LEC II A The Syntax of Complement Clauses Spring semester 2012-2013

Mihaela Tanase-Dogaru

COORDINATION a) syndetic coordination - that type of structure where a coordinator is overtly expressed; there are explicit indicators that there are two more elements linked by coordination. He looked at them sadly and reproachfully. b) asyndetic coordination, where there is no indication other than a comma, that elements are coordinated. He looked at them sadly, reproachfully. By definition, coordination (or conjoining) is a syntactic operation that puts together constituents of the same rank. Conversely, subordination (or Embedding) is a syntactic operation that involves rank-shifting, namely one constituent is subordinated to a higherrank constituent. From a logical & semantic point of view, a major difference between coordination and subordination is that the information in subordinate clauses is not asserted, but presupposed. Compare: (1) John came back and gave her a piece of his mind. (2) John gave her a piece of his mind after he came back. Unlike in the case of (1) where we are dealing with assertion, the subordinate adverbial clause of time contains a presupposition: We presuppose that the event of Johns coming back happened. Sentence vs. Phrase Coordination Is phrasal coordination derived from sentence coordination? Can phrasal coordinated constituents be derived from coordinated sentences? For example, is example (3) derived from (4)?

(3) Copilul i cinele mncau n tcere. Child-the and dog-the were eating in silence. The child and the dog were eating in silence (4) [Copilul mnca] i [cinele mnca] n tcere [Child-the was eating] and [dog-the was eating] in silence. The child was eating and the dog was eating in silence. Several hypotheses have been proposed: a) phrasal coordination always results from reductions of coordinated sentences. Syntactically similar conjuncts are grouped together under one compound node followed by elimination of certain nodes. The assumption that coordinated DPs semantically belong to the class of semantic non-singularity, along with plural countables and collective nouns, runs into difficulties when confronted with the fact that sometimes, there is no conjoined sentence paraphrase for a certain coordinate NP. This position is too strong since the rules it stipulates lead to overgeneration. (5) a. Ion i Maria sunt o pereche fericit Ion and Maria are a happy couple. *Ion e o pereche fericit i Maria e o pereche fericit. *Ion is a happy couple and Maria is a happy couple. b. Studenii i Petru s-au ntlnit n parc. Students-the and Peter refl met in park. *Studenii s-au ntlnit i Petru s-a ntlnit. *Students-the refl met and Peter refl met. b) both sentence and phrasal coordination are basic. Coordinate phrases of any size are base-generated directly by phrase structure rules This hypothesis itself is too strong since it cannot account for the fact that sometimes, compound nodes are generated only after several other rules have applied before Spell-Out. (6) Mesajul fusese ambiguu i prost descifrat coordination after Passive

c) both sentence and phrasal coordination are basic but phrasal coordination may also result from reduction of compound sentences. Compare the following sentences: (7) I saw him yesterday and I had seen him the day before yesterday. sentence coordination (8) I saw him yesterday and the day before yesterday. phrase coordination Example (7) is an instance of sentence coordination, the result of which is a COMPOUND SENTENCE. A compound sentence is to be placed in opposition to a COMPLEX SENTENCE, where there is a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Example (8) exhibits an instance of Phrasal Coordination, where we are dealing with a compound constituent, yesterday and the day before yesterday. this constituent can be considered to be the result of compressing the longer and much less economical compound sentence from example (7). This phenomenon of compression and reduction is called ellipsis. Ellipsis can be of two types: a) the so called forward ellipsis, when it operates on the second conjunct in the structure: RIGHT-NODE-RAISING (9) John writes poetry and Bill writes prose. John writes poetry and Bill prose. b) backward ellipsis when it operates on the first conjunct in the structure: (10) a. John loves cigars and Bill hates cigars. b. John loves and Bill hates cigars. Besides ellipsis, substitution is another reduction operation that can be applied to compound sentences.

(11) I was advised to buy a pair of shoes and I bought a pair of shoes. The common element, i.e. the predication buy a pair of shoes, can be reduced by substitution, as can be seen in (12): (12) I was advised to buy a pair of shoes and I did so/it. Coordinating Conjunctions We can distinguish between three classes of coordinators: a) Copulative: and / both and /at once and / neither nor / as well as / no less than / not only but also, etc. We should also mention here rarer copulative coordinators, such as: alike and / nor nor / nor or : There are semantic restrictions on the types of clauses that can be coordinated. For instance, one cannot couple two sentences with completely different semantic content, as in: (13) a. *Lions are mammals and Tom bought a car. b. *I hate plumbers and you learn syntax. In fact, the expressive function of coordination is, more often than not, to emphasize (semantic) parallelism or contrast, which is the case with b) adversative coordinators: but, and (14) I gave her the money but I didnt feel happy about it. c) disjunctive coordinators: or, either or (15) She can either have the money or she can have the clothes. Some of the coordinating conjunctions have correlatives (either or, both and , etc); some of them allow ellipsis of the subject (and, or ; sometimes but, too): (16) I may see you tomorrow or (I) may phone later in the day.

(17) I gave her the money but (I) didnt feel happy about it. In certain cases, the ellipsis of the subject is even required. (18) He went to the safe and (he) took out the money. If the coordinating conjunction links two subordinate clauses, where the subordinator is repeated, ellipsis of the subject is no longer accepted: (19) * I didnt object to his proposal since it was very appropriate and since appealed to me. Another property some of the coordinators above share is the fact that they can link more than two clauses: (20) They both liked Susan and respected her, and cherished her. Sometimes, coordinating conjunctions can impose a subordinating shade of meaning upon the conjunctions, like in (21),: (21) Hit my wife, and youll die / *Youll die, and hit my wife. = conditional meaning Whenever the coordinating conjunction adds a subordinating tinge of meaning to the conjuncts, the order of these conjuncts is fixed. From this point of view, one can differentiate between a) a symmetric use of coordinators where the order of the conjuncts is reversible: (22) a. I like and admire her. b. I admire and like her. b) an asymmetric use of coordinators where the order of the conjuncts is irreversible: (23) a. I washed and ironed my pants. b.* I ironed and washed my pants. Asymmetric uses some conjunctions may have:

1. asymmetric AND can impose different shades of subordinative meaning within the compound sentence: chronological sequence (temporal implications)

(24) He sliced and fried the potatoes. (First he sliced them and then he fried them) cause-effect relation

(25) He heard an explosion and (therefore) phoned the police. (26) He didnt pay the rent and he was evicted from their apartment. (<Because he didnt pay, he was evicted) if-then relation (supported by proper intonation)

(27) Give me the money and youll walk away safely. (If you do that, you will be safe) concessive meaning (plus suitable intonation)

(28) John worked hard for the exam and he failed (Although he worked hard, he failed). while/whereas interpretation

(29) Dr. Smith experiments with guinea pigs and Dr. Brown experiments with humans. 2. Asymmetric BUT implies a contrastive effect like in the case of symmetric BUT but this effect results from an unexpected consequence. Compare (30) a. Jim is brave but John is a coward. b. Jim likes computers but John hates them. to (31) Jim is jobless but he is happy. 3. Asymmetric OR implies an if-then relationship: (32) a. You leave my daughter alone, or Ill break your neck. b. Stop that noise, or youll be punished. This use is to be contrasted with the symmetric use of OR, which is in its turn of two types exclusive OR inclusive OR (33) You can eat lobster, or you can eat caviar. (asymmetric use) (symmetric use)

(34) If you have enough money you can eat lobster, or you can have caviar or both. Verb Agreement with Compound Subjects We shall discuss verb-agreement with compound subjects depending on the conjunction that is used: AND the compound subjects correlated by and are generally used with plural verbs: (35) a. Semantics and syntax are interrelated. b. Both your fairness and your kind nature have been appreciated. When the verb appears before the subject, both plural and singular forms are generally accepted. The singular form is however restricted to informal speech: (36) There was/were a man and a woman in the room. There are cases when the compound subject is not made up of the two semantically distinct conjunctions any more: (37) a. The hammer and the sickle was flying from the flagpole. b. Fish and chips is my favorite food. OR, EITHER OR, NOT (ONLY) BUT ALSO compound subjects are subject to the rule of agreement by proximity: the verb agrees with the nearest conjunct: (38) a. Not John, but his two brothers are to blame. b. Not Johns brother but he is to blame. NEITHER NOR compound subjects accept both the singular and the plural form of the verb since from a syntactical point of view Neither nor resembles either or, but semantically it is the negative counterpart of both and: (39) Neither he nor his wife have/has arrived.