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14.

Composite Sentences. Classifications.

1. Composite Sentences. General Characteristics.

2. Compound, Complex, Semi-Complex Sentences.

The word "composite" is used by H. Poutsma as a common term for both the compound and complex sentences.

There are three types of composite sentences in Modern English:

1. The compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses with no dependent one.

2. The complex sentence contains one dependent clause and one or more independent clauses. The latter usually tells something about the main clause and is used as a part of speech or as a part of sentence.

3. The semi-composite sentence combines the two previous types. The compound-complex sentences are those which have at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent (subordinate) clause in its structure: Blair found herself smiling at him and she took the letter he held out to her.

That there are three types of composite sentences in languages is contemporary approach to this issue. Historically not all the grammarians were unanimous in this respect. According to it H. Sweet there are structurally two types of sentences: simple and complex. “Two or more sentences may be joined together to form a single complex sentence … In every complex there is one independent clause, called the principal clause together with at least one dependent clause, which stands in the relation of adjunct to the principal clause. The dependent clause may be either coordinate or subordinate”.

Examples:

Principal clause

1.You shall walk, and I will ride.

Coordinate clause

Co-complex

Principal clause

2. You are the man I want.

Subordinate clause

Sub-complex

As one can see in H. Sweets conception there’s no place for compound sentences since even so-called “cocomplex” there’s subordination.

One of the representatives of structural linguists Ch. Fries considers two kinds of composite sentences: sequence sentences and included sentences. The sequence sentences consist of situation sentence and sequence sentence.

Example:1. The government has set up an agency called Future builders.

2. It has a certain amount of fund to make loans to social enterprises.

These two sentences are connected with each-other. The first sentence is a situation sentence and the second one is a sequence sentence since it develops the idea of the situation sentence.

In the following example “The biggest loan has gone to M. Trust, which runs a school for handicapped children.” There are also two sentences included into one.

C.H. Fries, as we see, makes an attempt to reject the traditional classification and terms. He substitutes for the traditional doctrine his theory of included sentences and sequences of sentences.

We shall classify the composite sentences into three types as has been mentioned above.

Composite Sentence

The composite sentence is formed by two or more predicative lines, i.e. it consists of two or more clauses.

Composite sentences display two principal types of construction: hypotaxis (subordination) and parataxis (coordination).

Within a composite sentence clauses may be joined by means of coordination or subordination, thus forming a compound or a complex sentence respectively.

Coordination is a way of linking grammatical elements to make them equal in rank.

Subordination is a way of linking grammatical elements that makes one of them dependent upon the other (or they are mutually dependent).

The means of combining clauses into a polypredicative sentence are divided into syndetic, i.e. conjunctional, and asyndetic, i. e. non-conjunctional.