Constructional influence on speech realization of clauses

The paper deals with subordinate clauses in speech. It’s shown that all the prosodic variety can be reduced to several invariants: syntagmatic segmentation of the complex sentence, prosody of the subordinate clause as of a parenthetical insertion and syntagmatic condensation of the clause. The article reveals the importance of prosodic structure for distinguishing between full-fledged subordinate sentences and clauses which function as word-equivalents in English speech. The dependence of semiologically relevant oppositions on constructional patterns is described. Syntagmatic condensation is typical of two-member subject-predicate syntagms, linked with the antecedent by means of the attributive or completive bonds. Modal phrases interpolated into the structure of the main utterance often tend to lose their predicative features in speech. The complex sentence is perceived as simple when the “main” clause functions as a modal syntagm, introductory parenthesis. Syntagmatic condensation is especially evident in such constructions where the clause is part of a prepositional phrase. The prosody of the utterance is closely connected with morphosyntactic peculiarities of the linear structure (colligation) and lexico-phraseological features (collocation), including idiomaticity. On the one hand, idiomaticity refers to the lexico-phraseological features of the word-combinations introducing the clause, on the other, it’s essential for this construction as a specific pattern of English syntax.