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Coordination. Kuiper and Allan Chapter 8.1.2. Coordination. Syntactic constituents may be coordinated with constituents of the same category. Three main coordinating conjunctions: and, or, (neither) ... nor Sometimes the same functions may be coordinated. They seemed honest and in trouble.
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Coordination Kuiper and Allan Chapter 8.1.2
Coordination • Syntactic constituents may be coordinated with constituents of the same category. • Three main coordinating conjunctions: • and, or, (neither) ... nor • Sometimes the same functions may be coordinated. • They seemed honest and in trouble.
Representing the structure of coordination • Add a node with the same label above the two coordinated structures. NP NP CONJ NP N N Melissa and Jean
Exercise What constituents are coordinated in the sentences below? a. The man and the boy walked to town. b. The singer sang at the concert and in the shower. c. Gertrude whistled at boys and patted dogs. d. Melissa ate chicken and Angela talked turkey. e. Henry and Alfred walked, talked and fought in the park.
Pragmatics and coordination • Coordinating conjunctions have simple meanings. • In context these meanings may be augmented. • a. I crashed the car and drank too much. • b. I drank too much and crashed the car. • The meaning of an utterance is not just the meaning of the code.
Application Curley's wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. from 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck
Kinds of sentences • Major • contain no elided constituents • Minor • contain elided (missing but essential) constituents. • Complete • Speaker finished what (s)he intended to say. • Incomplete • Sentence is interrupted or unfinished.