The hierarchy of layers from chapter 1 starts with a matrix clause as the highest layer with phrases subsequently reached. As internal clause structure, chapter 4 mentions catentative layers (chapter 6 will give full details) and, with coordination, clause internal layers (ILYR). The hierarchy from chapter 1 also allows two types of clause subordination:
Clause-within-phrase possibilities were seen in chapter 3 with discussions of modifiers and complements inside phrases. This chapter details clause-within-clause options. In chapter 4, clause elements were realised by (noun) phrases with subject, object, predicative, and adverbial roles. Now we will see how such elements can also be clauses themselves. The discussion will group subordinate clauses by the node labels of their maximal constituent:
With the exception of CP-QUE (seen in section 4.2.2 with the -MAT label extension), the other tags are used to label clauses that are incapable of standing alone as the main clause of a sentence. When a subordinate clause is all the content of an utterance, then it is the only element of a FRAG layer.
Infinitive clauses are clauses that contain a verb in the infinitive form without a finite DO at the same clause layer (as seen with matrix clauses in section 4.2.1). Infinitive clauses have a maximal constituent with the tag of Table 5.1.
| IP-INF | infinitive clause |
There are two kinds of infinitive clause:
When occurring directly within a clause, the syntactic tag IP-INF marking a distinct embedded clause needs a function extension. Possibilities are listed in Table 5.2.
| IP-INF-(N)SBJ | (notional) subject |
| IP-INF-(N)OB1 | (notional) direct object |
| IP-INF-PRD | predicative |
Infinitive clauses with the infinitive marker to can have subject function, as in (5.1).
It is more typical for an infinitive clause with subject function to occur as an extraposed notional subject (-NSBJ). As section 4.3.1 notes, a notional subject will co-occur in a clause with a noun phrase marked -SBJ that consists of a provisional subject it tagged PRO;_provisional_, as in (5.2).
Exceptionally, when the notional subject is a to-infinitive clause, the co-occurring noun phrase marked -SBJ can also be a contentful subject noun phrase, as in (5.3).
In addition to subject function, embedded infinitive clauses with the infinitive marker to can have:
Bare infinitive clauses can have:
Participial clauses have a maximal constituent with the tag of Table 5.3.
| IP-PPL | participial clause |
There are two kinds of participial clause:
When occurring directly within a clause, the syntactic tag IP-PPL marking a distinct embedded clause needs a function extension. Possibilities are listed in Table 5.4.
| IP-PPL-(N)SBJ | clause (notional) subject |
| IP-PPL-OB1 | direct object |
| IP-PPL-PRD | predicative |
Participial clauses with a present participial ({ing}) verb can have subject function, as in (5.6).
A participial clause with a present participial ({ing}) verb can also occur as an extraposed notional subject (-NSBJ) in combination with a provisional subject it, as in (5.7).
In addition to subject function, embedded participial clauses with a present participial ({ing}) verb can have:
Embedded participial clauses with a {ed}/{en} verb form can have:
A that-clause is an embedded clause with a finite verb. This may have the complementizer that (tagged C) as the clause initial word. A that clause has a maximal constituent with the tag of Table 5.5 and, when structurally complete, contains as the only element a finite clause layer (IP-SUB) which in turn contains all the clause content, including any clause initial complementizer. If there is any conjunction then this happens inside the IP-SUB layer with ILYR (clause internal layer) projections.
| CP-THT | that-clause |
When occurring directly within a clause, the syntactic tag CP-THT marking a distinct embedded clause needs a function extension. Possibilities are listed in Table 5.6.
| CP-THT-(N)SBJ | (notional) subject |
| CP-THT-(N)OB1 | (notional) direct object |
| CP-THT-PRD | predicative |
That-clauses can have subject function, as in (5.8).
It is typical for a that-clause with subject function to occur as an extraposed notional subject (-NSBJ) in combination with a provisional subject it, as in (5.9).
In addition to subject function, that-clauses can have:
Tags for indirect question with function extensions are given in Table 5.7.
| CP-QUE-(N)SBJ | (notional) subject |
| CP-QUE-(N)OB1 | (notional) direct object |
| CP-QUE-PRD | predicative |
Embedded question clauses can have subject function, as in (5.11) and (5.12).
An indirect question with subject function will often occur as an extraposed notional subject (-NSBJ) in combination with a provisional subject it, as in (5.13) and (5.14).
In addition to subject function, embedded question clauses can have:
This section considers clauses that are the subordinate component of subordinate conjunctions. These clauses can differ with regards to:
The annotation of the subordinate component always provides a maximal constituent layer with the tag of Table 5.8, which is headed by a coordinating conjunction word when present.
| PP-SCON | subordinate component of subordinate conjunction |
This section gives examples of infinitive clauses that occur with an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them.
This section gives examples of infinitive clauses that occur without an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them.
This section gives examples of participial clauses that occur with an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them.
This section gives examples of participial clauses that occur without an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them.
This section gives examples of finite adverbial clauses that occur with an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them. A finite adverbial clause has a maximal constituent with the tag of Table 5.9.
| IP-ADV | adverbial clause |
This section gives examples of finite adverbial clauses that occur without an explicit coordinating conjunction word to introduce them. Examples involve inversion in the subclause, which can be replaced by an if-clause.
| % | subjunctive clause |
