Clausal coordinators are restricted to initial position. Clause beginning with a coordinator cannot be moved in front of the preceding clause together with coordinator, e.g. They live in England but they are spending a vacation here. here.... - *But they are spending a vacation here.... Coordinators allow ellipsis of the subject in the clause they introduce if the subject is cocoreferential with the preceding linked clause, e.g. Peter ate a sandwich and [Peter] drank a glass of beer.
COORDINATION AND ELLIPSIS
Ellipsis of auxiliary only:
Identical subjects of coordinated clauses are
omitted. If the subject and the auxiliary are identical, ellipsis of both is normal, e.g. Mary has washed the dishes, [Mary has] dried them, and [Mary has] put them in the cupboard.
Ellipsis of predicate and predication:
verb phrase or lexical verb only, e.g.
Yesterday John was given a railway set and Sue [was given] a doll. verb phrase + subject complement, e.g. Jane was the winner in 2000 and Kim [was the winner] in 2005. verb phrase/lexical verb + direct object, e.g. Sue is preparing a project for her company and Mary [is preparing a project] for her club.
if the subjects of coordinated clauses are
different and their auxiliaries identical, there may be ellipsis of an identical auxiliary, e.g. - John should clean the shed and Peter [should] water the plants.
Sometimes there can be ambiguity as to whether
the subject and verb are omitted or the verb and object are omitted, e.g. Bob will phone some friends in the morning and Peter in the afternoon. the elliptical form of the auxiliary or lexical verb sometimes varies from the realized form when one is 3rd person sg. present and the other is not: e.g. I work in a factory and my brother [works] on a farm. farm.
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Ellipsis of Direct Object and Subject
Complement
Major exception is that an elliptical passive does
not coco-occur with any other forms, e.g. They invited Mary but Jane *[wasnt invited] to the party.
Ellipsis of the Head of the Noun Phrase and the
Object of preposition:
Head of a Noun phrase can be omitted if there
is a modifier to keep the phrase, e.g. We wanted fried fish and they gave us boiled [fish]. The Object of preposition can be omitted with the realized complement in the second clause,e.g. Bob is interested in [music], but Peter adores music.
We can coordinate elements that are syntactically
equal, making coordination of the same rank. Coordinated sentences must have the same structural form (sameness of structure), e.g. They are young and in love, love, not *They are in love and in the park. There are also semantic requirements, i.e. sameness of meaning, e.g. John and Mary are married, married, not *John and the government are married. married.
If a direct object alone is omitted, the realized items
must be in the last clause, e.g. John likes [Mary] and Peter hates Mary. If a subject complement alone is omitted and the verb in the last clause is other than be be,, the realized items must be in the last clause, e.g. George was [angry] and Bob only seemed angry. With such examples you can use propro-form with so, e.g. George was angry and Bob only seemed so.
Phrasal Coordination
And and or are the main coordinators for phrasal
coordination. But is used only to link adjective phrases and adverb phrases, e.g. Mary is a very kind but boring person.
And as a coordinator can have several
functions: - it can indicate some kind of contrast, e.g. She washed the dishes and he dried them. - it can be emphasizing and, e.g. She washed the dishes and dried them. - it can comment the first sentence, e.g. She washed the dishes and that is not surprising. (sentential relative clause substitute)
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Sentence coordination
Ellipsis - exercise
Compound sentence: two independent
sentences/clauses. Complex--compound sentence: at least two Complex independent sentences and at least one dependent sentence. Textual predication: predication: two or more independent sentences (+ clauses). Syntactical mark: TP (in the analysis)
Lacy can do something about the problem, but I dont
know what. what. She can help with the housework, housework, Nancy can help too. John can speak seven languages, but Ron can speak only two. His refusal to cooperate with the court and name the source resulted in a contempt citation. She was thinking of taking some holiday next week but now she can't take any. any. Jane works harder than her sister. Some of the tea is Chinese and some Indian. Music is as important to Cora as literature to her brother.
Coordination - exercise: 1. 2.
3.
4.
He was approaching, but they ignored him.
Stern pushed a button and a giant TV screen emerged behind a portrait. She is a great professional but she is also a nice and caring person. Peter pulled his car into the ruined laneway, turned off the ignition, and waited.