Ed,

Did the people you asked give you their criteria for clausehood? I
assume they must have some, if they can tell whether something is a
clause or not. I think they are equating 'clause' with 'sentence', that
is, independent clause.

What training can the people you are questioning point to that gave them
the basis for their definition of 'clause'? In other words, can they
back up their definition with some consensus from an established
discipline of language study (be it traditional grammar or a linguistic
approach)? Or are they just wingin' it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-259
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •  Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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