Understanding Adverbial Clauses: Types, Functions, and Markers - Prof. Santana Lario, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga Understanding Adverbial Clauses: Types, Functions, and Markers - Prof. Santana Lario y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! Gramática Inglesa II Asignatura obligatoria (2º cuatrimestre 2011-12) Grado en Estudios Ingleses JUAN SANTANA LARIO BELÉN SORIA CLIVILLÉS UNIT 3 1 Unit 4 Coordination and subordination Set readings Suggested readings 4.1. Introduction Quirk et al. (1985) sections 13.2-21, 14.1-4, 14.37-41 4.2. Coordination Quirk et al. (1985) sections 13.22-42 4.3. Subordination 4.3.1. Nominal clauses 4.3.2. Adverbial clauses Quirk et al. (1985) sections 14.5-10, 15.1-2 Quirk et al. (1985) sections 3-16 Quirk et al. (1985) sections 18-22 Quirk et al. (1985) sections 15.24-52 4.1. Introduction [Cf. Quirk et al. 1985: 13.2-21, 14.1-4, 14.37-41] So far: simple clauses/sentences: 1 clause with constituents (S, O, A, etc) realized by phrases. From now on: syntactic ways of expanding simple clauses: combinations of clauses. Traditional usage: compound and complex sentences (or paratactic vs. hypotactic connection) Paratactic connection: equal status of elements: Coordination: Syndetic e.g. John bought the tickets and Mary parked the car Asyndectic e.g. John bought the tickets; Mary parked the car Apposition: e.g. He has a summer job with a travel agency, guiding parties of tourists. Quotation: e.g. She said: “Love me or leave me” Hypotactic connection: unequal status of elements. One depends on the other (which usually means that the dependent or subordinate element is a constituent within the superordinate one): Sub. Cl as S e.g. Why he resigned was never discovered Sub. Cl as O e.g. She explained that the machine was out of order Sub. Cl as A e.g. While John bought the tickets, Mary parked the car An alternative view, the “clause complex”: Fig. 1. The clause complex 4.2. Coordination The linking of units (words, phrases, clauses, etc.) at the same level of structure: e.g. gin and tonic my brother and your sister I mop the floor and you do the dishes. We’ll concentrate on clause coordination. Types of coordination: Asyndetic: no explicit marker Syndetic: indicated by ‘coordinating conjunctions’: and, or, but Gramática Inglesa II Asignatura obligatoria (2º cuatrimestre 2011-12) Grado en Estudios Ingleses JUAN SANTANA LARIO BELÉN SORIA CLIVILLÉS UNIT 3 2 Differences between coordinators and subordinators and conjuncts: (a)Coordinators are restricted to clause-initial position, subordinators too but not conjuncts e.g. The car skidded and the lorry couldn't avoid it The car skidded; the lorry, nevertheless, could avoid it (b)Coordinated clauses are sequentially fixed; true also for conjuncts, not for subordinators. e.g. *Nevertheless the lorry could avoid it, the car skidded *And the lorry couldn't avoid it, the car skidded Although the car skidded, the lorry could avoid it (c)Coordinators are not preceded by a conjunction while subordinators and conjuncts can e.g. The car nearly crashed, and yet the driver didn't slow down The driver didn't slow down because he was in a hurry and because he was slightly drunk (d)Coordinators can link clause constituents (so can the conjuncts yet, so, then) e.g. He could have swerved the wheel or braked but didn't do either, then ran over a cat (e)Coordinators can link subordinate clauses e.g. The police arrested the driver before he reached the border but after he had driven into a herd of sheep (f)Coordinators can link more than two clauses e.g. You can take a train or you can drive your our car, or you can walk (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Coordinators Central and, or + + + + + + + + + ± + − Peripheral but Conjuncts Peripheral Yet, so, nor + − + + ± − + − − − − − Central However, therefore Subordinators Peripheral For, so that + + + − + − − − − − − − Central if, because Table 1. Conjunctions (coordinating, subordinating vs. conjuncts) Semantic implications of the use of coordinators: AND: Most general coordinator (in meaning and use). The pragmatic-logico-sematic implications of the combination or two or more clauses by and depend on a number of factors: prepositional content of conjoined clauses, speakers’ presuppositions, knowledge of the world. Adverbials (conjuncts) are frequently used to specify connection). (Pure) Addition: e.g. He has long hair and he often wears a leather jacket Cause / effect-result-consequence: e.g. We had left the tickets at home, and (so/therefore) there was nothing we could do. Temporal sequence: e.g. They spread the cloth on the glass and (then) began unpacking the picnic things Contrast: e.g. Robert is rather tall and (in contrast) his brother is rather short Concession: e.g. He criticizes his colleagues and (yet) relies on them for support Condition: e.g. You might have an accident and (in that case / then) who would rescue you? Say that again and you are dead! Comparison/similarity: e.g. He likes dance music and so does she Explanation: e.g. There’s one thing you must realize and that is that you can’t always get what you want Gramática Inglesa II Asignatura obligatoria (2º cuatrimestre 2011-12) Grado en Estudios Ingleses JUAN SANTANA LARIO BELÉN SORIA CLIVILLÉS UNIT 3 5 3. Wh-relative and wh-interrogative clauses are easily confused since they share the same subordinatiors (wh- words: who, what, when, etc.). Clues to distinguish them: a) Wh-inter. contain a gap of unknown information represented by the wh-element and the main clause expresses some concern with supplying the missing information e.g. Do you know what they eat for breakfast?) Wh-rel do not contain a gap in information e.g. I always eat what I like Cf. Inter. e.g. What caused the accident is to be discovered Rel. e.g. What caused the accident was an electrical fault Inter. e.g. Who caused the accident is a complete mystery Rel. e.g. Whoever caused the accident was very careless b) In wh-inter. the wh-word is normally stressed e.g. I wonder ‘who stole my cheese c) When wh-rel. function as Subject they show agreement with verb e.g. What I have is yours What were left behind were five empty bottles d) Wh-interr. are always singular: e.g. Which movie I prefer is not your business Which movies I saw is not your business e) In wh-rel prepositions are always at the end e.g. Whoever you vote for will disappoint you cf. *For whoever… Wh-inter. allow a choice in the placement of the preposition: e.g. Who(m) I will vote for is my business For whom I will vote is my business f) In wh-rel who, whom and which only appear with a small semantic class of verbs: choose, like, please, want, wish. There are no restrictions in wh-inter. g) -ever forms tend to appear only in wh-rel e.g. I read whatever I could find about Malcolm-X cf. ??She asked me whatever was doing Some nominal wh-clauses are genuinely ambiguous and will allow both a relative and an interrogative interpretation: e.g. Do you remember when we got lost? Rel. interpretation: Do you remember that occasion, how scared we were, etc.? Inter. interpretation: Do you remember the date? 4. Nominal clauses (actually, all clauses) are semantically abstract: they represent ‘propositions’, ‘states of affairs’ rather than concrete objects, entities, etc., which are typically represented by NPs: that’s why they do not normally function as OI, since the OI typically represents a concrete, animate entity). The fact that nominal wh-relative clauses are the only ones that appear with this function is due to their quasi-NP character. 5. Although to-inf and -ing clauses (and some wh-clauses: those introduced by when, where, how, why) are classified here as ‘nominal’ clauses (since they perform typical nominal functions: S, O, etc.) they should also be included among adverbial clauses since they can also have adverbial functions: e.g. I did it to please her We had an accident driving home Gramática Inglesa II Asignatura obligatoria (2º cuatrimestre 2011-12) Grado en Estudios Ingleses JUAN SANTANA LARIO BELÉN SORIA CLIVILLÉS UNIT 3 6 4.3.2. ADVERBIAL CLAUSES Syntactic functions: Minor: Subjunct, Viewpoint: restricted set of verbs: be concerned, go, consider, look at view e.g. If we look at it from an historical point of view, the next six months are critical Looking at it objectively, he is a disaster Conjunct: Reinforcing: What is more,…; What is more worrying… Listing, summative: to begin (with), to conclude, to continue, to sum up Major: Adjunct and Disjunct. Sometimes difficult to distinguish: Adjunct Content Disjunct Time I haven’t seen her since she move to Bristol Reason Since we live near the sea, we often go sailing She arrived while I was sunbathing Contrast I teach contemporary history, while she teaches art Purpose We paid him immediately so that he would leave contented Result We paid him immediately, so that he left contented Condition They’ll send it to you if you ask them politely Condition I’ll get lost, unless I can find my compass Reason I like him because he’s always helpful Reason I like him, since he’s always helpful Style Disjunct Direct Condition If you put the baby down she won’t scream Indirect Condition She and I are just good friends, if you know what I mean Direct Reason We have no electricity, because there’s a power failure Indirect Reason Yellow is her favourite, because she told me so Table 3. Adjunct vs. disjunct Semantic roles: Complex issue: the same subordinator can introduce adverbial clauses with very different meanings some clauses combine several meanings: Time+Result: e.g. She massaged him until he began to feel better Time+Purpose+Result: e.g. I had to put my complaint in writing before they would take any action Time+(Implied)Condition: e.g. Go before I call the police Time+Cause: e.g. My heat leaps whenever I see you Time+Concession: e.g. They were gossiping, when they should have been working Condition+Concession: e.g. Even if you dislike ancient monuments, Warwick Castle is worth a visit Major types: TIME, PLACE, CONDITION/CONCESSION, REASON AND CAUSE, CIRCUMSTANCE, PURPOSE, RESULT Minor types: MANNER, COMPARISON, PROPORTION, PREFERENCE, CONTRAST MAJOR ADVERBIAL CLAUSES (i)Time Great variety of linkers: when, while, after... Most common position is initial: e.g. After arriving at Gatwick, we took a coach to London. Adverbial clauses of time with future reference are usually in simple present though in some cases we can find present perfect in time sequences. Gramática Inglesa II Asignatura obligatoria (2º cuatrimestre 2011-12) Grado en Estudios Ingleses JUAN SANTANA LARIO BELÉN SORIA CLIVILLÉS UNIT 3 7 (ii)Place Linkers: where, wherever e.g. Leave your hat wherever you can Not all clauses introduced by these linkers are A of place e.g. Home is where the heart is (Nominal relative clause as Cs) Wherever you go, you find Japanese (Adverbial universal concessive clause) (iii)Condition: Positive condition: if, provided that, as long as, in the event of Negative condition: unless, but for, without Concessive condition: even if, although, in spite of, without Direct condition: the situation in the main clause is contingent on the situation in the subordinate clause. (syntactically, these are adjuncts). Possible (or ‘open’): IF + PRESENT (SHOULD)/[IMPERATIVE/FUTURE] e.g. If you want to park here, pay the parking meter If we should miss the train, we'll be late Hypothetical: what is said in the main clause is imaginary consequence of the fact expressed in the if-clause. IF + SIMPLE PAST/CONDITIONAL e.g. If we caught that train, we might get there in time If you won the pools, you wouldn't know what to do with the money Contrary to present facts : IF + PAST PERFECT/CONDITIONAL PERFECT e.g. If you had listened to my advice, you wouldn't have had an accident Indirect condition: the condition is not related to the situation in the main clause, but to the implicit speech act of the utterance e.g. She is too clever, if I may so (syntactically, these are style disjuncts). Rhetorical condition: not real conditions but implicit strong assertions e.g. If they’re Irish, I’m the Pope (Implied assertion: ‘They are not Irish’) (iv)Concession: The situation in the main clause is unexpected in the light of the situation in the concessive clause. In conditional sentences we have a potential meaning: one set of circumstances depends on the other. In concessive clauses the feature is reality e.g. Though he is ill, he will come to class We establish a sort of contrast between two statements. In conditional sentences we can use and/or, in concessives, but. In the former we can find a reinforcing element: if... then. Even if/though is between condition and contrast. If... at least/at any rate is closer to concession. Subordinators: although, though, while, whereas, even though, even if Alternative and Universal Conditional/Concessive clauses: Alternative: whether … or (whether), no matter whether e.g. Whether you like it or not, I’m leaving Universal- Wh-element + -ever e.g. Don't believe her, whatever she says Whatever is stated in the main clause is true in any of the conditions covered by the subordinate clause: e.g. However he tries, he never succeeds No matter how I try, I can't float