• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.134-139
• /
• 2021

This paper discusses the types and functions of English subordinate clauses, whether English subordinate clauses (SC) are headed by a Complementizer (CP) or headed by a lexical (but not functional) Preposition (PP). Furthermore, unlike the standard classification, the current paper provides a finer-grained analysis and classification of English SCs. The traditional or prescriptive view on the functions of English SCs includes Noun SC such as complement clauses, Adjectival SC including relative clauses, and Adverbial SCs that cover a garden variety of subordinators. Added to the existing classification of subordination in English is what I notate as Verbless subordinate clause (V-less SC). Of these 4 different types of subordinate clauses with different functions, properties, and distributions, Subjectless Verbless subordinate clause is further divided into Smallest small clause (SSC) which accounts for English subordination mechanism more uniformly and consistently with respect to their clausal architecture, especially when the subordinate clause is neither PP nor CP.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.41-53
• /
• 2020

A wh-phrase in an embedded sentence may have either an embedded or a matrix scope. Interpretation of a wh-phrase with a matrix scope has tended to be syntactically unacceptable unless the sentence reads with a wh-intonation. Previous studies have found two differences in prosodic characteristics between sentences with matrix and embedded scopes. Firstly, peak F0s in wh-phrases produced with an F0 compression wh-intonation are higher than those in indirect questions, and peak F0s in matrix verbs are lower than those in sentences with embedded scope. Secondly, a substantial F0 drop is found at the end of embedded sentences in indirect questions, whereas no F0 reduction at the same point is noticed in sentences with a matrix scope produced with a high plateau wh-intonation. However, these characteristics were not found in our experiment. This showed that a more compelling difference exists in the values obtained from subtraction between the peak F0s of each word (or a word plus an ending or case marker) and the F0s at the end of the word. Specifically, the gap between the peak F0 in a word composed with an embedded verb and the F0 at the end of the word, which is a complementizer in Korean, is large in embedded wh-scope sentences and low in matrix wh-scope sentences.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2022

A wh-phrase positioned in an embedded clause can be interpreted as having a matrix scope if the sentence is produced with proper prosodic structures such as the wh-intonation. In a previous experiment, a sentence with a wh-phrase in an embedded clause was given to 40 speakers of Gyeongsang Korean. A script containing the sentence was provided to induce a matrix scope interpretation for the wh-phrase. These 40 utterances were prepared as stimuli for a perception test to verify whether the wh-phrases in the stimuli were perceived as having matrix scopes. Each utterance was played thrice to 24 subjects. The results showed that more than half of the 72 responses indicated a preference for an embedded scope rather than a matrix scope in 20 of the utterances. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that the matrix scope responses were best predicted by the magnitude of the pitch prominence in a prosodic word consisting of an embedded verb and a complementizer. The pitch prominence was calculated by subtracting the fundamental frequency (F0) at the right edge of the prosodic word from the peak F0 in the same prosodic word. The smaller the magnitude, the more matrix responses there were. These results suggest that the categorical perception of wh-scopes is based on the magnitude of pitch prominence.