5/22/2014

There are three coordinators: and, but and or.

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.