finite forms functioning as a declarative sentence with an obligatory aspect particle. 摘要: 汉语定式句为陈述句，有四个特征：可变、实现、持续和终结。作为 陈述句，可变类受词汇限制，不可变动词可直接完句，但不可带体 词。可变类分持续和不可持续两类。不可持续的动词无情态助词或完 成体标记时不能单独完句。持续类又可分为现实和非现实两类，非现 实类否定用"不"，现实类否定用"没(有)"。现实类的标志为四个 体标记：非终结性的进行体"在"和非完成体"着"以及终结性的经 验体"过"和完成体"了1"。根据Givón (1995, 2001)的理论，具有上 述特征的汉语定式系统是一个连续统，一端为作名词用的不定式通用 动词，中间为非现实定式陈述句，另一端为动词带有体标记的定式 陈述句。

CAUSAL ADVERBIAL CLAUSES WITH KAK(O)IN THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The work is aimed at describing the steps of evolution of causal meaning of the Russian subordinator како/какъ. We claim that the causal use of како/какъgoes back to the question word како/какъthat could have a causal meaning as well, and this meaning raised from the manner meaning due to the metaphorical shift from manner to cause. We analyze finite clauses with какоand small clauses (appositions) separately. It is shown that какоwas used as a causal subordinator already in the early documents of the 12thcentury. Up to the 18thcentury it introduced embedded finite clauses with or without a correlate in the matrix clause. In the 18thcentury the constructions without a correlate decrease in frequency; the choice of correlates is very broad and includes both one-word deictics such as тоand такand combinations such as по тому, по сему, adverbs such as следовательно. In the 19thcentury these constructions gradually decrease in use and in the beginning of the 20thcentury they are completely lost. The causal construction with a small clause has another origin. We suggest that it is a result of an expansion of какоonto the contexts of the conjunction аки/акы. The increase of frequency of causal small clauses with какоis observed in parallel with the gradual decrease ofаки.