Introduction

We now turn to the issue of the syntactic structure of complex sentences and complex NPs. The last six chapters have laid out the essential syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of simple sentences, and in this chapter and the next we will investigate these aspects of complex sentences, starting with the layered structure of the clause in complex sentences.

Theoretical issues

There are two fundamental questions that every theory must answer about complex sentences; they are given in (8.1).

1. (8.1) a. What are the units involved in complex sentence constructions?

2. b. What are the relationships among the units in the constructions?

A great deal of controversy has surrounded the question of units in contemporary syntactic theory. In GB, all units in complex sentences contain a subject-predicate structure; the theory does not recognize any subclausal units in complex constructions. In GPSG, HPSG, ConG and LFG, on the other hand, both clausal and subclausal (VP) units are posited in complex sentences. In our approach, the answer to (8.1a) is derived from the layered structure of the clause: the fundamental building blocks of complex sentences are the nucleus, core and clause. The traditional answer to (8.1b), the question about the structural relationships among units in a complex sentence, is summarized as follows: