Hey, Herb--
Thanks for recapitulating the argument for that being just a subordinator and not a pronoun. You always make me think. A lot. A nice break from grading.
Unless I am misunderstanding you, I would note an exception to a claim you make. You say
· It is deletable, like the subordinator "that" and unlike pronouns.
But the wh-pronouns are deletable in adjective clauses, when the pronoun fills the direct object role in the dependent clause, as in
The woman whom you met this morning is an old friend of mine.
The woman _____ you met this morning is an old friend of mine.
Am I missing something in what you said?
Happy end-of-semester--
Seth
Dr. Seth Katz
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Bradley University
Faculty Advisor
Bradley University Hillel
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From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Stahlke, Herbert F.W.
Sent: Fri 12/17/2010 12:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Noun clauses
John,
We've had some extensive discussion in past years on the status of "that" in clauses like these. There has not been complete agreement on all of it, but here's the position I've taken, which is also the position of Otto Jespersen in his A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles and Huddleston & Pullum in their rather more recent Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.
There are two function words "that" in English. One is the distal demonstrative "that" with its plural "these," and the other is the subordinator "that" as found in the clauses you have provided. When "that" is used to introduce a relative clause, it is simply a subordinator, not a relative pronoun. The relative pronouns are the wh- words. This analysis implies that there is a gap in the relative clause corresponding to the head noun, so in "The pitches that Casey missed..." the gap is in direct object position where "pitches" would be if the relative clause were a main clause instead. If it's the subject that is zero, most speakers require "that" to avoid processing problems that arise when a second finite verb occurs in a sentence without any overt marking that it is in a subordinate clause, so in "The ball that got past Casey was a strike" the dropping of "that" would leave "The ball got past Casey was a strike" which some speakers will use but writers will avoid. The fact that "that" is required there for clarity is not evidence that it's a relative pronoun but simply a restriction on bare or asyndetic relative clauses.
There are several reasons for calling "that" a subordinator in all of its non-demonstrative uses.
· It's always unstressed, as is the subordinator "that." Pronominal and determiner "that" are rarely unstressed.
· If it were a pronoun in relative clauses, then we would expect it to have a plural "those" in "*The pitches those Casey missed...."
· There is no possessive form, although there is for wh- relatives, so we can't say "*The ball that's casing came off...."
· It is deletable, like the subordinator "that" and unlike pronouns.
There are more argument, and I recommend the treatment in Huddleston & Pullum. There is also a very thorough critique of this analysis by Johan van der Auwera in Journal of Linguistics 21 (1985), 149-179 titled "Relative that - a centennial dispute. It's a fascinating, thoughtful, and incisive critique.
Herb
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Chorazy
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 12:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Noun clauses
Hello to all... I've been talking with students (11th grade) about clauses and have collected some questions that the list might have some thoughts on.
The use of "that" as the head of a noun clause (and subject): "That the healthcare system needs fixing is obvious."
"That" used in an adjective phrase: "Unlike the cat that slept all day, the dog ran around and barked."
And if we can get some insight to the following use of "that": "Lynn Margulis' theory that evolution is a process rather than a competition differs dramatically from the theories of most biologists."
Are the last two simply restrictive clauses using the relative pronoun?
Also (a bit different) - anyone care to parse the following? "Should you have any trouble identifying the house, just remember that it has a big brass knocker on the door." Students see the implied "you" as the subject and its verb remember, but not what's going on up front.
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
John
John Chorazy
English III Academy, Honors, and Academic
Pequannock Township High School
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