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Finite and Nonfinite Clauses

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Finite and Nonfinite Clauses Chapter 9 Finite and Nonfinite Clauses Chapter Preview This chapter treats the syntax of complex sentences in English. It begins by looking at the structure, function, and behavior of that-clauses. A similar treatment is accorded adverbial clauses. Wh-clauses are then discussed, including main clause wh-questions and embedded wh-clauses. The roles of the wh-words are examined, and the internal structure of the clauses is accounted for by a rule of wh-movement. An analysis is given of the functions and behavior of embedded wh-clauses, both relative clauses and indirect questions. Brief attention is paid to the distinction between restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses, to “headless”, indefinite, and sentential relative clauses, and to cleft and pseudocleft sentences. The final section of the chapter deals with nonfinite clauses: with forms of the nonfinite verb, with omissions from the nonfinite clause, either controlled or indefinite, with complementizers in nonfinite clauses, and with the various functions of nonfinite clauses. Commentary We move now from the simple sentence to the complex sentence, that is, to a sentence that consists of more than one clause: a main clause (also called a higher S [referring to its position in the tree diagram], a matrix S, or a superordinate clause) and one or more dependent clauses (also called lower Ss, embedded Ss, or subordinate clauses). Dependent clauses are related to the main clause by a process of embedding. There are a number of different types of dependent clauses, each serving a variety of functions in respect to the main clause. (On the teaching of complex sentences by a method called “sentence combining”, see the chapter on pedagogy on the CD-ROM.) Finite Clauses Finite clauses are those clauses containing a subject and finite verb (marked for tense, person, and number). There are three main types of finite dependent clauses: that-clauses, adverbial clauses, and wh-clauses. Wh-clauses may also be independent. 216 The Structure of Modern English That-Clauses That-clauses are so named because they usually begin with the subordinating conjunction that, as in the examples in Table 9.1. Form. We begin with the internal structure of the clause. The subordinating conjunction that which begins the clause has no function within the clause, but serves to connect the clauses. We say that it syntactically subordinates the second clause to, makes it dependent on, or embeds it in the first clause. That is thus a marker of subordination which we call a comple- mentizer (Comp). The remainder of the clause after that is a fully formed S: – it has a finite verb; – it may have any number of auxiliaries: that coVee might have been growing in Brazil; – it may be passive: that coVee was grown in Brazil; – it may be negative: that coVee doesn’t grow in Brazil; and – it may itself be complex: that though coVee tastes good, it is bad for your health. The two restrictions on the form of the that-clause are that it may not be a question (*that does coVee grow in Brazil) and it may not be an imperative (*that buy some Brazilian coVee!). In other words, there may be no disruption of the normal clausal order. Function. In all cases, the that-clause has a nominal function; it is functioning as an NP would: it answers the question “what?”. In fact, that-clauses may serve virtually all of the functions served by NP’s. In the examples in Table 9.1, we see a that-clause serving as: 1. subject 4. subject complement 2. direct object 5. complement of A 3. direct object after indirect object 6. complement of N¯ (Example (7) will be discussed below.) A that-clause cannot serve the nominal function of indirect object because it does not denote an animate being, but rather an abstract proposi- tion; it also cannot serve as an object complement. The functions of Su, dO, and sC (sentences (1)–(4)) are nominal functions with which you are already familiar. Note that because all of these are obligatory positions, if the that-clause is removed, the main clause becomes grammatically incomplete. That-clauses frequently act as direct objects after a verb of communication: Table 9.1. That-Clauses (1) That coVee grows in Brazil is well known to all. (2) I know that coVee grows in Brazil. (3) He told his mother that coVee grows in Brazil. (4) My understanding is that coVee grows in Brazil. (5) He is certain that coVee grows in Brazil. (6) His claim that coVee grows in Brazil is correct. (7) It is well known that coVee grows in Brazil. Finite and Nonfinite Clauses 217 I {said, stated, thought, believed} that the world is flat. In these cases, they are reporting the speech or thought of others; these structures are called indirect speech (or “indirect discourse”). When a direct object is clausal, it must follow the indirect object, as in (3); it cannot precede, as in *He told that coVee grows in Brazil to his mother. This restriction may be due to the tendency in English to put “heavy” elements (such as that-clauses) at the end of the sentence (see below). You have not before encountered the functions exemplified in (5) and (6), complement of A and complement of N¯ , as nominal functions. Until now you have seen only PPs functioning as complements of adjectives (e.g., close to the door); however, that-clauses may also serve this function, as in (6). The only postnominal function that you have seen so far is the PP as modifier (e.g., the book on the shelf); the postnominal that-clause in (6) has a diVerent function, namely, as complement of the noun. Such that-clauses follow abstract nouns such as claim, fact, idea, hope, notion, proposal, and lie and express the content of the abstract noun. They bear a relation to the noun which is analogous to the relation a direct object bears to the related verb: His claim that coVee grows in Brazil …=He claimed that coVee grows in Brazil. The clause complements the entire N¯ , not just the N; e.g., in his incorrect claim that coVee grows in Brazil, the clause gives the content of his “incorrect claim”, not just of his “claim”. In order to account for that-clauses in our phrase structure rules, we need to modify the rules in various ways. First, we need a rule for the form of embedded S’s, which we will term S-bar (S¯):1 S¯ → Comp S Comp → that Then we need to account for the diVerent functions of the that-clause. To indicate its function as subject NP and as object of P, we add S¯ to the possible expansions of NP: NP → {(Det) N¯ , PN, Pro, S¯} We also have to allow S¯ to serve as complement of an adjective: AP → ({Deg, AdvP}) A ({PP, S¯}) In order to account for S¯ as a complement of N¯ , we have to create a new syntactic position following N¯ : NP → (Det) N¯ (S¯) What about S¯ as complement of the verb? These revised rules could be seen as accounting for S¯ as direct object and subject complement since they allow S¯ to be generated under NP, and NP is a position following the verb. However, there seems to be little justification for analyzing postverbal clauses as NPs since S¯ figures in verb subcategorization quite separately from NP. That is, certain verbs take both NP and S¯ complements, while others take only one or the other: 218 The Structure of Modern English We expected bad news. We expected that the news would be bad. Sally lifted my spirits. * Sally lifted that I feel happier. *Tom hoped good results. Tom hoped that he had done well. Thus, we rewrite our rule for V as follows ¯ V Æ Vgp ÊÏ NP({NP, PP, AP}) ¸ˆ ÁÔ AP Ô˜ ÁÌ ˝˜ ÁÔ PP (PP) Ô˜ ËÓ S¯ ˛¯ The (generalized) tree diagrams for sentences (1) and (2) diVer as follows: S S NP Aux VP NP Aux VP S¿ T be well known Pro T V Comp S pres I pres Vgp S that coV ee grows know Comp S in Brazil that coV ee grows in Brazil Extraposition. There is a tendency in English not to like heavy elements, such as clauses, at the beginning of a sentence, but to prefer them at the end. This preference is a result of the basic Su-V-O structure of English, where objects are typically longer than subjects (in older stages of the language, subjects were not even separately expressed but were indicated by the inflectional ending on the verb). Thus, while sentence (1) above is perfectly grammatical, it is much more natural to use the synonymous sentence (7) given in Table 9.1. Because sentences (1) and (7) are synonymous and because the that-clause is logically functioning as subject in both sentences, we will derive sentence (7) from sentence (1) by a rightward movement transformation called extraposition. Such a transformation moves an element to an “extra” or added “position” at the end of the sentence. When the clause is extraposed, the original subject position, which is an obligatory position in the sentence that cannot be deleted, is filled by a “dummy” place-holder, anticipatory it; it has no lexical meaning here, but serves merely as a structural device. The moved clause — the extraposed subject (eS) — becomes a daughter of the main S and sister of the VP. We will assume that in D-structure, extraposition has not yet occurred. The sentence It is false that the world is flat has the following D-structure and S-structure: Finite and Nonfinite Clauses 219 D-structure S NP Aux VP S T be false Comp S pres that the world isX at S-structure S NP Aux VP S Pro T be false Comp S it pres that the world isX at This is extraposition from subject position, which is almost always optional.
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