Compound-sentence.docx

Table of contents INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 2 Syntactic relations ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Syntactic units ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Classification of sentences .......................................................................................................................... 4

Compound Sentences ................................................................................................................................... 5 Coordination .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Uses of Coordinators .............................................................................................................................. 7 Correlatives ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Ellipsis in coordinated clauses .................................................................................................................. 10 Examples from the American short story “The Listener” ............................................................................... 13

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 14 References:.................................................................................................................................................. 16

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Compound Sentences INTRODUCTION

Syntax is the discipline that examines the rules of language that dictate how the various parts of sentences go together. Syntax does not attempt to tell people what is the objectively correct way to form a sentence, rather it describes how language is actually used and tries to come up with rules that successfully describe what various language communities consider grammatical or non-grammatical. Without syntax there would be no foundation to connect meaning with a bunch of words strung together. With syntax an infinite number of sentences are possible that are formed by a small finite number of rules. Words can be arranged regularly and irregularly for a variety of reasons to fulfill a purpose. Syntax can be used to convey a simple message or to convey something deeper and more poetic. Syntax can be divided into regular and irregular. Regular (normal) syntax consists of sentences that follow basic patterns such as for example: Sub + V. Such patterns are often fixed so that they cannot be removed, meaning that there is a strict word order. Irregular syntax is that word order is not based on patterns. Study of content level has traditionally split between syntax and semantics. While syntax is concerned with the ways in which words are combined to make sentences, semantics deals with the meaning of those words. Mentioning levels or layers of structures we have to be aware of different terminology. For example, phonological level can be denoted as the level of expression, while syntax with morphology and semantics are known as level of content. Finally, the syntactical description means how words are structured into higher units, how those units can function and what’s their meaning.

Syntactic relations Modification is the process where a modifier as subordinate element in an endocentric structure affects the meaning of the headword that it describes. Sub-process of modification is called determination. There is no consensus among grammarians whether to treat modification the same relation as subordination because in both cases we talk about the relation between 2|Page

the two of different ranks. It is most common to use the term modification for relations between the words up to the phrase level whereas the term subordination is left for the relation of two or more clauses of different ranks on a sentence level. Pre-modifiers precede the head and post- modifiers follow it. In noun phrases, pre-modifiers follow determinatives. Predication is the relation between the two obligatory sentence elements such as subject (with its modifiers) and a verb (with its complements and modifiers). Those two elements are of equal rank. Complementation is a relation between certain words and their complements that serve to fulfill the meaning of those words. It can be used on both levels – phrase or sentence level. Complement means ‘to complete’ and complementation has to do with completing the meaning of a verb. Coordination is the relation between the two elements of equal rank that are connected with coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, neither, nor). E.g.: coordination of two words, two phrases and two clauses. In coordination the ICs in question are presented as being ‘coordinated’, or in some sense ‘syntactically equal’.

Syntactic units Phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. It is a syntactic structure that expresses syntactic properties derived from its head. Most phrases have a central word defining a type of a phrase; this word is called a head (just a small number of phrases are headless). A phrase in some respect is equal as a clause, because it expresses an incomplete idea or thought, and because of this it cannot stay alone; but on the other hand while a clause is characterized by a verb and a subject through the syntactic relation called predication, there is no such relation in a phrase. Phrases can be combined with other phrases to produce clauses and other sentences. A phrase is usually verb-less, without having relationship between subject and predicate (no predication). Clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express complete proposition. The most basic kind of sentence consists of a single (independent) clause. More complex sentences may contain multiple clauses. Clauses may be dependent and independent. Independent clauses are those that could stand as sentences by themselves, although they may be connected with other 3|Page

clauses in a longer sentence. Dependent clauses are those that would be awkward or nonsensical if used alone, and must be used with an independent clause.1 Sentence is an expression in natural language. A sentence can include words grouped meaning fully to express a statement, question, exclamation or a command. A sentence can also be defined as anything which is contained between a capital letter and a full stop.

Classification of sentences Sentences are categorized in two ways: 1. According to their structure 

Simple sentence is structured by only one independent clause. There are two basic elements, subject and predicate. The role of a subject is to express the doer of the action and can be represented by different structures (Noun, pronoun, nominals, nominal phrase, nominal clause). eg. He lives in New York.



Compound sentence contains two independent clauses (or more) joined by a coordinator. Coordinators are always preceded by commas except for some short compound sentences (for, and, but, nor, or, yet, so). eg. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak Serbian.

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Complex sentence, one independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. The usual subordinators are (because, since, after, although, and, that, who, which, etc). eg. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give teacher his last page.

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Complex-compound sentence, at least two independent and one or more dependent clauses. eg. While Tom reads novels, Jack reads comics, but Sam reads only magazines.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause

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2. According to their function (purpose of communication) 

Declarative sentences – it expresses a state and always ends with full stop. (He dropped the ball)

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Interrogative sentences – to make questions, question mark is used to denote them, and there are two types: yes/no questions and wh questions. (Is that true?)

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Imperative sentences – they mean order or direction, the subject is understood and tag questions are added often. (Grab the ladder.)

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Exclamatory sentences – strong feelings, exclamatory mark at the end. Each of the previous types of sentences could be exclamatory. (He dropped the ball! ; Grab the ladder! ; Is that true! ; How wonderful to see you!)2

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence combines two complete sentences (independent clauses); this, each part must have its own subject, its own verb and be able to stand by itself and still makes sense. A compound sentence is used to emphasize both clauses equally. Compound sentences can have independent clauses joined by: 1. A coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), always with a comma placed in front of it: eg. Bill left late, but he still got there on time. 2. A semicolon: eg. Bill left late; he still got there on time. 3. A conjunctive adverb (hence, however, now, still, then, therefore, thus, thence, nevertheless, otherwise, in fact, for example, besides, consequently, furthermore, 2

Marcella Frank; Modern English; 1972; New Jersey: Pretince-Hall Inc; page 24

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accordingly), always with a semicolon placed before the conjunctive adverb and a comma after it:

eg. Bill left late; however, he still got there on time.

Coordination

The term coordination is used by some grammarians for both syndetic coordination, when coordinators are present (eg: Slowly and stealthily he crept towards his victim), and asyndetic coordination, when coordinators are absent but could be supplied (eg: Slowly, stealthily he crept towards his victim). Coordinated units are termed conjoins. Coordinators can link parts of clauses: eg. The weather will be warm and cloudy. eg. The warm but windy weather will continue for several more days. Some linking words that are not coordinators can resemble them. eg. The admiral walked clumsily, yet with dignity. The three conjunctions are scarcely coordinators: AND, BUT, OR. And and or are central coordinators and but differs. Clause coordinators are restricted to clause initial position. And, or, and but, are restricted to initial position in the second clause (eg. Mary plays the guitar and her brother plays the violin).

Coordinated clauses are sequentially fixed. Those are clauses beginning with and, but and or, and they are fixed in relation to the previous clause. They cannot be transposed without producing an acceptable sentence or changing the relationship between the clauses (eg. They are living in Spain or they are spending a vacation there). This can be applied to coordinators and conjuncts. Coordinators are not preceded by a conjunction. Coordinators and, or and but do not allow another conjunction to precede them.

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Coordinators can link clause constituents. And, or and but can link two predicates (eg. I may see you tomorrow or may phone late in the day) this feature cannot be applied to most other linkers. Coordinators can link subordinate clauses. Coordinator but is restricted to maximum two clauses and only certain types of subordinate clauses. Coordinators can link more than two clauses. If it is so, such construction is called one of multiple coordination. All but the final of these conjunctions can be omitted (eg. The battery may be disconnected, the connections may be lost or the bulb may be faulty), in this respect and and or differ from subordinators and conjuncts and even differ from but, since but semantically speaking can link only two units at the same level. 3

Uses of Coordinators AND - indicates that there is some relation between the contents of the linked clauses. The relation can generally be explicit by an addition of an adverbial: 

The event in the second clause is a chronologically sequent to that in the first (eg. I washed the dishes and then I dried them)

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The event in the second clause is a consequence or a result of the first (eg. She heard an explosion and she phoned me).

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The second clause introduces a contrast (eg. Peter is secretive and in contrast David is open).

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The first clause has a concessive (eg. He tried hard and he failed).

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The first clause is a condition of the second (eg. Give me some money and then I’ll do the shopping).

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The second clause makes a point similar to the first one (eg. A trade agreement should be no problem and a cultural exchange could be easily arranged).

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The second clause is a comment or explanation of the first (eg. There is only one thing to do now and that is to apologize).

 3

The second is addition to the first (eg. She has long hair and she often wears jeans).

A University Grammar of English; Sidney Greenbaum & Randolph Quirk; Longman; London; page 254

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OR – typically it is exclusive, it excludes the possibility that the contents of both clauses are true or that they are to be fulfilled (eg. You can speak on the couch in this room or you can go to a hotel). Even when both alternatives are possible or is exclusive (eg. You can boil yourself an egg or you can make some sandwiches). To point out this exclusive meaning conjunct else or alternatively can be added. Sometimes or is inclusive. Third clause can be added to make this inclusive meaning clearer (eg. You can boil an egg or you can make some sandwiches or you can do both). Or can introduce a correlative to what is said in the first conjoin (eg. They are enjoying themselves or they appear to be enjoying themselves). The last meaning of or can be negative condition (eg. Switch on the radio or we will miss the news).

BUT – denotes a contrast: 

Second clause is unexpected (eg. Steph is poor but she is happy)



Second clause expresses positive meaning (eg. I’m not objecting to his morals but to his manners).

With this relationship it is normal to ellipt the repeated subject in the second clause. With the first type of contrast, we can insert in the but clause concessive conjuncts such as yet. With the second type we can insert the antithetic conjunct on the contrary. 4

Correlatives

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Randolph Quirk & Sidney Green Baum & Geoffrey Leech & Jan Startvik – A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language; 1973; page 923

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These are three common correlative pairs: either… or, both… and, neither…. nor. The first word is endorsing item and the second is a coordinator. Either… or points out the exclusive meaning of or. The linked units may be complete clauses or lesser constituents (eg. Either the room is too small or the piano is too large). Both… and points out the editive meaning of and and the segregatory meaning of and rather than the combinatory (eg. Both Peter and Joan washed the dishes). Neither… nor is the negative counterpart of both… and (eg. David neither loves Joan nor wants to marry her). Nor and neither can be used as negative adverbs. Morphology of nor suggests that it is the equivalent of or + not, but in fact nor and neither are nearer to being equivalent of and + not (eg. All the students were obviously very miserable and the teachers were not satisfied with the condition of the school). Common anticipatory correlatives with but are not and not only (eg. He didn’t come to help, but to hinder us; They not only broke into his office and stole his books, but they tore up his manuscripts). A more dramatic effect is achieved by positioning not only initially, with a consequent subject – operator inversion (eg. Not only did they break into his office and steal his books, but they also tore up his manuscript). Complex coordination is as such in which the conjoins express a strong parallelism between each other and that’s why it is most often found in written style. Eg. We gave David a book of stamps and Ellie a book of paintings. Gapping is a type of complex coordination in which a second or subsequent conjoin contains a medial ellipsis: One boy has written a poem and the other a short story. There is an appended coordination in formal speech when an elliptical clause is a appended to a previous clause, for example: My mother plays badminton and sometimes even tennis. Informal style is characterized by pseudo-coordination: They sat and talked about the old times. 9|Page

There are several quasi-coordinators, most of which are related to comparative forms (as well as, as much as, rather than, more than). They sometimes resemble coordinators, for eg: He publishes as well as prints his own books5.

Ellipsis in coordinated clauses

Identical subjects of coordinated clauses are ellipted (eg. Peter ate a cheese sandwich and (Peter) drank a glass of beer). If the subjects and the auxiliaries are identical, ellipsis of both is normal (eg. Marry has washed the dishes, (Marry has) dried them, and (Marry has) put them in the cupboard). As is usual for ellipsis in coordination, the realized items are in the first clause and the ellipsis is in subsequent clauses. If the subjects of coordinated clauses are different, there may be ellipsis of an identical auxiliary (John should clean the shed and Peter (should) mow the lawn). If there is more than one auxiliary, it is normal for all to be ellipted (eg. John must have been playing football and Marry (must have been) doing her homework. The first part of the predicate of the predication may be ellipted, and the subject may be ellipted as well (eg. She will work today, and (she) may (work) tomorrow; It’s cold in December in England (but) it’s cold in July in New Zeland; John will meet my family tonight and (John) will (meet my family) again tomorrow). In certain contexts there can be ambiguity as to whether the subject and verb are ellipted or the verb and object are ellipted. For example, the sentence: Bob will interview some candidates this morning and Peter this afternoon. Can be interpreted as having either of these two kinds of ellipses: -

Bob will interview some candidates this morning and (Bob will interview) Peter this afternoon.

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A University Grammar of English; Sidney Greenbaum & Randolph Quirk; Longman; London; page 251-275

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-

Bob will interview some candidates this morning and Peter (will interview) some candidates this afternoon.

The ellipted form of the auxiliary or lexical verb sometimes varies from that of the realized form when one is third person singular present and the other is not: I work in a factory and my brother (works) on a farm. In general, most on co-occurences of auxiliaries are allowed, for eg: His friends already belong to the club and he will (belong to the club) soon. – present and modal. One major exception is that an ellipted passive does not co-occur in any of the other forms: Paul denied the charge, but the charge wasn’t denied by his friends; Not *Paul denied the charge, but the charge wasn’t by his friends. If the predication is ellipted completely, it is usual to have the predication realized in the first clause and ellipted in subsequent clauses: George will take the course and Bob might (take the course) too. However, it is also possible to have the predication ellipted in the first clause in which case it is realized in some subsequent clause: George will (take the course), and Bob might take the course. When the predication is ellipted in the first clause and the subject is ellipted in a subsequent clause, we have complex ellipsis (ie. Ellipses with both previous and subsequent realizations): John could have been (watching television), but (John) wasn’t watching television. If the direct object alone is ellipted, the realized items must be in the last clause: John likes (Mary), and Peter hates, Mary.

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Similarly, if the subject complement alone is ellipted and the verb in the last clause is other than be, the realized items must be in the last clause: George was (angry), and Bob certainly seemed, angry. But it would be more common to have the pro-form so in the second clause than to have any ellipsis: George was angry, and Bob certainly seemed so. When the verb in the last clause is be the realized items can be either in the first clause or in the last clause: Bob seemed angry, and George certainly was (angry). It is often more satisfactory to say that the scope of the adverbial is extended to subsequent clauses than to say that it is ellipted. This is particularly so when the adverbial is positioned initially. For example, unfortunately in Unfortunately John is not at home and Sally is too busy to see you. appears to apply to a combination of the circumstances described in the two clauses rather than separately to each circumstances. The head of a noun phrase can be ellipted: We wanted friend fish, but they gave us boiled (fish). She wore the red dress but the blue (dress) suits her better. This type of ellipsis is not limited to coordination: He prefers Dutch cheese to Danish (cheese). The complement of a prepositional phrase can be ellipted, with the realized complement in the second clause: Bob is bored with (music), but Peter enjoys music. The point where ellipsis has taken place is often marked in speech by an intonation break, that is to say, it co-occurs with the end of an intonation unit. When the ellipsis is in the 12 | P a g e

second and subsequent clauses there is no intonation or punctuation marking for the ellipsis of the subject or of the subject and immediately following elements. Peter cooks his own meals and (Peter) washes his own clothes. Often the effect of ellipsis is no more than to suggest a close connection between the content of the clauses but sometimes the effect is to indicate that there is a combined process rather that to separate processes. Thus: Did Peter tell lies and hurt his friends? implies that Peter’s telling lies had the result that he hurt his friends. The sentence is once question and may be answered by yes no. There is no such implication in: Did Peter tell lies, and did he hurt his friends? where Peter’s telling lies and his hurting his friends are regarded as two separate processes and there are two separate questions. Sometimes intonation may also be a factor. The combinatory effect is common when the coordinated clauses are direct or indirect question or subordinate to another clause, or when negation is involved.6

Examples from the American short story “The Listener”

The following compound sentences are carefully extracted from the above mentioned short story. 

One year Rudolph sailed all the way out to Iceland and began working his way around that rocky coast from one town to another.



It was a hard, stubborn land; but people in those difficult places do not forget the law of hospitality to the stranger.

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A University Grammar of English; Sidney Greenbaum & Randolph Quirk; Longman; London; page 251-275

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

Too often people sat stolidly watching the noisy little fiddler, and went home feeling gravely edified.

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Rudolf was rounding a bleak, dangerous cape, and his map told him that the nearest harbor was half a day’s journey away.

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Above them was the maintenance room, and above that the great lamp spoke majestic, silent messages of light to the ships at sea.

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As a musician Rudolf had not had time to read much either – but then, he had lived in cities.

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He reached down and took his beloved violin out of its case.

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For a second his Rudolf thought his host might be joking; but the serenity of the others’ expression reassured him.

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This too was in the Nature of Things wherein all works were wonders, and all things were known eternally and were poignant in their transiency.

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His wide gray eyes rested upon the little fiddler and conferred upon him all the importance of which any individual is capable.



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The last note ceased and Rudolf dropped his head on his chest.7

Road to reading, American short story “The Listener”, by John Berry; 1960; Washington, D.C 20547

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CONCLUSION

While categorizing sentences according to their structure, we learned a lot about each of the four main types. When it comes to compound sentences (coordinated clauses) we can instinctively infer that they would not be possible without one of the five syntactical relations, commonly known as coordination, the very essence of compound sentences. Most of compound sentences have their independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions (and, so yet, nor, neither, but). They are very natural. Small children learn to use them early to connect their ideas and avoid pausing. Compound sentences are most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast between two or more equally important pieces of information, for eg: Montreal has better clubs but Toronto has better cinemas. Now-a-days language economy is becoming more and more important. Main indications of the aforementioned statement lie exactly in the heart of syntax, or, to be more concise, compound sentences. Ellipsis in coordinated clauses makes all of this possible.

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References: 

Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1985) A comprehensive grammar of English, London Longman

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Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1997) A university grammar of English, London: Longman

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Stageberg, N. C. (1971): An Introductory Grammar of the English Language, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York et al

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Frank, M. (1972): Modern English: Exercises for non-native speakers. Part II: Sentences and complex structures, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

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Leech G. and Svartvik J. (2003) A communicative grammar of English, New Jersey: Pearson Education

The Merriam-Webster dictionary, (2002) London: Barnes & Noble

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