Re: absolute phrases?
Dear Kent,
Absolute phrases are generally considered free modifiers.
In my book I call them sentence modifiers. There are two
kinds--with different purposes and different effects. One
kind explains a cause or condition:
The
car having developed engine trouble, we stopped for the
night.
A
well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the
people
to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The second kind adds a detail or point of focus to the idea
stated in the main clause--like a filmmaker moving in for a
close-up:
The man
stood laughing, his weapons at his hips. (Steven Crane)
There
was no bus in sight and Julian, his hands still jammed in his
pockets and his head thrust forward, scowled down the empty
street. (Flannery O'Connor)
Her
hair a dripping mess, Jill dashed in out of the rain.
These are noun phrases in form, a headword with one postnoun
modifier. The first kind nearly always has a participle as
the postnoun modifier; the second kind can have any form: participial
phrase, prepositional phrase, noun phrase.
The postnoun modifier is adjectival, but I would call the
absolute itself a sentence modifier.
Martha
I sent this question out to my colleagues
on the English faculty here a
couple days ago. No one has responded yet, so I guess they don't
know
either! It's probably a simple answer. Any help extended to this
simpleton will be appreciated.
Kent
*
Does an absolute phrase function adjectivally or adverbially? Since
it
usually contains a participle, I suppose one would think of it as
an
adjective... However, since it's modifying the whole sentence or
clause,
couldn't it be seen to function in both senses? Is it the one kind
of
phrase without an "absolutely" certain function?
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