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Anonymous Posted 4 years ago
Grammar

Subject-determiner

This is from "A Student's Introduction to English Grammar" by R. Huddleston and G. Pullum (p.255):

"Non-dislocated clause

[42] ii a. I think the man next door's car was stolen.

Dislocated clause

[42] ii b. The man next door's, I think his car was stolen.

Left dislocation may put a complex NP early in the sentence, replacing it with a pronoun in the nucleus [a main part of the clause, consisting of subject and predicate], so the nucleus is structurally simpler. (Note that in [42iib] the subject-determiner in the dislocated version is simply his, whereas in [42iia] it is more complex genitive the man next door's).

My questions are:

Why is the genitive the man next door's the subject (called subject-determiner here) in the subordinate clause of the sentence I think the man next door's car was stolen instead of the ordinary subject, an NP, i.e. the man next door's car?

Why is the determiner his the subject (called subject-determiner here) in the subordinate clause of the sentence The man next door's, I think his car was stolen instead of the ordinary subject, an NP, i.e. his car?

  

Top answer

anonymous subject-determiner ~ the determiner associated with the subject of a clause (not the subject itself) Possessive phrases are one type of determiner. I believe you may have misunderstood this. anonymous Why is the genitive the man next door's the subject ...?

  • anonymous subject-determiner ~ the determiner associated with the subject of a clause (not the subject itself) Possessive phrases are one type of determiner.
  • I believe you may have misunderstood this.
  • anonymous Why is the genitive the man next door's the subject ...?
  • It's not.
  • It's a (possessive) determiner.
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1 Answers
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anonymoussubject-determiner

~ the determiner associated with the subject of a clause

(not the subject itself)

Possessive phrases are one type of determiner.

I believe you may have misunderstood this.

anonymousWhy is the genitive the man next door's the subject ...?

It's not. It's a (posses

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