Verbless clause
# Verbless clause

Verbless clauses are comprised, semantically, of a predicand, expressed or not, and a verbless predicate. For example, the underlined string in [With the children so sick,] we've been at home a lot means the same thing as the clause the children are so sick. It attributes the predicate "so sick" to the predicand "the children". In most contexts, *the children so sick would be ungrammatical.

## History of the concept

In the early days of generative grammar, new conceptions of the clause were emerging. Paul Postal and Noam Chomsky argued that every verb phrase had a subject, even if none was expressed, (though Joan Bresnan and Michael Brame disagreed). As a result, every VP was thought to head a clause.

The idea of verbless clauses was perhaps introduced by James McCawley in the early 1980s with examples like the underlined part of with John in jail... meaning "John is in jail".

## Examples

### English

In Modern English, verbless clauses are common as the complement of with or $without.^{:1267}$

Other prepositions such as although, once, when, and while also take verbless clause complements, such as Although no longer a student, she still dreamed of the $school,^{:1267}$ in which the predicand corresponds to the subject of the main clause, she. Supplements, too can be verbless clauses, as in Many people came, some of them children or Break over, they returned to work.

Neither A comprehensive grammar of the English $language^{:1068}$ norThe Cambridge grammar of the English language offer any speculations about the structure(s) of such clauses. The latter says, without hedging, "the head of a clause (the predicate) is realised by a $VP."^{:50}$ It's not clear how such a statement could be compatible with the existence of verbless clauses.

Verbless clauses in English :

| Independent | Dependent |
| - | - |
| What a great thing to do! How odd that nobody noticed! Out of my way! | He stood there quietly, with his hands in his pockets. Whether a fact or not, it is commonly believed. Whatever the reason, it's annoying. He didn't love her as much as she him. The bramble shook as if alive. |

### Gurindji Kriol language

Ascriptive clauses consist of a subject noun and nominalised adjective.

ankaj

poor.thing

dat

the

karu

child

im

3SG

yapakayi-wn

small-NMLZ

ankaj dat karu im yapakayi-wn

poor.thing the child 3SG small-NMLZ

"Poor thing, that child is only a baby."

Existential clauses contain a subject with locative phrase.

dat

the

warlaku

dog

im

3SG

andanith

underneath

jiya-ngka

chair-LOC

dat warlaku im andanith jiya-ngka

the dog 3SG underneath chair-LOC

"The dog is underneath the chair."

Possessive constructions consist of a nominal acting as a predicates, taking another nominal argument. In these clauses the head is marked dative. Inalienable nominals (body parts and kinship) are only optionally marked dative.

wartarra

hey

yu

2SG

bin

PST

kirt

break

dat

the

ngakparn-ku

frot-DAT

hawuj

house

wartarra yu bin kirt dat ngakparn-ku hawuj

hey 2SG PST break the frot-DAT house

"Hey you broke the frog's home (the bottle)."

### Jingulu language

In Jingulu language, predicates in verbless clauses can be adjectives or nouns, possessors, adpositionals, or adverbs.

Verbless clause example:

Miringmi

gum

bardakurrumi.

good(v)

Miringmi bardakurrumi.

gum good(v)

'Gum is $good.'^{:87}$

### Merei-Tiale language

In Merei-Tiale language, there are verbless equative clauses.

| I | nau | motei | na | tasale |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| A:P | 1 | IRR.3.NEG | A:C | white-man |
| 'I am not a $white-man'^{:37}$ |||||
| I | nie | motei | na | tija |
| A:P | 3 | IRR.3.NEG | A:C | teacher |
| 'He is not a $teacher'^{:37}$ |||||

### Modern Scots

In Modern Scots, examples are seen in relative clauses. She haed tae walk the hale lenth o the road an her seiven month pregnant "She had to walk the whole length of the road—and she seven months pregnant". He telt me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg "He told me to run—and me with my sore leg".

### Shilha language

Shilha language has examples like the following:

    darnɣ argan ar inkkr ɣ tagant (with.us EL-argan it.is.growing in EA-forest) "we have an argan tree growing in the forest"
    is ur dark kra yaḍnin? (question not with.you something other) "don't you have something different?"
