COORDINATION

1.Syndetic and Asyndetic Coordination

2.Coordination and Subordination

3. Sentence and Phrase Coordination

4.Coordinating Conjunctions

5.Verb Agreement with Compound Sentences

6.Key Concepts

1 Syndetic vs. Asyndetic Coordination

Before we proceed to discuss the notion of coordination, some comment is in order: the term coordination is going to be used mainly in relation to what some grammarians call syndetic coordination, i.e. that type of structure where there are explicit indicators that there are two more elements linked by coordination. This type is placed in opposition to asyndetic coordination, where there is no indication other than a comma, that elements are coordinated. Consider example

He looked at them sadly and reproachfully.

(S-a uitat la ei cu tristete si repros.)

which is an instance of syndetic coordination.

Example (2), on the other hand, is an illustration of the asyndetic type:

He looked at them sadly, reproachfully.

(S-a uitat la ei cu tristete, cu repros.)

Example (1) exhibits coordination by means of AND, which is a coordinating conjunction or a coordinator. The terms linked by the coordinator are called conjuncts.

We will use the term coordination in reference to the first type mentioned above, where a coordinator is overtly expressed (i.e. present) in the sentence.

2.Coordination & Subordination

By definition, coordination (or conjoining) is a syntactic operation that puts together constituents of the same rank. Conversely, subordination (or Embedding) is a syntactic operation that involves rank-shifting, namely one constituent is subordinated to a higher-rank constituent.

Consider the following examples where one can look at the same situation expressed differently from a syntactic point of view:

Hit my wife and you'll die.

(O lovesti pe sotia mea si vei muri.)

If you hit my wife, you will die.

(Daca o lovesti pe sotia mea, vei muri.)

Such examples, that have a lot in common from a semantic point of view, led grammarians to believe that coordination is the basic structure wherefrom subordination originated. Example (3) is an instance of coordination where constituents of the same rank are linked by means of the coordinating conjunction and. In example (4) one can notice a more complex structure, where the subordinating conjunction if plays a major part. We will come back to example (3) in a subsequent subsection.

From the previously mentioned examples, we can already make at least two important remarks:

a) that from a formal point of view, coordination differs from subordination in that it is realized by means of coordinating conjunctions.

b) that there might be important semantic similarities related to examples exhibiting coordinated, respectively subordinated constituents.

However, we need to specify that, from a logical & semantic point of view, a major difference between coordination and subordination is that the information in subordinate clauses is not asserted, but presupposed.

Compare:

John came back and gave her a piece of his mind.

(John s-a intors si i-a spus vreo doua.)

John gave her a piece of his mind after he came back.

(John i-a zis vreo doua dupa ce s-a intors.)

Unlike in the case of (5) where we are dealing with assertion, the subordinate adverbial clause of time contains a presupposition: We presuppose that the event of John's coming back happened.

c) from a pragmatic point of view it is to be remarked that example (3) will be found more frequently in instances of dialogue and spoken language as it is obviously characterized by a rather informal tone.

Activity 1 Coordination and style

The following two passages are straightforward descriptive paragraphs taken from narrative works. The first is a vivid description of a sequence of actions; the second, a static description of a small town in nineteenth-century Ireland. The student will notice the almost complete absence of subordinate clauses from both passages. In the first, this adds to the graphic effect of the movement in the passage. In the second, the comparative looseness of the sentence construction is admirably suited to the evocative informality of description.

Passage 1:

The black cloud had crossed the sky, a blob of dark against the stars: The night was quiet again, Tom stopped into the water and felt the bottom drop from under his feet. He threshed the two strokes across the ditch and pulled himself heavily up the other bank. His clothes hung to him. He moved and made a slopping noise; his shoes squished. Then he sat down, took off his shoes and emptied them. He wrung the bottom of his trousers, took off his coat and emptied them. He wrung the bottoms of his trousers, took off his coat and squeezed the water from it.

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Reconstruct the paragraph, combining as many of the simple sentences as you feel reasonable into compound sentences with subordinate clauses. How does the effect of your passage differ from Steinbeck's?

Passage 2:

Castlebar had preserved the appearance of a feudal town. Though the castle had vanished, on its site fortifications still frowned above steep and narrow streets, the houses were beautiful and ancient, built, with enormous solidity, of cut gray stone, adorned with cornices, stone-wreathed windows and carved doorways. In the late eighteenth century a Mall had been added to the town, with formal walks under rows of trees, but the streets tailed off abruptly into mud cabins, curlews wheeled and cried in the centre of the town, and the walkers in the Mall had bare feet.

Cecil Woocham - Smith, The Reason Why

Compare the previous two passages with the following in point of complexity of structure and formality of tone. Note that the more intricate construction of the third passage is correlated by the author to the difficult journey the character in the passage has to make:

Passage 3

The Canon dressed and, waving the remonstrances of his housekeeper aside, left the house. Before him was a climb that would take at least three hours, over some of the roughest ground in the country. He walked up to the top of the village street and struck off up a boreen that went for a bit and then petered out as if discouraged. After that he had to make do with the narrow rocky footpath when he could see it or stumble a while over the tangled scrub and sharp stones till he found it again. The unwonted exercise made his heart pound and his head swim, and his clothes stuck damply to him: darkness fell before he was half-way up and although he had a torch the way in front was so strange and featureless he thought he should never arrive at his goal. His feet pained him from continually stubbing against the bits of rock: in spite of the long dry spell the mountain was soaking, and as the way is with Irish mountains, the higher he went the wetter it grew, until he found the water gurgling about his ankles and seeping over the top of his boots; and more than once he missed his footing and measured his length on the prickly ground.

3 Sentence vs. Phrase Coordination

Compare the following sentences:

I saw him yesterday and I had seen him the day before yesterday.

(L-am vazut ieri si l-am vazut si alaltaieri.)

I saw him yesterday and the day before yesterday.

(L-am vazut ieri si alaltaieri.)

Example (7) is an instance of sentence coordination, the result of which is a COMPOUND SENTENCE. A compound sentence is to be placed in opposition to a COMPLEX SENTENCE, where there is a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses, as shown in (9).

If the authors and publishers of 'Dick Deadshot' and such remarkable works were suddenly to make a raid on the educated class, were to take down the name of every man, however distinguished, who was caught at a University Extension lecture, were to confiscate all our novels and warn us to correct all our lives, we should be seriously annoyed.

(G.K. Chesterton - A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls )

Example (8) exhibits an instance of Phrasal Coordination, where we are dealing with a compound constituent, yesterday and the day before yesterday.

Activity

Distinguish between sentence coordination and phrasal coordination; argue that both are basic, but phrasal coordination may also result from reduction of coordinated sentences:

Activity

Read the following examples and state whether they have undergone ellipsis or not:

Ellipsis can be of two types:

a) the so called forward ellipsis, when it operates on the second conjunct in the structure:

a. John writes poetry and Bill writes prose.

(John scrie poezii si Bill scrie proza.)

b. John writes poetry and Bill prose.

(John scrie poezii si Bill proza.)

In (10a) the second conjunct has been wiped out, or deleted, as can be seen in (10b).

A deletion of the first conjunct would have been impossible in this case:

c. *John poetry and Bill writes prose.

b) backward ellipsis - when it operates on the first conjunct in the structure:

a. John loves cigars and Bill hates cigars.

(Lui John ii plac trabucurile iar Bill le uraste.)

b. John loves and Bill hates cigars.

(Lui John ii plac iar Bill uraste trabucurile.)

c. * John loves cigars and Bill hates.

Example (11b) predicts the correct deletion of the first conjunct, whereas (11c) shows the ungrammaticality of a deletion of the first conjunct in this case.

Activity

Rewrite the following sentences by using ellipsis:

Besides ellipsis, substitution is another reduction operation that can be applied to compound sentences.

Consider the following:

I was advised to buy a pair of shoes and I bought a pair of shoes.

(Am fost sfatuit sa cumpar o pereche de pantofi si am cumparat o pereche de pantofi.)

The common element, i.e. the predication buy a pair of shoes, can be reduced by substitution, as can be seen in

I was advised to buy a pair of shoes and I did so/it.

(Am fost sfatuit sa imi cumpar o pereche de pantofi si asta am si facut.)

These two reduction methods can operate within compound sentences due to the fact that sometimes it is more economical to use a reduced structure, than a longer repetitive one. So, these syntactical processes, having to do with a change performed in the structure of a sentence, are in fact motivated by a pragmatic principle, the so-called Principle of Economy, that favours concision and efficiency in the use of language.

Activity 5

Match the following two columns so as to obtain correct elliptical phrases:

this book   and John's

her son  and his

your work and the other

her idea and those

that method   and others

your proposal    or little

many guests  or few

much satisfaction   and mine

Note that the following idioms are built on the same principle as the phrases above: one way or another, some reason or another, one or (the) other method.

Activity

In certain cases, ellipsis may be a fruitful source of ambiguity, since one may interpret the compound noun phrase or sentence in question as having undergone ellipsis or not. Consider the following phrases and find as many possible interpretations for them as you can

(a)   the old men and women

(b)  simple books and magazines for children

(c)   George and Jane are separated.

(d)  George and Jane went back to their parents.

Activity 7

Translate the following sentences, using reduced structures

1.S-a rastit la el si l-a palmuit. 2. Prefer propozitiile de mai jos ori de pe pagina urmatoare.  A citit, interpretat si tradus opera contemporanului sau. 4. Ii plac si are grija de toate pisicile vagaboande de langa bloc. 5. Intotdeauna am luptat si voi lupta pentru progres. 6. Daca si cand se hotaraste sa plece in Noua Zeelanda este o problema mai veche. 7. Psiholingvistica si sociolingvistica sunt materii importante. 8. I-a invitat de ziua lui pe gineri si pe nurori.

Activity

Some idiomatic phrases are in fact compound phrases, like: salt and pepper, fish and chips, sweet and sour, Marks and Spencers. Fill the gaps in these sentences with suitable expressions from the list below:

1. I searched . . . .. for my wallet. 2. Can we discuss the . . . . .. of your proposals later on?  Can you show me the . . . . to support your argument? 4. She's a wonderful storyteller: always the . . . . . of the party. 5. They get on quite well together, even though they have their little . . . . .. 6.You gain some things and you lose others; it's a case of . . . . 7. The police are responsible for maintaining . . . . . 8. I've tidied up my room and now it's . . . . 9. It was . . . . whether the rescuers would get there in time. 10 They've shared a lot of experiences: they've been through . . . . . together. 11. You can't claim on insurance for . . . , only for damage. 12. I need another 100$ . . . .. the amount I've already saved up. 1 Nuclear physicists who are also best-selling writers are . . . .. . 14. A pendulum swings . . . .. 15. He makes a little money out of writing but teaching is his . . . . . 16. After all their adventures, they reached home . . . .

4. Coordinating Conjunctions

We can distinguish between three classes of coordinators:

a) Copulative: and / both . and /at once . and / neither . nor / as well as / no less than / not only . but also, etc. We should also mention here rarer copulative coordinators, such as: alike . and / nor . nor / nor . or :

His job is at once judicial and political

(Slujba lui este si juridica si politica.)

She went to sleep alike thankless and remorseless.

(A plecat la culcare si nerecunoscatoare si lipsita de remuscari.)

Nor sun, nor wind will strike to kiss thee.

(Nici soare si nici vint nu te-or atinge cu vreun sarut.)

There are, of course, semantic restrictions on the types of clauses that can be coordinated. For instance, one cannot couple two sentences with completely different semantic content, as in:

a. *Lions are mammals and Tom bought a car.

b. *I hate plumbers and you learn syntax.

In fact, the expressive function of coordination is, more often than not, to emphasize (semantic) parallelism or contrast, which is the case with

b) adversative coordinators: but, and

I gave her the money but I didn't feel happy about it.

(I-am dat banii, dar nu am fost multumit de asta.)

c) disjunctive coordinators: or, either . or

She can either have the money or she can have the clothes.

(Poate primi ori banii ori hainele.)

Some of the aforementioned coordinating conjunctions have correlatives (either . or, both . and , etc); some of them allow ellipsis of the subject (and, or ; sometimes but, too):

a. I may see you tomorrow or (I) may phone later in the day.

(S-ar putea sa te vad miine sau sa iti telefonez mai incolo.)

b. He went to the safe and (he) took out the money.

(S-a dus la seif si a scos banii.)

c. I gave her the money but (I) didn't feel happy about it.

(I-am dat banii dar nu mi-a convenit de loc.)

In certain cases, the ellipsis of the subject is even required (see e.g. 20 (b)). If the coordinating conjunction links two subordinate clauses, where the subordinator is repeated, ellipsis of the subject is no longer accepted:

(21)* I didn't object to his proposal since it was very apropiate and since apealed to me.

Another property some of the coordinators above share is the fact that they can link more than two clauses:

They both liked Susan and respected her, and cherished her.

(Ei o placeau pe Susan, o respectau si o indrageau.)

An important property shared by coordinating conjunctions has to do with the fact that sometimes, these coordinators can impose a subordinating shade of meaning upon the conjunctions, like in the example we discussed at the beginning of this section:

(3) Hit my wife, and you'll die.

(O lovesti pe sotia mea si ai sa mori.)

In example three one can read a conditional meaning behind the lines. In this case, if we were to rewrite the example , we could not say something like:

*You'll die, and hit my wife.

Whenever the coordinating conjunction adds a subordinating tinge of meaning to the conjuncts, the order of these conjuncts is fixed.

From this point of view, one can differentiate between

a) a symmetric use of coordinators - where the order of the conjuncts is reversible:

a. I like and admire her.

(Imi place si o admir.)

b. I admire and like her.

(O admir si imi place.)

b) an asymmetric use of coordinators - where the order of the conjuncts is irreversible:

a. I washed and ironed my pants.

(Mi-am spalat si calcat pantalonii.)

b.* I ironed and washed my pants.

Let's cast a swift glance at the asymmetric uses some conjunctions may have:

assymetric AND can impose different shades of subordinative meaning within the compound sentence:

chronological sequence (temporal implications)

He sliced and fried the potatoes. (First he sliced them and then he fried them)

(A taiat cartofii si i-a prajit.)

cause-effect relation

He heard an explosion and (therefore) phoned the police.

(A auzit o explozie si a sunat la politie.)

He didn't pay the rent and he was evicted from their apartment. (<Because he didn't pay, he was evicted)

(N-a platit chiria si a fost dat afara din apartament.)

if-then relation (supported by proper intonation)

Give me the money and you'll walk away safely. (If you do that, you will be safe)

(Da-mi banii si poti pleca nevatamat.)

concessive meaning (plus suitable intonation)

John worked hard for the exam and he failed (Although he worked hard, he failed).

(John a muncit din greu pentru examen si l-a picat.)

while/whereas - interpretation

Dr. Smith experiments with guinea pigs and Dr. Brown experiments with humans.

(Doctorul Smith face experiente pe cobai iar doctorul Brown face experiente pe oameni.)

(While Dr. Smith performs his experiments with guinea pigs, Dr. Brown does it with humans)

Assymetric BUT implies a contrastive effect - like in the case of symmetric BUT - but this effect results from an unexpected consequence. Compare

a. Jim is brave but John is a coward.   (symmetric use)

(Jim e viteaz dar John e un las.)

b. Jim likes computers but John hates them.

(Lui Jim ii plac computerele dar John nu le suporta.)

to

Jim is jobless but he is happy.     (asymmetric use)

(Jim n-are serviciu dar e fericit.)

Asymmetric OR implies again an if-then relationship:

a. You leave my daughter alone, or I'll break your neck.

(Ori imi lasi fata in pace, ori iti rup gitul.)

b. Stop that noise, or you'll be punished.

(Incetezi cu zgomotul, ori vei fi pedepsit.)

This use is to be contrasted with the symmetric use of OR, which is in its turn of two types

exclusive OR

You can eat lobster, or you can eat caviar.

(Poti sa mananci homar sau poti sa mananci caviar.)

inclusive OR

If you have enough money you can eat lobster, or you can have caviar . or both.

Activity 9

Distinguish between symmetric and asymmetric uses of conjunctions:

5 Verb Agreement with Compound Subjects

We shall discuss verb-agreement with compound subjects depending on the conjunction that is used:

AND - the compound subjects correlated by and are generally used with plural verbs:

a. Semantics and syntax are interrelated.

(Semantica este strins legata de sintaxa.)

b. Both your fairness and your kind nature have been appreciated.

(Au fost apreciate atit corectitudinea ta cit si bunatatea ta.)

When the verb appears before the subject, both plural and singular forms are generally accepted. The singular form is however restricted to informal speech:

There was/were a man and a woman in the room.

(In camera erau un barbat si o femeie.)

There are cases when the compound subject is not made up of the two semantically distinct conjunctions any more:

a. The hammer and the sickle was flying from the flagpole.

(Secera si ciocanul fluturau sus pe steag.)

b. Fish and chips is my favorite food.

(Pestele cu cartofi prajiti este felul meu de mincare preferat.)

In (39) the subject contains two conjuncts that are perceived as one semantic unit, hence the singular form of the verb.

OR, EITHER . OR, NOT (ONLY) . BUT ALSO compound subjects are subject to the rule of agreement by proximity: the verb agrees with the nearmost conjunct:

a. Not John, but his two brothers are to blame.

(Nu John este de vina, ci cei doi frati ai lui.)

b. Not John's brother but he is to blame.

(Nu fratele lui John, ci el este de vina.)

NEITHER . NOR compound subjects accept both the singular and the plural form of the verb since from a syntactical point of view Neither . nor resembles either . or, but semantically it is the negative counterpart of both . and:

Neither he nor his wife have/has arrived.

Activity

Insert the appropriate verb form:

a.1. Cathy and David (have arrived. 2. The bread and the butter (be) both more expensive this year.  The bread and butter (be) scattered on the floor. 4. The green and blue blanket (be) also to be washed. 5. The red and the blue shirts (be) washed yesterday. 6. My aim and object (be) to make the theory clear for all. 7. A carriage and a pair (be) standing at the door. 8. His friend and legal adviser (be) present at the funeral. 9. My son and heir (be) safe. 10. My son and daughter (be) twins.

6. Key Concepts

Coordination is defined in opposition to subordination, as being a syntactic process where elements of the same rank are conjoined. This section also attempts to draw attention upon certain points of similarity between coordination and subordination, especially those related to the asymmetric uses of coordinating conjunctions.

As shown, certain compound sentences can be reformulated as complex ones, namely as a main clause plus a subordinate one.

Emphasis is also laid on the reductive methods that can be applied to compound sentences or to compound phrases: ellipsis (or deletion) and substitution.

Activity 11 (Optional Exercises)

Translate the following, making use of the theoretical framework offered above

1. Sunt doctori si doctori pe lumea asta. 2. Frate nefrate, tot am sa-i cer bani pentru medicamente.  O sa stam impreuna, la bine si la rau. 4. Nu-i nici cal, nici magar. 5. Sper ca scrisoarea mea te gaseste bine, sanatos. 6. "Cum o mai duci?" " N-am murit inca, multumesc de intrebare." 7. Sotul ei e de mult mort si-ngropat. 8. Au venit la mine cu catel si cu purcel. 9. Interzis consumul de alcool la volan. 10 S-a dus la culcare cu tot cu haine pe el. 11. Taras, grapis, tot am sa termin lucrarea.

1. Nu era inchipuit si nu se credea frumos, dar un instinct de conservare fizica il facea sa-si umfle bicepsii si cosul pieptului si sa fandeze plastic cu piciorul drept inainte, pentru a obtine maximul de volum al pulpei.

2. Vru sa-si incerce puterea bratelor rezemandu-se cu toata greutatea trupului pe speteaza unui scaun, dar acesta trosni asa de tare, incat spre a evita un accident, Jim renunta si se multumi sa boxeza arcurile desfundate ale canapelei si pernele din pat.

Bunica si bunicul au trait fara baie-n casa si a fost bine! Ati venit dvs. mai cu mot!"

4. -Ce stai de vorbesti? Se scandaliza baba. Cum s-aduc eu stropitoarea in casa?

- Sa mi-o aduci, altfel nu e de trai cu mine!

5. Jim statu putin sa se gandeasca, fiindca nu vedea inca modul de intrebuintare. Sa atarne stropitoarea de cuiul din tavan si apoi sa-i dea inclinare deasupra capului, n-avea nici cu ce-o lega si ii era teama sa nu se surpe cumva tavanul. Sa toarne apa in lighean, ligheanul era prea mic.

Silivestru ramase si scarbit de platitudinea cugetarilor, dar si mirat de o precocitate  pe care el n-o cunoscuse.

- Doamna, tiu sa va declar ca n-am venit decat sa va cer invoirea de a ne casatori si de a pleca apoi unde vom crede de cuviinta. Nu numai ca nu trebuie sa va ingrijorati, dar va cer permisiunea de a ma ocupa eu in chip exclusiv de acest eveniment si favoarea de a nu se mai vorbi de chestiuni materiale.

(G. Calinescu - Cartea Nuntii )

Activity 12

Read the following and comment on the conjunctions that link the phrases below; try to rewrite those phrases