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5 - Bob is certain to succeed.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2020

Robert Freidin
Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey
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Summary

Extends discussion of infinitival syntax beyond relative clauses to constructions where the noun phrase interpreted as the subject of the infinitival predicate is pronounced the subject of a predicate that contains the infinitival clause, a syntactic phenomenon called “displacement”. Displacement also occurs with finite subordinate clauses, where the finite clause is interpreted as part of a predicate adjective phrase but is pronounced the subject of that predicate. Passive predicates also allow this type of displacement and the displacement of an infinitival subject to the subject position of the clause that contains it. In single clauses, passives require the displacement of a predicate object to subject position. This generalizes within a single noun phrase where the noun is either a derived nominal or a gerund. The utility of displacement is discussed, including the history of criticism against the use of passive voice, which is shown to be completely misguided, and the role of displacement in discourse via paragraph structure, examining how strong paragraphs can be rendered awful by eliminating displacement.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Bob is certain to succeed.
  • Robert Freidin, Princeton University, New Jersey
  • Book: Adventures in English Syntax
  • Online publication: 10 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767774.006
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  • Bob is certain to succeed.
  • Robert Freidin, Princeton University, New Jersey
  • Book: Adventures in English Syntax
  • Online publication: 10 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767774.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Bob is certain to succeed.
  • Robert Freidin, Princeton University, New Jersey
  • Book: Adventures in English Syntax
  • Online publication: 10 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767774.006
Available formats
×