SPOCA - Syntactic analysis - Clauses

 Clauses

Clauses, like words and their corresponding phrases, can be analyzed in terms of their form and function.

 

Clauses and clause hierarchies

 

Let us consider the following sentence:

 

(1)        Everybody thinks that people believe that the show is entertaining.

S          ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MC      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SC1                                      -----------------------------------------------------------------

SC2                                                                        -----------------------------------------

 

This sentence contains three clauses:

1. A matrix clause (MC), which is coextensive with the whole sentence (S) (i.e., MC contains the same elements as S).

 

1. The matrix clause is a superordinate or ‘higher’ clause in relation to subordinate (or ‘lower’) clause 1 (SC1), which is contained in it.

 

1. Subordinate clause 1 is a superordinate or ‘higher’ clause in relation to subordinate (or ‘lower’) clause 2 (SC2), which is contained in it.

 

 

The terms matrix clause, superordinate clause and subordinate clause show the hierarchical relations between the clauses.

 

We still need to assign form and function labels to them.

In terms of form, the subordinate clauses in the sentence above have the form of a that-clause (named after the first element, the Complementizer ‘that’).

Their function in each case is Direct Object. This means that Direct Objects can be something other than noun phrases (NPs).

 

Now, how do we know that the that-clauses are DOs?

The that-clauses are DOs because there is a close relationship between them and their respective verbs. They complement the meaning of their related verbs. It is not possible to delete them. Deleting them would result in ungrammatical sentences.

Clauses can be either finite or non-finite. Finite clauses contain a finite (tensed) main verb; non-finite clauses contain a non-finite (untensed) main verb. Matrix clauses are always finite, though they may of course contain finite or non-finite subordinate clauses.

The sentences in (2)-(11) below contain examples of non-finite subordinate clauses. They are enclosed in square brackets.

 

to-infinitive clause

(2) I would prefer [you not to smoke], please.                                   [+Subject]

(3) He likes [to spend his evenings in front of the television].           [-Subject]

 

bare infinitive clause (without the particle to

)

(4) She made [the little boy wash the dishes].                                   [+Subject]

(5) A good suggestion is [resign from your post].                               [-Subject]

 

-ing participle clause

(6) [You playing rugby] is quite funny.                                                [+Subject]

(7) I prefer [watching rugby].                                                             [-Subject]

 

-ed participle clause

(8) [The show finished], he left the room.                                          [+Subject]

(9) [Shocked by his remarks], she collapsed on the floor.                 [- Subject]

 

Verb less or small clauses (clauses not containing a verb)

(10) Chelsea considers [John a true friend].

(11) Martin deems [the situation rather difficult].

The Rank Scale

Every sentence can be analyzed at FOUR distinct levels: the word-level, the phrase-level, the clause-level and the sentence-level. This is called the RANK SCALE. We can use a notation method called labelled bracketing to show the rank scale of a sentence. Words that belong together in a constituent are enclosed in square brackets [   ]. The formal status (i.e., the form label) is indicated by attaching a subscript form label to the leftmost bracket.

 

Let us show the rank scale of the sentence below using labelled bracketing.

 

(12) John thinks that Bill read the book.

 

Word level:

[N John] [V thinks] [Comp that] [ N Bill] [V read] [Det the] [ N book].

 

Phrase level:

[NP [N John]] [VP [V thinks] [Comp that] [ NP [ N Bill]] [VP [V read] [ NP [Det the] [ N book]]].

 

Clause level:

[MC [NP [N John]] [VP [V thinks] [SubC [Comp that] [ NP [ N Bill]] [VP [V read] [ NP [Det the] [ N book]]]]].

 

Sentence level:

[S/MC [NP [N John]] [VP [V thinks] [SubC [Comp that] [ NP [ N Bill]] [VP [V read] [ NP [Det the] [ N book]]]]].

 

(S = Sentence, N(P) = Noun (Phrase), V(P) = Verb (Phrase), Comp = Complementiser, MC = Matrix Clause, SubC = Subordinate Clause)