Subordinate clauses
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How to construct and interpret them.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 26 Jan 2019, 04:26.
[comments] mpo
2. On pronouns
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The first things to learn about are the referential affixes. These are treated in different ways at different levels of the language.Near pronouns: as a grammatical prefix denoting its meta-role.
In the grammar: as a pronoun person just like first, second, or third. It denotes where in the subordinate clause you will find its referent, as it declines for case.
An example, through English:
I am walking home while texting my friend, who is making popcorn in the microwave for the movie
(i am walking home) while (i am texting my friend) + (my friend is making popcorn in the microwave for the movie)
(walking 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SUBSubject (argument) home.OBJObject (argument)) while (texting 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SUBSubject (argument) (1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.GENGenitive (case)
possessive friend).OBJObject (argument)) + (making (1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.GENGenitive (case)
possessive friend.SUBSubject (argument)) popcorn.OBJObject (argument) the microwave.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using' the movie.DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location)
To join the first two, we need to reference the first clause. The reference to "my friend" will also require a reference pronoun, in order to connect those clauses. We will also need to add some more grammatical forms, as detailed here, though "SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter" will be omitted where applicable, as it gets to be very repetitive, and is the assumed form where unspecified.
(walking 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SUBSubject (argument) home.OBJObject (argument)) while (texting REFPPostcedent referent (indexing)
refers to a following nominal.SUBSubject (argument).1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SUBSubject (argument) REFAAntecedent referent (indexing)
refers to preceding nominal.SUBSubject (argument).3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter.OBJObject (argument)) (making (1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.GENGenitive (case)
possessive friend.SUBSubject (argument)) popcorn.OBJObject (argument) the microwave.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using' the movie.DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location)
Here is how it is interpreted: when REFPPostcedent referent (indexing)
refers to a following nominal.SUBSubject (argument) comes up, it refers to the subject of the prior clause, which happens to be 1.SUB (i) just after 'walking', and the 1.SUB which is attached to REFP.SUB gives a hint about what it refers to, which is very redundant in this case. Next, the use of REFA.SUB in the second verb phrase refers to (my friend).SUB, and 3.OBJ shows that my friend is a third person, and isn't my audience. In this way, such descriptors as "you, my friend" are possible by simply declining "friend" to the second person.
This example sentence also makes use of all five pronominal cases, and also gives at least one example of how to use the dative case. If the sentence also had "us" between "making" and "popcorn", "us" would have been given the dative case and would occupy the same slot as "movie", since the popcorn is for us to eat, but also for use during the movie; the popcorn is for us and for the movie. With this in mind, it is possible to translate the statement differently:
"the popcorn (is a tool) to be used for watching the movie" becomes a subordinate clause, and also a kind of noun phrase.
(making (1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.GENGenitive (case)
possessive friend.SUBSubject (argument)) REFAAntecedent referent (indexing)
refers to preceding nominal.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using'.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.OBJObject (argument) the microwave.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using') + (watching the movie.OBJObject (argument) popcorn.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using'), and since all nouns are marked very clearly, there is no need to provide a subject for the verb "watching", though it may be provided anywhere after that verb in the form of "1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SUBSubject (argument).3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter.SUBSubject (argument)" (exclusive 'us'). We see here REFAAntecedent referent (indexing)
refers to preceding nominal.INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using'.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.OBJObject (argument) means that "it" (in the object case) is referring to some instrument in the next sentence, and popcorn is marked as an instrument, and is therefore the "it" being microwaved. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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