Lesson 2 – Handout 2b - KEY

Coordination

Having studied Chapter 13 in Greenbaum and Quirk, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What is the difference between COORDINATION and SUBORDINATION?

- in coordination the units linked are on the same syntactic level, whereas in subordination one of the units is a constituent of a superordinate unit

- in coordination the clauses linked can function as independent sentences

2. What are CORRELATIVES? Give 3 examples:

either – or

neither – nor

both - and

(also the negator not / n’t or the combination not / n’t only may be correlative with a following but: He didn’t come to help, but to hinder us. Not only did they steal his books, but they also tore up his manuscripts.)

3. Are the two sentences below correct?

Both Jim was cooking and Linda was washing up.

Neither Mary wanted to clean the windows, nor her sister did.

- they are NOT correct! Unlike either – or, both – and and neither – nor CANNOT link COMPLETE CLAUSES.

We would have to say: Neither Mary nor her sister wanted to clean the windows.

4. Explain the two following terms: CONJOIN(S), CONJOINT

- conjoins are the coordinated units

- conjoint is the resulting combination (of the coordinated units)

5. Explain the difference between SIMPLE and COMPLEX coordination:

SIMPLE coordination

= usual kind of coordination, where a single clause or clause part is linked to others that are parallel in meaning, function, and (in general) in form

- 2 ways of analysing simple coordination of clause parts (constituents):

a) ellipsis analysis: construction viewed as elliptical version of clause coordination, noting what elements are ellipted

b) coordination analysis: construction examined in terms of the units themselves, noting what elements are present

Example: Jessica has prepared dinner and done the ironing.

a) this sentence can be regarded as the coordination of two clauses in which a subject (Jessica) and an operator (has) have been ellipted from the second clause:

Jessica has prepared dinner and   ~  done the ironing.   = ellipsis analysis

b) the sentence can be viewed as a single clause containing two coordinated predications, which together constitute the predication of the clause:

Jessica has [prepared dinner] and [done the ironing]. – two predications ‘belonging’ to the operator has that they have in common   = coordination analysis

For SIMPLE COORDINATION it is better to adopt the second analysis (b) = the coordination analysis rather than the ellipsis analysis (a).

COMPLEX coordination

= here the individual conjoins are combinations of units (e.g. “O_i + O_d” or “O + C_o” – see the examples below) rather than single units or clauses; such coordination usually requires a strong parallelism between the conjoins

Examples:

She poured Susan / a glass of water and Tim / a glass of juice. = indirect Object + direct O

He finds Tim / clever and Jack / cunning. = Object +object Complement

You should serve the tea / in a cup and the coke / in a glass. = Object + Adverbial

6. What types of SIMPLE coordination do you know?

a)   coordination of clauses:

Peter had washed the dishes, and Lucy cleaned all the windows.

b)   coordination of predicates:

Peter washed the dishes and cleaned all the windows.

c)   coordination of predications:

Peter will wash the dishes and clean all the windows.

7.   Which types of SIMPLE coordination are represented by the following sentences?

1.   Lucy ate the fruit and drank the coke.

2.   Most people will have read the book or seen the film.

- 1. = predicate coordination

- 2. = predication coordination

8. Explain what “gapping” means: 

- it is a type of complex coordination

= a second or subsequent conjoin contains a medial ellipsis (= usually the V element is ellipted):

{C}o   subject + object: One student has written a story, and the other  ~ a poem.

{C}o   subject + adverbial: Peterson completed the course in twenty minutes, and Kent  ~  in thirty.

{C}o   subject + complement: Mary looked happier, and John  ~  more relaxed.

9. Which other types of coordination (besides simple and complex) do you know?

appended coordination; pseudo-coordination; quasi-coordination

10. Now describe the above coordination structures (from Question 9):

a) appended coordination

= an elliptical clause is appended (added) to a previous clause; characteristic of informal speech:

Paul sings pretty well, and Christine, too.

She bought a new lamp yesterday, and a handbag and a book.

My father often goes skiing, and sometimes even snowboarding.

b) pseudo-coordination

I’ll try and come tomorrow. = I’ll try to come tomorrow. – idiomatic structures

He felt more and more angry. = the coordination of two or more identical comparative forms of adjectives (usually just two conjoins) expresses a continuing increase in degree

She cried and cried and cried. = the coordination of two or more identical forms of verbs and adverbs expresses continuation or repetition

There are handymen and handymen. = good and bad handymen = the coordination of two identical nouns indicates different kinds

We saw rats and rats and rats all over the place. = the coordination of three or more identical nouns indicates a large number or quantity.

c) quasi-coordination

John, along with Philip, was involved.

Lucy, as much as her sisters, was responsible for the loss.

- most of the quasi-coordinators are related to comparative forms: as well as, as much as, rather than, more than; they may resemble coordinators in that they link a variety of constituents but are not really; thus the verb must be singular if the real subject is a singular noun phrase (see the examples above)

11. Explain the difference betw. COMBINATORY and SEGREGATORY coordination of NPs:

- when the coordination is segregatory, we can paraphrase it by clause coordination, e.g.:

Tim and Jack will join me. = Tim will join me, and Jack will join me.

- when it is combinatory we cannot do so, because the conjoins function in combination with respect to the rest of the clause:

Mark and Rita often help each other. – this sentence cannot be paraphrased by clause coordination, i.e. we cannot say Mark helps each other, and Rita helps each other.

12. Is the conjoint NP ‘Paul and Peggy’ in the following sentence combinatory or segregatory?

Paul and Peggy received a wonderful present.

- it is ambiguous and can thus have both meanings:

segregatory = they each received a wonderful present (=there are two presents)

combinatory = the wonderful present was given to them jointly (= one present)