Transcript Indirect questions as complements

Indirect questions as
complements
by Stefan Isakov
Complements
• A complement is a syntactic unit that follows
another syntactic unit and completes its
meaning.
• Complements are usually found after verbs:
• I know [to swim].
• Without the complement (to swim; Od) the verb
(know) wouldn’t have a complete meaning.
Complements with other classes
• Nouns, prepositions and adjectives also
have complements:
• Our belief [that the Earth is flat] was
unfounded. (Cn)
• I am quite fond [of chocolate]. (Cadj)
• He is in [London]. (Cp or Op)
Indirect questions as complements
• Two types of indirect questions can be
found as complements:
• 1. yes-no IQ, with if/wether as
complementizers
• 2. wh-IQ, with a wh-element as
complementizers
Wh-indirect questions
• John knows [whose aligator the plumber
located].
• This is a typical example of an IQ with the
verb know. It can be understood as a
reported version of the question:
• Whose aligator did the plumber locate?
Structure of the wh-IQ
• Within the wh-IQ we have two elements:
• 1. the questioned NP
• 2. the sentence without a NP
• The NPq is actually the missing NP in the other
element, in which it would act as the Od.
• This is graphically represented on the graph
bellow:
• This can also be found with AdjP, and even time
and location phrases.
• Laura told me how fond of chocolate the
monkeys are.
Yes-No IQ
• Joseph will tell you [if Martha is leaving].
• A yes-no IQ also consists of two elements:
• 1. whether or if
• 2. a finite clause
Contrastive xemplification
• Here are some examples of WHAT and
HOW indirect questions given in Serbian
and English.
• He wonders [what I see in the cinema].
• Zanima ga [šta ja vidim u bioskopu].
• I know [how she loves him].
• Znam [koliko ga (ona) voli].
An IQ or a relative clause?
• Sometimes it is hard to distinguish whether a
complement is an IQ or a relative clause.
• Sally ate [what George gave her].
• John knows [what Martha ate].
• There are some tests that can be performed to
solve this question.
Tests
• 1. If we can replace what with some other
interrogative words then it’s an IQ, if we can’t,
it’s a relative clause
• John knows [how much Martha ate].
• *Sally ate [how much George gave her].
• 2. there are some verbs that can have only IQ as
complements.
Verbs that take IQ complements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
know
ask
find out
wonder
teach
learn
hear
guess
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
forget
remember
say
see
show
tell
think
etc.