46 Ȼ Clauses
Those chapters cover pretty much the range of uses for the Ȼ clause. In this chapter we will summarize this useful pattern and explain more how this Ȼ clause works.
To understand how Ȼ clauses work, it will help to first take a look at English subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause is a sentence embedded within a sentence. In English, there are several types of subordinate clauses. Here are a few examples with the subordinate clause in brackets:
1) I know [they left].
2) [That they left] surprised me.
3) I saw them [when they left].
4) I was surprised by [their leaving].
5) [Their leaving] surprised me.
6) The people [who left] are my friends.
A subordinate clause, like a main clause, has a verb and typically has a subject. In example 1, ‘know’ is the verb of the main clause, and ‘left’ is the verb of the subordinate clause. ‘I’ is the subject of the main clause, and ‘they’ is subject of the subordinate clause. In example 1, the subordinate clause ‘they left’ is the direct object of the verb ‘know,’ so this subordinate clause is a noun clause. A simple noun phrase or pronoun can always substitute for a noun clause, so for example, ‘them’ or ‘Terry’ can substitute for ‘they left’ in example 1: ‘I know them’ or ‘I know Terry.’
In example 2, the noun clause ‘that they left’ is the subject of the transitive main verb ‘surprised.’ A noun clause can be the subject or direct object of the sentence.
In example 3, the subordinate clause is ‘when they left.’ This is not a noun clause because you cannot substitute a simple noun or pronoun: *I saw them Terry. In example 3, we have an adverb clause. It tells how or when a situation takes place.
In examples 4 and 5, we have another noun clause ‘their leaving.’ This looks less like a sentence than the subordinate clauses in examples 1-3. In examples 4 and 5 the subject—fundamentally ‘they’— is in the possessive form ‘their,’ and the verb ‘leave’ is in a special ‑ing form. The ‑ing makes the verb a noun so that it can have the possessive subject.
The noun clause in example 4 is the object of the preposition ‘by.’ The same noun clause in example 5 is the subject of the sentence. Example 4 is the passive form of example 5.
Example 6 shows a relative clause. Relative clauses are also called adjective clauses because, like adjectives, they modify a noun.
In SENĆOŦEN there are three types of subordinate clauses: conditional clauses (§30), relative clauses (§47), and Ȼ clauses. SENĆOŦEN has sentences with noun and adverb clauses corresponding to examples 1, 3, and 4. It also has relative clauses like example 6. The Ȼ clause most closely resembles ‘their leaving,’ the subordinate clause in models 4 and 5.
Models
| 1) | U¸ XĆIT SEN [Ȼ SYÁ¸S]. | ‘I know [they left].’ |
| 2) | QENNEW̱ SEN ¸E [Ȼ SYÁ¸S]. | ‘I saw them [when they left].’ |
| 3) | JEKETEṈ SEN ¸E [Ȼ SYÁ¸S]. | ‘I was surprised by [their leaving].’ |
| 4) | U¸ JEK SEN [Ȼ SYÁ¸S]. | ‘I’m surprised [that they left].’ |
| 5) | AXEṈ SEN [Ȼ NE SYÁ¸]. | ‘I said [that I left].’ |
| 6) | X̱ENEȻÁN¸ SEN [Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸]. | ‘I thought [that you left].’ |
| 7) | SQȺ [Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸]. | ‘You can’t leave.’ / |
| ‘[Your leaving] is impossible.’ | ||
| 8) | U¸ XĆIT SEN [Ȼ SQȺS [Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸]]. | ‘I know [you can’t leave].’ / |
| ‘I know [[your leaving] is impossible].’ |
‣ 1 Each Ȼ clause in the models has brackets around it. Look at each and see what it corresponds to in the translation.
‣ 2 The Ȼ introduces the subordinate clause. The Ȼ, like TŦE and ȻSE, precede a noun, so it functions as an article that, unlike TŦE and ȻSE, does not modify any specific thing.
‣ 3 The verb following the Ȼ is made into a noun with the S‑ prefix, just as in the English translation of model 3, the verb is made into a noun by adding the ‑ing suffix.
‣ 4 The subject of the English translation of model 3 is ‘they’ put into the possessive form ‘their.’ In the SENĆOŦEN Ȼ clause in model 3, the subject of YÁ¸ is in the possessive form ‑S.
‣ 5 It is worth repeating here the Ȼ Clause Patterns from §12.6:
- Ȼ NE S-verb
- Ȼ EN¸ S-verb
- Ȼ S-verb-S
- Ȼ S-verb ȽTE
‣ 7 In models 2 and 3, the Ȼ clause is the object of the preposition ¸E. Again, you can substitute any noun phrase that makes sense for the bracketed Ȼ clause. For example, QENNEW̱ SEN ¸E [ȻSE TÁṈEN] ‘I saw them in the evening,’ corresponding to model 2, and JEKETEṈ SEN ¸E [TŦE KÁ¸ṈI¸] ‘I was surprised by the girl,’ corresponding to model 3.
‣ 8 So with Ȼ being an article, the Ȼ clause is an article followed by a noun—essentially a noun phrase. As such, it might be expected fill any position in a sentence that a noun phrase can and only positions in a sentence that a noun phrase can. This is generally true, but there are two important exceptions.
‣ 9 In models 4, 5, and 6, the main verb is intransitive with the first-person subject SEN ‘I.’ These sentences seem to violate the Intransitive Rule (§8.1) which states that if an intransitive verbs has one direct noun phrase (not in a prepositional phrase), then that noun phrase must be the subject. The noun phrases in these sentences, however, are neither subject nor direct objects of the sentences. These are known as adjuncts. They do not play an essential role in the structure of the sentence, but add extra information. Only Ȼ clauses and no other noun phrase can occur in this adjunct position.
‣ 10 Models 4, 5, and 6, represent a small class of intransitive verbs of saying and thinking that take Ȼ clause adjuncts. Some speakers feel that these sentences would also be grammatical with the preposition ¸E before the Ȼ clause. For example, X̱ENEȻÁN¸ SEN ¸E Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ is equally as good as model 6.
‣ 11 The other exception that makes a Ȼ clause different from other noun phrases is that a Ȼ clause cannot act as the subject of a transitive sentence. Models 1 and 2 have Ȼ clause direct objects and model 7 has a Ȼ clause as intransitive subject, but model 3 has no nonpassive sentence where the Ȼ clause is the subject.
‣ 12 Model 8 shows that a Ȼ clause can be embedded within another Ȼ clause. Model 7 is the independent sentence form of the Ȼ clause in model 8. It is possible to have even further embedding of Ȼ clauses. For example,
U¸ XĆIT SEN [Ȼ EN¸ S¸AXEṈ [Ȼ SQȺS [Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸]]]. ‘I know you said you can’t leave.’
 | SQȺ Ȼ NE S¸IȽEN. | ‘I can’t eat.’ |
 | STOṈET SW̱ OĆE? | ‘What is the matter?’ |
| TW̱E SXÁȽEȽ Ȼ NE SṈOT TŦE S¸OX̱E¸. | ‘I got sick when I at the clams.’ |
| ÁĆENÁ! NIȽ TŦÁ¸E NEȻIM SDÁĆEṈ! | ‘Goodness! It’s that red tide!’ |
| 46A. Look back at the models for each of these sections and identify the Ȼ clauses in each: §12.6, §14.1, §14.3, §15, §20.1, §21.1, §23.3, §23.4, §23.6, §23.7, §25.1, §28.1, §29.1, §31, §38.2, and §39.2. 46B. For each of those indicate whether the Ȼ clause is an intransitive subject, direct object, object of the preposition, or adjunct. |