Author Topic: Coordination/Subordination  (Read 6586 times)

Offline teenywheeny

  • Jr. Linguist
  • **
  • Posts: 5
Coordination/Subordination
« on: April 16, 2015, 10:58:40 PM »
Hi everyone!

Could somebody please help me figuring out the sentence structure of the following sentences:

Plus, pistachios are a good source of protein and fiber, and heart-friendly.
And, a recent Harvard study suggests eating nuts seven times a week or more is as healthy as it is smart.
So next time you grab a snack, use your brains.

I'm a bit confused here. Am I right that the first sentence is joined by coordination? What about the other two sentences? 

Offline Daniel

  • Administrator
  • Experienced Linguist
  • *****
  • Posts: 2090
    • English
Re: Coordination/Subordination
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2015, 10:23:12 AM »
The words "and" and "so" are often considered "coordinating conjunctions" so you could say that these sentences "involve coordination". But they do now clearly have two independent sentences that are linked together, so in that sense these are not normal examples of coordination.
For a more specific response, you would need a theory or kind of analysis. Why does it matter if this "is coordination"? There's no way to answer that in general without specific criteria.

The best answer I can give you is that you should be able to mark two independent and parallel clauses on both sides of "and" for it to be normal coordination:
[I ate pizza], and [you drank soda].

In your examples, they don't have obviously separate parts like that, so the analysis is not obviously coordination.

One argument that has been made (and would fit your first sentence) is coordination reduction, where you say something like:
I ate pizza and drank soda.
Or
I ate pizza and you [ate] salad.
Welcome to Linguist Forum! If you have any questions, please ask.

Offline teenywheeny

  • Jr. Linguist
  • **
  • Posts: 5
Re: Coordination/Subordination
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2015, 12:50:33 PM »
Thanks a lot! That makes sense.

Just now I'm struggling with another clause I can't really identify:

During training and on race day, natural American pistachios grown in the American West contribute to the nutrients every athlete needs for peak performance.

I'm pretty sure that the initial clause is subordinate, but would it be regarded as dependent verbless clause or as two separate prepositional phrases?

Offline Daniel

  • Administrator
  • Experienced Linguist
  • *****
  • Posts: 2090
    • English
Re: Coordination/Subordination
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2015, 12:52:27 PM »
I don't see a verb. "Training" is a noun (technically a verbal noun, a gerund), so "during" is acting as a preposition.

The structure is:
[prepositional phrase] and [prepositional phrase], ...
Welcome to Linguist Forum! If you have any questions, please ask.