Appositive Relative Clauses in English

Discourse functions and competing structures

Rudy Loock | University of Lille & STL laboratory, UMR 8163, CNRS

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027226327 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027288455 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

This book sheds new light on Appositive Relative Clauses (ARCs), a structure that is generally studied from a merely syntactic point of view, in opposition to Determinative (or Restrictive) Relative Clauses (DRCs). In this volume, ARCs are examined from a discourse/pragmatic point of view, independently of DRCs, in order to provide a positive definition of the structure. After a presentation of the morphosyntactic, semantic and pragmatic characteristics of ARCs, a taxonomy of their functions in discourse is established for both written and spoken English based on the results of a corpus-based investigation. Constraints are then defined within an information-packaging approach to syntactic structures to show why speakers choose ARCs over other competing allostructures, i.e. syntactic structures that fulfil similar discourse functions (e.g. nominal appositives, independent clauses, adverbials, noun premodifiers, topicalization). The end result is a deeper understanding of the richness of ARCs in their natural contexts of use.

[Studies in Discourse and Grammar, 22] 2010. xiii, 232 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.22

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements | p. xiii

Introduction | pp. 1–3

Part I. Appositive relative clauses (ARCs): Definitions, previous studies, typical and atypical syntactic realizations

Chapter 1. Definitions and previous studies | pp. 7–52

Chapter 2. Atypical appositive relative clauses | pp. 53–73

Part II. The discourse functions of ARCs: A suggested taxonomy for written and spoken English

Chapter 3. The corpus: ARCs in usage | pp. 77–93

Chapter 4. The discourse functions of ARCs: A taxonomy | pp. 95–139

Part III. ARCs and their competing “allostructures”

Chapter 5. Definition of ARCs' allostructures, with particular emphasis on nominal appositives | pp. 143–189

Chapter 6. Appositive relative clauses and their other competing allostructures | pp. 191–215

Conclusion | pp. 217–218

Appendix | pp. 227–229

Index | p. 231

“Theoretically, the book enhances our understanding of the functioning of ARCs in discourse. Practically, the findings of the study can help the reader to know when and how ARCs can be used. This book is suitable for scholars and students who are interested in the study of syntactical structures in discourse, especially the relation between form and function, and those who want to use language more efficiently. This well-organized book presents us with a new picture of the use of ARCs in different registers and styles and in both written and spoken modes.”

Xinzhang Yang, Xiamen University, Discourse Studies, Volume 14(6), 2012, pages 812-814.

Cited by (20)

Cited by 20 other publications

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Kandybowicz, Jason & Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

2023. Integrated non-restrictive relative clauses in Shupamem. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 41:2 ► pp. 655 ff.

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2021. Packaging Information as Fact Versus Opinion: Consequences of the (Information-)Structural Position of Subjective Adjectives. Discourse Processes 58:7 ► pp. 617 ff.

Benshams, Masoomeh, Firooz Sadighi, Mohammad Reza Falahati Qadimi Fumani, Naser Rashidi & Jeroen van de Weijer

2020. A probe into discourse structure of english relative clauses of Iranian EFL learners’ reading and writing performance: Centering theory in focus. Cogent Arts & Humanities 7:1 ► pp. 1788841 ff.

Cheon, Kyung-Hwan, Youngjoo Kim, Hee-Dong Yoon, Ki-Chun Nam, Sun-Young Lee & Hyeon-Ae Jeon

2020. Syntactic Comprehension of Relative Clauses and Center Embedding Using Pseudowords. Brain Sciences 10:4 ► pp. 202 ff.

Cinque, Guglielmo

2020. The Syntax of Relative Clauses,

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2020. (Non)Restrictive Nominal Modification. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Semantics, ► pp. 1 ff.

Radford, Andrew

2020. An Introduction to English Sentence Structure,

Schlenker, Philippe

2020. The Semantics and Pragmatics of Appositives. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Semantics, ► pp. 1 ff.

Schlenker, Philippe

2023. Supplements without Bidimensionalism. Linguistic Inquiry 54:2 ► pp. 251 ff.

CORNISH, FRANCIS

2018. Revisiting the system of English relative clauses: structure, semantics, discourse functionality. English Language and Linguistics 22:3 ► pp. 431 ff.

Burke, Isabelle

2017. Wicked Which: The Linking Relative in Australian English. Australian Journal of Linguistics 37:3 ► pp. 356 ff.

Gresset, Stéphane & Catherine Mazodier

2017. A Relative Clause Whose Antecedent Is Determined by the Indefinite Article: Observations on determination, qualification and stabilization of occurrences. Angles :4

Ruiz Yamuza, Emilia

2017. Chapter 7. The right periphery in Ancient Greek. In Pragmatic Approaches to Latin and Ancient Greek [Studies in Language Companion Series, 190], ► pp. 137 ff.

Collins, Chris & Andrew Radford

2015. Gaps, ghosts and gapless relatives in spoken English. Studia Linguistica 69:2 ► pp. 191 ff.

Loock, Rudy & Cyril Auran

2014. Magnitude Estimation: can it do something for your pragmatics?. Corela :12-1

Loock, Rudy & Kathleen M. O’Connor

2013. The Discourse Functions of Nonverbal Appositives. Journal of English Linguistics 41:4 ► pp. 332 ff.

Loock, Rudy

2010. La fausse hiérarchisation entre information nouvelle et information ancienne à l’épreuve des modèles théoriques de la politesse. Lexis Special issue 2

Loock, Rudy

2010. The "Fame Effect" or How the syntactic choices of writers can be explained by their assumptions about their addressees' state of knowledge: the case of relevance-oriented, non-restrictive noun modifiers1. Discours :7

Loock, Rudy

2022. Extending further and refining Prince’s taxonomy of given/new information. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) ► pp. 69 ff.

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