Báo cáo khoa học: The English Relative Clause

A computer grammar is described which includes most of the English relative-clause constructions. It is written in the form of a left-to-right phrase-structure grammar with discontinuous constituents and subscripts, which carry such syntactic restrictions as number and verb government category.
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Báo cáo khoa học: "The English Relative Clause" [Mechanical Translation and Computational Linguistics, vol.11, nos.1 and 2, March and June 1968] The English Relative Clause* by D. Kathryn Weintraub, University of Chicago† A computer grammar is described which includes most of the English relative-clause constructions. It is written in the form of a left-to-right phrase-structure grammar with discontinuous constituents and subscripts, which carry such syntactic restrictions as number and verb government category. The motivation for the hierarchy of syntactic choices and for the use of discontinuous constituents is discussed. Many examples are given, and special attention is given to complement constructions and to the relation of the relative pronoun to complex prenominal and post- nominal determiner constructions. Written in COMIT, the program runs as part of a larger grammar of English. would otherwise fulfill this function within the clauseI . Introduction does not occur within the relative comment. The func-In English, a subordinate clause consists of two imme- tion could, for example, be that of the subject of thediate constituents: the clause marker and the remainder clause or an object of the clause.of the clause. In the case of a relative clause these two All relative comments exhibit certain characteristics.constituents are termed the relative topic and the rel- First, obviously, the comment is restricted to thoseative comment. clause types which could, otherwise, include an element The relative topic is peculiar to the relative clause. representing that particular syntactic function which,It imposes restrictions on the form of the relative com- in the relative clause, is represented by the topic.ment which are not found in other forms of clause. Second, there are several sentence patterns whichMoreover, because of the relative topic, the relative cannot occur within any relative clause. These sameclause appears to differ significantly from other forms patterns are also prohibited in at least some (and per-of subordinate clause. haps all) other forms of subordinate clause. These pat- The relative topic fulfills at least three functions with- terns include all forms of question construction, pro-in the clause. First, it is a form of clause marker. It predicates, and certain forms of inversion. Some of theseidentifies the specific form of subordinate clause. In this restrictions are exemplified in the following paragraphs.function the relative topic is similar to a word such as There are three forms of question in English. Thesewhen which introduces a type of adverbial subordinate forms are exemplified in the sentences:clause, or to a phrase such as whether or not which Question word: Who baked the cakes?identifies one form of subordinate complement clause. Inverted question: Has she baked the cakes? Second, the relative topic is pronominal in function. Tag question: She baked the cakes, didnt she?It explicitly refers to an antecedent which is not a partof the relative clause. In this way, the topic introduces None of these constructions is permissible within ainto the relative clause those restrictions of the antece- relative clause. The question-word construction appearsdent which can be expressed by pronominal reference. to contradict this assertion because it is formally similarThus, unlike other forms of subordinate clause, the con- to those relative clauses where the relative topic in-structions within the relative clause must be restricted cludes one of the pronouns who, whom, which, orto those which are coordinate with a construction of whose, for example:the containing clause. The woman who baked the cakes sold them in the bakery Third, the relative topic fulfills a syntactic function at Main and 4th Streets.within the relative clause. The construction which However, the two constructions are not identical. They differ in intonation. Their role within a sentence differs. * This article was drawn from D. Kathryn Weintraub, The They include some different forms of construction and,Syntax of Some English Relative Clauses (unpublished Ph.D.Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1970). A limited num- therefore, are chosen from different substitution classes.ber of copies are available for distribution to those who A questi ...