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Subclause Reform: Difference between revisions
Simplify relative content clauses
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To avoid ambiguity when a content clause has a trailing adverb, we say that subclauses starting with {{T|ꝡä}}/{{T|lä}}/etc. can only appear at the very end of a clause, coming ''after'' the outer clause's trailing adverbs: | To avoid ambiguity when a content clause has a trailing adverb, we say that subclauses starting with {{T|ꝡä}}/{{T|lä}}/etc. can only appear at the very end of a clause, coming ''after'' the outer clause's trailing adverbs: | ||
{{Example|Zaı jí, ꝡä jıa tao nháo hóq nhûq súq.|I hope that they will do it for your sake.}}{{Example|Zaı jí nhûq súq, ꝡä jıa tao nháo hóq.|I hope for your sake that they will do it.}} | {{Example|Zaı jí, ꝡä jıa tao nháo hóq nhûq súq.|I hope that they will do it for your sake.}}{{Example|Zaı jí nhûq súq, ꝡä jıa tao nháo hóq.|I hope for your sake that they will do it.}} | ||
Verbs that expect a content clause complement, such as {{T|dua}}, {{T|zaı}}, {{T|leo}}, {{T|teqga}}, will use the complement to fill in their final slot, and moreover they may never be underfilled. But if you want to use a content clause with a verb that doesn't expect them, or you want to use one as the subject of a transitive verb, then you can use the word {{T|có}}, which is a lot like the 'it' in English "'''It''' delights me '''that''' they tried".<ref>Syntactically, we understand {{T|có}} as a trace of type <math>\text{e}</math> that the CP leaves behind when it moves. This trace may be covert if it occurs in the verb's final slot.</ref> | |||
{{Example|Jaıca có jí, ꝡä leo nháo.|It delights me that they tried.}} | {{Example|Gı có, ꝡä tı súq ní.|It's good that you're here.}}{{Example|Jaıca có jí, ꝡä leo nháo.|It delights me that they tried.}} | ||
== Relative content clauses == | == Relative content clauses == | ||
To turn a content clause into a nominalized construct, like English "the fact that" or "the plan to", we use a brand-new piece of grammar: a '''relative content clause'''. The | To turn a content clause into a nominalized construct, like English "the fact that" or "the plan to", we use a brand-new piece of grammar: a '''relative content clause'''. The word {{T|ꝡä}} attaches to a determiner phrase as if it was a relative clause, and says that the phrase's '''propositional content''' is given by the content clause that follows. | ||
{{Example|Cho jí sío, | {{Example|Cho jí sío, ꝡä mala tı sía seq úmo ní rıaq.|I like the thought that no one apart from us has ever been here before.}}{{Example|Táosıo, lä seraq nhâna kú râo núaq já, bï chı duı hıam jí hóq.|I think the plan to attack them at night is too dangerous.}} | ||
Just like normal relative clauses, these are not allowed to contain trailing adverbs, and may not be underfilled. And just as we have {{T|ꝡé}} as an abbreviation for {{T|ló, ꝡë}}, we also have {{T|ꝡá}} as an abbreviation for {{T|ló, | Just like normal relative clauses, these are not allowed to contain trailing adverbs, and may not be underfilled. And just as we have {{T|ꝡé}} as an abbreviation for {{T|ló, ꝡë}}, we also have {{T|ꝡá}} as an abbreviation for {{T|ló, ꝡä}}. | ||
{{Example|Hạle, ꝡá sho suhu hóe, ꝡá dana súq jí.|It is more likely that the sun turns into a pig than that you beat me.}}{{Example|Má tı ríaq Éoropa, bï bu moaq jí hụ́ma.|As for whether that place is in Europe, I do not remember that.}} | {{Example|Hạle, ꝡá sho suhu hóe, ꝡá dana súq jí.|It is more likely that the sun turns into a pig than that you beat me.}}{{Example|Má tı ríaq Éoropa, bï bu moaq jí hụ́ma.|As for whether that place is in Europe, I do not remember that.}} | ||
Notice that nominalizing a content clause with {{T|ꝡá}} allows it to appear directly in topic or subject position, whereas a {{T|ꝡä}} clause is much more limited in its positioning. | Notice that nominalizing a content clause with {{T|ꝡá}} allows it to appear directly in topic or subject position, whereas a {{T|ꝡä}} clause is much more limited in its positioning. | ||