Beth and Dick,

Thanks very much. That is what I meant to say. The entire noun phrase,
including the restrictive relative clause, is an appositive.

I wanted to double check because this example just about sent my
college-level grammar class reeling today. If anyone has helpful cues or
resources for simplifying relative clauses and their appearance within
appositives for students (I've been using Longman, Graeme Kennedy, and
OWL, along with examples from newspapers such as this one), please let
me know.

Natalie

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Beth Young
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: question on a relative clause

That's pretty much what I would say, except that I'd call the whole
thing [a Washington attorney who served as the last
Transportation secretary in the Reagan administration in 1987-89] an
appositive and say that the appositive had a restrictive relative clause
embedded in it. 
i.e., this particular appositive = determiner + noun + NOUN HEADWORD +
relative clause.  

Maybe that's what you were saying,

Beth

Dr. Beth Rapp Young
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~byoung

University of Central Florida
Reach for the Stars

>>> Natalie Gerber <[log in to unmask]> 4/23/2009 2:06 PM >>>
Dear all,

 

May I ask for your help parsing the relative clause in the following
example?

 

James Bunley, a Washington attorney who served as the last
Transportation secretary in the Reagan administration in 1987089, says
the complexity of Next-Gen is one of the reasons the new system hasn't
gained funding.

 

I analyze this example as a restrictive relative clause specifying which
Washington attorney; i.e., a restrictive relative clause modifying an
appositive, which itself is a nonrestrictive element modifying the
proper noun James Bunley. Is this correct?

 

Thanks very much,

Natalie

____________________

Natalie Gerber, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of English

SUNY Fredonia

ph. (716) 673-3855

fax (716) 673-4661

[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 

 


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