The Verbal Paradigm in Embedded Clauses (original) (raw)

2000, Tense and Text in Classical Arabic

In this chapter, a selection of substantival, adjectival, and adverbial clauses is discussed. The discussion is centered on the functional oppositions marked by the verbal forms in these clauses. Each section starts with the analysis of the simple and modified forms, then the compound and the negated forms are discussed. Limited distribution or special uses of a form are specifically noted. Given that some observations are relevant for more than one type of clauses-sometimes even for all-a certain amount of repetition is inevitable. Some semantic notions and other relevant concepts are mentioned only in brief, awaiting further elaboration in the following chapters. 7.1 Preliminaries In the hierarchical structure of the text, embedded clauses constitute the lowest stratum. Embedded clauses are constituents of complex clauses: they occupy the syntactic position of a noun-phrase or an adverbial. In most cases, they do not refer directly to the deictic center of the text (see above 4.2), but relate to it via their matrix clause (for an exception, see [7.72] below). Since embedded clauses do not refer directly to the situation of the speaking/narrating subject, the expression of certain modal meanings, in particular volition, is less salient in them. In general, indicators of subjective involvement are more limited in embedded clauses, though not entirely absent from them. Embedded generic clauses, like all generic clauses, have a privative referential value. However, within the generic domain, one verbal situation may refer to another, thus being assigned a location in time which is relative to it. The verbal paradigm in embedded clauses consists of indicative forms: simple, modified, and compound. With simple forms, the non-symmetrical configuration of [main clause + embedded clause] is syntactically marked, by the embedding operator and the syntagmatic sequence; with modified and compound forms, it is also morphologically marked, by the modifier or the auxiliary (against the use of a simple form in the main clause). An important feature which affects the interpretation of the verbal form is the nature of the verbal lexeme or verb-phrase. There are two pertinent semantic distinctions in this regard: the first, between potentially bounded (telic) and unbounded (a-telic) situations, and the second, between situations