This paper presents a first outline of an encompassing account of extra-clausal constituents (ECCs) within the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG). Drawing primarily on English corpus data, we investigate both the functional and the formal properties of this heterogeneous class of constituents, focusing in particular on their underlying pragmatic structure and contribution to the ongoing discourse, and on the communicative factors relevant to their placement within the larger linguistic expressions within which they occur. More specifically, we suggest that each ECC forms a separate, though invariably dependent unit of communicative behaviour (i.e. a Subsidiary Discourse Act). Moreover, we argue that the mechanism governing the placement of ECCs vis-à-vis both their hosts and each other is fundamentally different from the placement rules proposed in FDG for morphosyntactic units belonging to the clause, phrase or word; the result is a system that captures both the functional constraints on the placement of ECCs and their greater positional freedom.
O artigo apresenta um primeiro esboço de uma abordagem abrangente aos constituintes extra-oracionais (CEOs) no quadro da Gramática Discursivo-Funcional (GDF). Baseando-nos principalmente em dados de corpus do inglês, investigamos as propriedades funcionais e formais desta classe de constituintes heterogénea, focando em particular a sua estrutura pragmática subjacente e a sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento do discurso, bem como os fatores comunicativos que determinam seu posicionamento dentro dos enunciados em que ocorrem. Mais especificamente, propomos que cada CEO forma uma unidade de comportamento comunicativo separada, se bem que invariavelmente dependente (i.e., um Ato Discursivo Secundário). Além disso, defendemos que o mecanismo que regula o posicionamento dos CEOs face à unidade comunicativa principal que eles acompanham e a outros CEOs é basicamente diferente das regras de posicionamento propostas pela GDF no que toca a unidades morfossintáticas que pertencem à oração, ao sintagma ou à palavra. O resultado é um sistema que catura tanto as restrições funcionais sobre o posicionamento dos CEOs como a maior liberdade posicional de que gozam estes constituintes em comparação com os que pertencem a camadas mais baixas da organização morfossintática.
Although theoretical accounts of extra-clausal constituents (ECCs) go back several decades (e.g. HAEGEMAN, 1991
Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG: HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008
Nevertheless, no full account of ECCs is as yet available within FDG. Although the theory provides a sophisticated system of rules for the placement of morphosyntactic constituents at the layers of Clause, Phrase and Word, no such mechanism exists for the highest morphosyntactic layer in FDG, that of the Linguistic Expression. A first attempt to formulate such rules will be presented in Section 3. Before we do so, however, we need to address the tricky question of what exactly qualifies as an ECC and how these elements may be characterized from an FDG perspective. These questions will be addressed in Section 2: in Section 2.1 we will show that the criteria for identifying ECCs proposed so far are vague and often contradictory; in Section 2.2 we will demonstrate how the distinctive features of FDG allow for a more precise and consistent characterization of this heterogeneous group of elements. First, however, we will provide a brief sketch of the overall organization of the FDG model, and its functional approach to the linear placement of constituents.
Functional Discourse Grammar has been characterized as a “structural-functional” theory of language (BUTLER, 2003, p. 30
In FDG, linguistic expressions are analysed at four independent levels of representation, capturing their discourse-pragmatic, semantic, morphosyntactic and phonological aspects. The levels are hierarchically organized in such a way that pragmatics is taken to govern semantics, pragmatics and semantics to govern morphosyntax, and pragmatics, semantics, and morphosyntax to govern phonology. The privileged role of pragmatics is further reflected in the fact that in FDG the basic unit of analysis is not the clause (a morphosyntactic unit) but the Discourse Act (a communicative unit).
As shown in Figure 1, the Grammatical Component of FDG interacts, within a wider theory of verbal interaction, with a Conceptual Component, containing a speaker’s pre-linguistic communicative intention; a Contextual Component, which hosts information about those aspects of the immediate discourse context that affect the form of a linguistic utterance; and an Output Component responsible for the production of spoken, signed or written forms.
Source: Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008, p. 13
The four levels of representation used in FDG are the outcome of two separate operations. Starting from the top, the first operation is that of Formulation, which deals with all the meaningful elements of a linguistic expression. This operation results in representations at the higher two levels of analysis, the Interpersonal and Representational Levels. The second operation, that of Encoding, subsequently takes care of an expression’s formal properties, and leads to representations at the Morphosyntactic and Phonological Levels. Each of these four levels is hierarchically organized into a number of different layers.
The highest level of representation, the Interpersonal Level, deals with “all the formal aspects of a linguistic unit that reflect its role in the interaction between the Speaker and the Addressee” (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 46
(1) a. A: What happened yesterday in the Scottish Premier League?
B: Celtic won. And Rangers lost.
b. (MI: [(AI:–Celtic won–(AI)) (AJ:–Rangers lost–(AJ))] (MI))
(2) a. Watch out, because there will be trick questions in the exam.
b. (MI: [(AI:–watch out–(AI)) (AJ:–there will be trick questions in the exam–(AJ))Motiv] (MI))
In (1), the Speaker gives equal communicative status to each of the two Discourse Acts, resulting in a relation of equipollence. In (2) we have a relation of dependence, i.e. a relation between a Nuclear and a Subsidiary Discourse Act: the Subsidiary Discourse Act is therefore assigned a rhetorical function (here the function of Motivation, since the Subsidiary Discourse Act provides the Speaker’s reasons for uttering the Nuclear Discourse Act).
Discourse Acts, in turn, maximally consist of an Illocution (F), the Speech Participants (P1 and P2, representing the Speaker and the Addressee) and a Communicated Content (C), which “contains the totality of what the Speaker wishes to evoke in his/her communication with the Addressee” (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 87
(3) a. They unfortunately resigned yesterday.
b. (AI: [(FI: DECL (FI)) (PI)S (PJ)A (CI: [(TI)FOC (+id RI) (+id RJ)] (CI): (DI: unfortunately (DI)) (CI))] (AI))
Within the Declarative Discourse Act (AI), the Communicated Content consists of two Subacts of Reference, one evoking the entity referred to as
The second level of Formulation, the Representational Level, deals with the semantic aspects of a linguistic expression, i.e. with those aspects of a linguistic expression that reflect the way in which language relates to the extra-linguistic world it describes. The units at this level thus represent the different linguistically relevant types of entities in the extra-linguistic world (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 131
(4) (pi: (past epi: (ei: (fci: [(fli: resign (fli)) (m xi)A] (fci)) (ei)) (epi): (ti: (flk: yesterday (flk)) (ti)) (epi)) (pi))
Here the Propositional Content (pi) contains a single Episode (epi), which in turn consists of a single State-of-Affairs (ei). This State-of-Affairs is headed by a Configurational Property (fci), consisting of the verbal Property
The output of the operation of Formulation forms the input to the operation of Encoding; at this stage, it is no longer possible to add any meaning components to the utterance. At the first level of Encoding, the Morphosyntactic Level, the largest unit of analysis is that of the Linguistic Expression (Le), which typically contains one or more Clauses. Clauses (Cl), in turn, may consist of one or more Phrases and Words, as well as of other Clauses. Phrases may contain one or more Words, as well as other Phrases or Clauses.
(5) (Lei: (Cli: [(Npi: (Nwi: they (Nwi)) (Npi))Subj (Advpi: unfortunately (Advpi)) (Vpi: (Vwj: resigned (Vwj)) (Vpi)) (Npj: (Nwi: yesterday (Nwi)) (Npj))] (Cli)) (Lei))
Finally, the Phonological Level converts the input from the three higher levels into phonological form. Once again the layers at this level are hierarchically organized. The highest layer, the Utterance (u), consists of one or more Intonational Phrases (ip), which in turn consist of Phonological Phrases (pp).
(6) (ui: (f ipi: [(ppi: /ðeɪʌnfɔ:tjənətlɪ/ (ppi)) (ppj: /rɪzaɪndjestədeɪ/ (ppj))] (ipi)) (ui))
In order to account for the possibilities of and restrictions on the linear ordering of elements within the Clause,
Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008, p. 311-312
(7) She will luckily probably meet him again next week.
As the only interpersonal modifier, the adverb
(8) PI PM-1 PM PM+1 PM+2 PM+3 PF-1 PF
she will luckily probably meet him again next week
In strong contrast to this highly detailed system for the linear placement of clausal elements, very little has been said in FDG about the placement of elements at the layer of the Linguistic Expression. At this layer, Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008, p. 312) distinguish three positions, labelled pre-clausal (PPre), clausal (PCentre) and post-clausal (PPost), as shown in (9):
(9) Linguistic Expression: PPre | PCentre | PPost
Clause: | PI PM PF |
As for the kind of elements that may fill the extra-clausal positions, Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008, p. 313
(10) PPre | PI PM …
In addition, extra-clausal positions may be filled by Subsidiary Discourse Acts: in (11) the Orientational Discourse Act
(11) PPre | PCentre
As for his ideas, I don’t like them.
(12) PCentre | PPost
I don’t like them, his ideas.
Subsidiary Discourse Acts may, however, also interrupt the Nuclear Act, as in the case of non-restrictive relative clauses, which are analysed as Subsidiary Discourse Acts with the rhetorical function Aside (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 58, 284
(13) The game, which began at 7.30, ended in a draw.
(MI: [(AI:–the game ended in a draw–(AI)) (AJ:–which began at 7.30 (AJ))Aside] (Mi))
At the Phonological level, the Subsidiary Discourse Act, as well as both segments of the Nuclear Discourse Act, correspond to separate Intonational Phrases. At the Morphosyntactic Level, however, the two Discourse Acts are assumed to integrate syntactically (into a single Noun Phrase), by applying the general mould for (restrictive and non-restrictive) relative clauses (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 284
In what follows, however, we prefer to analyse these Asides as ECCs at the Morphosyntactic Level. This means that we need to distinguish a third extra-clausal position, the Interpolated position (PInt), which hosts all extra-clausal elements that interrupt the Clause. Strong support for this analysis comes from the fact that recognizing an Interpolated position is unavoidable given the placement rules operating at the layer of the Clause (KEIZER, 2020a, p. 114
(14) John had frequently,
If the interpersonal element
(15) PI PM PM+1 ǀ PInt ǀ PM+2 PM+3
John had frequently so they say insulted her
Hengeveld and Mackenzie do mention some factors determining the placement of elements in one of the extra-clausal positions, but do not offer a systematic account of the placement of ECCs or any general principles governing the internal organization of the extra-clausal positions (or fields). We will come back to this issue in Section 3. Before we do so, however, we need to have a closer look at the question of what qualifies as an ECC.
Dik (1997a
(16) a. “[ECCs] either occur on their own, or are typically set off from the clause proper by breaks or pause-like inflections in the prosodic contour; they are ‘bracketed off’ from the clause by such prosodic features”.
b. “They are never essential to the internal structure of the clause with which they are associated; when they are left out, the clause still forms an integral whole”.
c. “They are not sensitive to the grammatical rules which operate within the limits of the clause, although they may be related to the clause by rules of coreference, parallelism, and antithesis”; “They are rather loosely associated with the clause, and cannot easily be described in terms of clause-internal rules and principles”.
d. “[They] are in general more difficult to subordinate than intraclausal elements”.
e. ECCs can occur on the following four positions: (i) absolute or free-standing, (ii) pre-clausal, (iii) parenthetical, (iv) post-clausal; and although “[s]ome ECCs are by their very function tied to one of these positions”, “others may occur, with much the same function, in any two, three, or all four of them”.
As far as syntax is concerned, (16) provides quite an extensive list of typical properties of ECCs. Nevertheless, it will be clear that these properties are very general and rather vague. Property (16b), for instance, does not only apply to ECCs, but also to clausal and phrasal adjuncts (whose omission never results in grammatical ill-formedness), while property (16e) should at least be phrased in relative terms, i.e. that elements have greater mobility when used as ECCs than when they occur as clausal elements (e.g.
That the properties in (16) are not sufficient diagnostics of extra-clausality is in fact recognized by Dik himself when he observes that these properties do not always “provide an unequivocal answer to the question whether a given constituent occurs outside or inside the clause” (1997b, p. 383
Despite the increase in studies dedicated to ECCs, subsequent functionally-oriented research does not seem to have added much to Dik’s formal characterization of ECCs. More formally-based approaches, on the other hand, have traditionally suggested more specific tests for establishing the syntactic non-integration of a constituent. Among the criteria most often invoked are the impossibility of clefting or questioning an ECC, as well as the fact that ECCs do not fall within the scope of negators, proforms, quantifiers and ellipses (e.g. QUIRK
Now, as argued by Keizer (2018
All of this does not, however, mean that purely syntactic tests for extra-clausality are not useful. An important reason why none of these tests provides a definitive criterion, in fact, is the structural diversity of the expressions that may function as ECCs. This limitation is acknowledged by Espinal (1991, p. 729
According to Dik (1997b, p. 383ff.
(17) (i)
(ii)
(iii)
a. Boundary marking: initiators (
b. Orientation: ECCs that serve to “[anchor] each new contribution to the discourse […] in the discourse representation as built up so far”. Orientational ECCs are divided into those with the discourse functions Theme, Condition and Setting (providing temporal, spatial and/or other information).
c. Tail: “adjoined constituents which add bits of information which may be relevant to a correct understanding of the clause”.
(iv)
The purpose of Dik’s typology of ECCs is essentially descriptive, and from this point of view, the classification he offers is again quite exhaustive, in the sense that most naturally occurring ECCs can unproblematically be classified as belonging to one of the four general types distinguished. From a theoretical viewpoint, however, some aspects of this taxonomy are no longer tenable in FDG. Most importantly, from the perspective adopted in this study, it is crucial that semantic notions like Condition and (temporal or spatial) Setting be kept separate from strictly interpersonal ones such as that of discourse organization, rather than being subsumed under the latter, as in Dik’s classification. Organizing discourse, in our view, is an inherently metacommunicative activity: true discourse-organizing devices are those that express rhetorical relations between linguistic units such as Discourse Acts (or parts thereof), e.g.
As in the case of the formal properties of ECCs discussed in the previous section, the bulk of Dik’s functional classification is maintained in most later work on the topic. For instance, Kaltenböck
Importantly, Kaltenböck
(18) a.
unfortunately found I the film rather boring
b.
unfortunately I found the film rather boring
Thus, contrary to what is often assumed
In this section we will offer a syntactic definition of ECCs in terms of their position outside the clausal template at the Morphosyntactic Level (see Section 1.3.2). It will be clear, however, that the “function-to-form” nature of the model, and in particular the functionally-inspired placement rules of FDG, dictate that the extra-clausal status of these constituents is triggered by some aspect of their interpersonal and/or representational analysis. We therefore propose that the extra-clausal status of an expression at the Morphosyntactic Level is a reflection of its status as a Subsidiary Discourse Act at the Interpersonal Level.
Naturally, analysing all ECCs as separate Discourse Acts at the Interpersonal Level raises a number of questions, first and foremost what it means for an element to function as a (Subsidiary) Discourse Act. Recall from Section 1.2 that in FDG Discourse Acts are defined as “the smallest identifiable units of communicative behaviour”; Subsidiary Discourse Acts, in addition, depend for their proper interpretation on the presence of a Nuclear Discourse Act. Moreover, as we have seen, each Discourse Act is characterized by the presence of an Illocution. In most cases, this Illocution has an abstract head, resulting in the conventionalized morphosyntactic and/or prosodic expression of declarative, interrogative, imperative (etc.) Illocution. While this is clearest in those cases where the ECC takes the form of a Clause, as in (19a), non-clausal ECCs, such as Orientations, can also have their own illocutionary force, as illustrated in (19b), and are indeed already analysed as separate Discourse Acts in FDG. The same applies to vocatives like
(19) a. Once this happens, remove pan from heat (
b.
c. Well, somebody has to do that work,
Illocutions can, however, also take a lexical head, as in the case of performative verbs, interjections and social formulas (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p. 69-78
(20) a. It sounds like you have either Classic mail (
b. I totally respect the work that you had to put in to do that, and I think that you have a beautiful, gorgeous voice,
In addition, however, we would like to argue that many elements that have so far been analysed as modifiers can also plausibly be regarded as Subsidiary Discourse Acts, as, for instance, in the following examples, where interpersonal
(21) a. And I hope this works out for him,
b. You come from a big family,
(22) a.
b. And so, unlike my siblings, who were racing through books, I read slowly -
Finally, we would like to extend our analysis to also include elements that, when functioning as grammatical operators or rhetorical-function markers, are (syntactically and prosodically) integrated in the Clause; these, too, can be used to make their own separate contribution to the discourse, in which case they will be realized as ECCs. Cases in point are
(23) a. We still have something.
b. As for romance,
It is not difficult to see that an analysis of ECCs as Subsidiary Discourse Acts can account for all the functional and formal properties of ECCs provided in the literature. As for their function, the ECCs in (19)-(23) clearly perform one (or more) of the typical functions of ECCs identified by Dik (1997b
Moreover, as separate Discourse Acts, these expressions cannot, at the Representational Level, be part of the Propositional Content(s) corresponding to the Nuclear Discourse Act; they are therefore, by definition, non-truth-conditional (non-restrictive) with regard to the proposition(s) expressed in the Nuclear Discourse Act. As we have seen, this explains some of the syntactic properties typically associated with ECCs, such as the fact that they cannot be clefted or questioned, and fall outside the scope of (predication) pronominalization, negation and ellipsis (see Section 2.1). The same is true for other syntactic properties, such as their failure to trigger
As far as the purely syntactic criteria are concerned, one important consequence of the analysis of ECCs as separate Discourse Acts is that their linear placement is not subject to the usual placement rules for clausal constituents. This accounts for the fact that they (generally speaking) have a higher degree of positional mobility, as evidenced by the fact that they can occur in linear positions which – had they been part of the clausal template – would not have been available (see Section 1.3.2, example (15)). This also explains why they can interrupt the complement of any verb, even if this complement corresponds to a low layer (see also KEIZER, 2018
(24) And then the leisure elements in Charlotte continue to,
The fact that Subsidiary Discourse Acts are not sensitive to the hierarchically defined placement rules for clausal elements is a crucial feature of all types of ECCs. Other syntactic criteria, however, are only relevant to specific types of ECC, e.g. the impossibility to leave out (non-subject) relative pronouns (which only applies to relative clauses) or the fact that ECCs do not trigger subject-verb inversion in V2 languages (which is only relevant to elements that can conceivably go to the clause-initial position).
Finally, an analysis of ECCs as separate Discourse Acts also explains why they are typically prosodically non-integrated. Discourse Acts, we have seen, have their own illocutionary force, which is often expressed prosodically; this leads to a default relation between Discourse Acts at the Interpersonal Level and Intonational Phrases at the Phonological Level (see HANNAY; KROON, 2005
(25) “Let us retreat,
If, as we suggest, extra-clausal status at the Morphosyntactic Level is triggered by the Subsidiary Discourse Act status of the corresponding unit at the Interpersonal Level, this raises the question of what the internal structure of these Discourse Acts looks like. In some cases, their representation is quite straightforward. Thus, for ECCs with a lexically specified Illocution, such as performatives, interjections and social formulas, we can simply adopt the analysis proposed by Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008
(26) (AI: [(FI: (DI: congratulations (DI)) (FI)) (PI)S (PJ)A] (AI))Elaboration
Similarly unproblematic is the analysis of ECCs with representational content, such as Orientations or Asides, which can simply be represented as Discourse Acts with an abstract Illocution and a Communicated Content consisting of at least one Subact. Thus, the Subsidiary Discourse Act
(27) (AI: [(FI: INTER (FI)) (PS)I (PA)J (CI: (RI: […] (RI)) (CI))] (AI))Orientation
A little more challenging are those ECCs which contain interpersonal lexical information which is not expressed in the form of a Subact of Ascription. This concerns many elements that have so far always been analysed as modifiers of a particular interpersonal layer, such as
(28) a. They
b. (AI: [(FI: DECL (FI)) (PI)S (PJ)A (CI: […] (CI): (DI: unfortunately (DI)) (CI))] (AI))
However, when these elements function as Subsidiary Discourse Act, they do not modify any interpersonal layer – they will, of course, be interpreted as commenting on a particular part of the Nuclear Discourse Act, but the element itself is not explicitly linked to any particular layer within the Nuclear Discourse Act. Since the lexical content is identical in both cases, we propose that these elements be again analysed as Lexical Deeds, but now heading the Communicated Content contained in the Subsidiary Discourse Act. For the adverb
(29) a.
b. (AI: [(FI: DECL (FI)) (PI)S (PJ)A (CI: (DI: unfortunately (DI)) (CI))] (AI))Comment
Such an analysis has a number of advantages. First of all, it allows us to distinguish clearly between two different uses of the same element: as interpersonal modifiers (realized as intra-clausal elements) and as Subsidiary Discourse Acts (realized as ECCs). Secondly, since the element in question is not explicitly linked to a particular layer, this kind of analysis can be used for all interpersonal adverbs/adverbials, irrespective of the layer they belong to as modifiers. Finally, these elements differ from interpersonal dummies like
This leaves us with elements such as
(30) (AI: [(FI: (DI: now (DI)) (FI)) (PI)S (PJ)A] (AI))Connection
In this section we have emphasized that one crucial feature of ECCs is that they are not sensitive to the hierarchically inspired placement rules for clausal elements. This leaves us with the question of what determines the – by no means random – placement of ECCs at the layer of the Linguistic Expression and the kind of placement rules needed to account for these positional preferences. This question will be addressed in the next section.
Although systematic accounts of the placement of ECCs, vis-à-vis their hosts or each other, seem to be lacking so far, a number of determining factors have been mentioned in the literature (e.g. DIK, 1997a
Another important factor is that of “targeting” (see e.g. HUDDLESTON
In addition, the placement of an ECC may be the result of the informational status of the elements involved, in the sense that ECCs may be used to separate topic from comment, or to indicate emphasis or contrast. An example is given in (31), where the ECC
(31) But, but, but it does not ever apply to rich people, such as Donald Trump, who got
Furthermore, ECCs may function to enhance discourse coherence, as in those cases where a non-restrictive relative clause is used, not so much to provide background information (as for instance in (13) above), but rather to move the discourse forward, by providing new, salient information (e.g. HANNAY; MACKENZIE, 1996, p. 112-113
(32) While struggling to remain in power, the Assad regime in Syria sought to divert public anger against it by busing thousands of ostensibly Palestinian protesters to the Israeli border,
This particular example also shows that several factors may be at work at the same time, and may be in competition. Thus, although targeting is a strong factor in the placement of certain ECCs, it can be overridden by the need to indicate discourse coherence. In other cases, targeting may be overridden by such production factors as incrementality and self-monitoring. An example is given (33), where we find a Correction in post-clausal rather than interpolated position (cf. (37) below for a comparable example of non-adjacent Clarification):
The same (combinations of) factors are at work when more than one ECC occurs in the same extra-clausal field. In (34), the Orientation
(34)
When more than one Discourse Act with the same rhetorical function co-occurs in the same field, different factors must of course be invoked to explain the relative order of the various ECCs. In (35), for instance, the crucial factor determining the placement of the two interpolated ECCs is again the principle of domain integrity (the two consecutive, elaborating non-restrictive relative clauses are adjacent to their respective targets):
(35) Claire, who is the youngest competitor in the club single by two years, got into the oversubscribed event through a lottery system,
In (36), from Chinese, each of the three Orientational Discourse Acts progressively narrows down the macrotopic of the discourse. According to Paul and Whitman (2017, p. 12
(36)
China big city Shanghai traffic relatively chaotic
“As for China, as for big towns, Shanghai, the traffic is rather chaotic.”
In other cases, however, the order of Discourse Acts with the same rhetorical function is much freer. In (37), from French (TESNIÈRE, 1976, p. 175
(37) Il la lui a donné,
he it to-him has given to Jean his father his motorbike
“He gave it to him, to Jean, his father, his motorbike.”
Unlike the pronominal arguments expressed in the Nuclear Discourse Act, the three ECCs could in principle surface in any order. This indicates that their relative positions can only be explained with reference to matters of incremental language processing, which in turn is likely to be influenced by the information contained in the Contextual Component.
Summing up, the factors relevant to the placement of ECCs within the Linguistic Expression are partly grammatical in nature (rhetorical function, information structure) and partly related to context, conceptualization or language processing (e.g. targeting/domain integrity, incrementality, complexity). Although Hengeveld and Mackenzie are certainly right in arguing that interpersonal adverbials like
An important corollary of this conclusion is that the distinction between absolute and relative positions would not seem to apply to the layer of Linguistic Expressions. The reason for drawing this distinction at the layer of the Clause (and lower layers) is, in fact, precisely the fact that the order in which constituents expressing non-core elements of the Formulation levels are assigned a position at the Morphosyntactic Level is assumed to be determined by the interpersonal or representational layer to which these elements belong (see Section 1.3.1). As Hengeveld (2013, p. 15
PPre1 PPre2 PPre3 PCentre
(38) My daughter, Leila, who is eighteen, she came home all excited.
PCentre PPost1 PPost2 PPost3
(39) Il la lui a donné, à Jean, son père, sa moto.
The important advantage of the notational convention introduced in (38)-(39) is that it straightforwardly reflects the differences in both the nature of clausal and extra-clausal positions and the mechanisms governing the placement of constituents in these positions.
In this paper, we have proposed a first outline of an encompassing FDG account of ECCs. The main claims put forth are as follows:
At the Interpersonal Level, all ECCs are analysed as Subsidiary Discourse Acts, that is, as separate units of communicative behaviour that depend for their interpretation on a discursive relation with an independent (Nuclear) Discourse Act. These relations are expressed by a restricted set of rhetorical functions (Orientation, Clarification, etc.), which can be assigned to the Subsidiary Discourse Act.
At the Representational Level, ECCs may take several forms, but the common feature of all these expressions is that they are never restrictive/truth-conditional. This follows from the fact that, as separate Discourse Acts, they are never part of the Propositional Content(s) corresponding to the Nuclear Discourse Act.
As the very term “extra-clausal constituent” indicates, ECCs are characterized by the fact that, at the Morphosyntactic Level, they are always external to the Clause (or other morphosyntactic unit) corresponding to the Nuclear Discourse Act. Various theory-independent syntactic tests can be applied as diagnostics for extra-clausal status, most of which are syntactic reflexes of semantic or pragmatic properties. Other, purely syntactic tests also prove to be useful, but with the proviso that, not being functionally motivated, these only apply to specific syntactic types of ECCs and/or in specific languages.
From a theory-internal FDG perspective, strong evidence for the extra-clausal status of an element is provided by the fact that the position of such elements can often not be accounted for by the hierarchically-driven placement rules that govern the linear order of constituents at the lower layers of the Morphosyntactic Level. Instead, we have proposed that the placement rules relevant for the placement of ECCs at the layer of Linguistic Expression are not informed by matters of interpersonal or representational hierarchy, but by a variety of (sometimes conflicting) grammatical and extra-grammatical factors. Given the irrelevance of interpersonal and semantic hierarchy for the placement of constituents within the Linguistic Expression, we have suggested that the distinction between absolute and relative positions does not apply to this layer; accordingly, the mechanism responsible for the placement of multiple ECCs in one and the same extra-clausal field is not one of expansion but one of repetition.
At the Phonological Level, ECCs are by default analysed as separate Intonational Phrases (even if, for shorter elements, this will not always be reflected in phonetic realization), which is explained as a direct consequence of their Discourse Act status at the Interpersonal Level.
Despite the obvious advantages of the analysis of ECCs proposed in this paper, we realize that it is, indeed, only a first outline, and that more research will be needed to justify the approach taken, especially as regards the syntax and prosody of ECCs. We do hope, however, that the hypotheses put forth in this paper will stimulate further research on this topic in the context of a discourse-functional approach to the structure of grammar.
Following Giomi (2020
Words consist of one of more Morphemes; these are not included in the analyses given in this paper.
PPs in turn divide into Phonological Words, which are made up of Feet, which contain Syllables; these are not included in the representations given here.
Similar rules apply to the Phrase and the Word; in what follows, however, we will restrict ourselves to the placement of clausal elements.
Note that the central position may also be filled by elements smaller than the Clause (as in
Unlike Dik, we will not regard free-standing, “holophrastic” expressions as ECCs: with respect to what would a summons (e.g.
The expressions dealt with in this paper are all dependent on the presence of a host expression; as such they will be analysed as Subsidiary Discourse Acts. Expressions such as interjections or vocatives can, however, also be used independently (as a free-standing or equipollent Discourse Act); a discussion of these uses is, however, beyond the scope of this paper.
The Corpus of Contemporary American English. http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/. Accessed 2020.
Unlike in these examples, ECCs serving as comments tend to have the same Illocution as the Nuclear Discourse Act. Still, even in such cases, this is not a strict requirement, as combinations of different Illocutions do occur – e.g.
Note that, if syntactically and prosodically integrated,
Such exceptions have been described in detail in studies on the relation between syntax and prosody (e.g. CRYSTAL, 1969
On the rhetorical functions ‘Labelling’, ‘Specification’ and ‘Description’ see Hannay and Keizer (2005