A distributional approach to functional Danish subclause classification

TY - JOUR

T1 - A distributional approach to functional Danish subclause classification

AU - Mortensen, Sune Sønderberg

PY - 2011/11/1

Y1 - 2011/11/1

N2 - This paper proposes a general structural-functional classification of Danish subclauses, based on their distributional properties. It is argued that traditional divisions into, for example, nominal/complement, attributive/relative and adverbial subclauses are inadequate on their own, because they only account for the syntactic functions of the clauses in realized discourse. Attempts at classifying subclauses at an abstract level tend to rely on the idea that each subclause form has a "default" syntactic function, but this paper argues that Danish subclauses may be dealt with more accurately by acknowledging and indeed exploiting their multifunctionality. Thus, a division into five distinct subclause classes is proposed, grouping the clauses according to their abstract potentials for occurring in specific syntactic functions and positions in the superordinate clause. The main inventory of Danish subclauses are classified on this basis, allowing for predictability between individual subclause types and their functional potentials.

AB - This paper proposes a general structural-functional classification of Danish subclauses, based on their distributional properties. It is argued that traditional divisions into, for example, nominal/complement, attributive/relative and adverbial subclauses are inadequate on their own, because they only account for the syntactic functions of the clauses in realized discourse. Attempts at classifying subclauses at an abstract level tend to rely on the idea that each subclause form has a "default" syntactic function, but this paper argues that Danish subclauses may be dealt with more accurately by acknowledging and indeed exploiting their multifunctionality. Thus, a division into five distinct subclause classes is proposed, grouping the clauses according to their abstract potentials for occurring in specific syntactic functions and positions in the superordinate clause. The main inventory of Danish subclauses are classified on this basis, allowing for predictability between individual subclause types and their functional potentials.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Subordination

KW - Danish

KW - syntax

KW - functional grammar

U2 - 10.1080/03740463.2012.709742

DO - 10.1080/03740463.2012.709742

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0374-0463

VL - 43

SP - 127

EP - 175

JO - Acta Linguistica Hafniensia

JF - Acta Linguistica Hafniensia

IS - 2

ER -