yes, I think Johanna is right.  The problem for us is that very often
whereas gets very close to that coordinating conjunction continuum, esp.
because we use a comma with it, perhaps.

> ----------
> From:         Johanna Rubba[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> Sent:         Tuesday, October 27, 1998 1:13 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Conjunctive Adverbs & Coordinating Conjunctions
>
> Isn't 'whereas' a subordinating conjunction? It seems to me that
> clauses
> begun by 'whereas' are set off by commas from neighboring clauses; a
> 'whereas' clause standing alone is a fragment; and other sub. conjs.
> also
> cannot move around (except perhaps for 'though'). It seems very much
> like
> 'while' as a comparative sub. conjunction.
>
> Let's also not forget that grammatical categories are not watertight;
> some
> items fall on a continuum between one category and another, displaying
> some properties of both but not all properties of either.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics              ~
> English Department, California Polytechnic State University   ~
> San Luis Obispo, CA 93407                                     ~
> Tel. (805)-756-2184     Fax: (805)-756-6374                   ~
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]                           ~
> Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba                     ~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>