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The Clause Hierarchy: Coffee. We Refer To This Larger Clause As The MATRIX CLAUSE

The document discusses clause hierarchy and the relationship between matrix clauses and subordinate clauses. It provides examples of sentences containing multiple clauses, with one clause embedded within another. Matrix clauses are not subordinate to any other clause and are equivalent to the full sentence. Subordinate clauses are clauses within other clauses, and can be subordinate to the matrix clause or subordinate to another subordinate clause. Labeling systems are introduced to identify clause types within sentences.

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Guillermo Leos
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55 views

The Clause Hierarchy: Coffee. We Refer To This Larger Clause As The MATRIX CLAUSE

The document discusses clause hierarchy and the relationship between matrix clauses and subordinate clauses. It provides examples of sentences containing multiple clauses, with one clause embedded within another. Matrix clauses are not subordinate to any other clause and are equivalent to the full sentence. Subordinate clauses are clauses within other clauses, and can be subordinate to the matrix clause or subordinate to another subordinate clause. Labeling systems are introduced to identify clause types within sentences.

Uploaded by

Guillermo Leos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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So far we have been looking at phrases more or less in isolation.

In real use, of course,


they occur in isolation only in very restricted circumstances. For example, we find isolated
NPs in public signs and notices:

[Exit]
[Sale]
[Restricted Area]
[Hyde Park]

We sometimes use isolated phrases in spoken English, especially in responses to


questions:

Q: What would you like to drink?


A: [NP Coffee]

Q: How are you today?


A: [AP Fine]

Q: Where did you park the car?


A: [PP Behind the house]

In more general use, however, phrases are integrated into longer units, which we call
CLAUSES:

Q: What would you like to drink?


A: [I'd like coffee]

Q: How are you today?


A: [I'm fine]

Q: Where did you park the car?


A: [I parked the car behind the house]

The Clause Hierarchy


The clause I'd like coffee is a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE within the sentence I think I'd like
coffee. We refer to this larger clause as the MATRIX CLAUSE:
The matrix clause is not subordinate to any other, so it is, in fact, co-extensive with the
sentence.

We say that the matrix clause is SUPERORDINATE to the subordinate clause.

The terms subordinate and superordinate are relative terms. They describe the
relationship between clauses in what is called the CLAUSE HIERARCHY. We can
illustrate what this means by looking at a slightly more complicated example:

He said I think I'd like coffee

Here the matrix clause is:

He said I think I'd like coffee

This matrix clause contains two subordinate clauses, which we'll refer to as Sub1 and
Sub2:

Sub1 is both subordinate and superordinate. It is subordinate in relation to the matrix


clause, and it is superordinate in relation to Sub2.

Subordinate and superordinate, then, are not absolute terms. They describe how clauses
are arranged hierarchically relative to each other.

We can bracket and label clauses in the same way as phrases. We will use the following
abbreviations:

Matrix Clause: MC
Subordinate Clause: SubC

Applying these labels and brackets to our first example, we get:

[MC I think [SubC I'd like coffee]]

Just as we've seen with phrases, we can have embedding in clauses too. Here, the
subordinate clause is embedded within the matrix clause.

There is a greater degree of embedding in our second example, where there are two
subordinate clauses, one within the other:

[MC He said [SubC I think [SubC I'd like coffee]]]

The following sentence contains three clauses, which we've labelled C1, C2, and C3.
Decide whether the statements below are true or false:

[C1 The bank manager suggested [C2 that we should consider [C3 leasing the building]]]

a. C1 is the matrix clause


True

False
b. C2 is superordinate to C1
True

False
c. C3 is subordinate to C1
True

False
d. C3 is superordinate to C2
True

False

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