Diagramming Shakespeare

[Frank Antonson]

"O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore are thou Romeo?"
Notice that the last "Romeo" is a predicate nominative -- not a noun of direct address.
This quote is soft often misunderstood because "wherefore" (why) is confused with "where".
Diagramming should clear it right up.
Try "To be or not to be, that is the question."

[Kondorosi]

Hello,

I think I will have to gird up my loins.
I am going to start with this:

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

Do you like this rearrangement?

That, to be or not to be, is the question.

It looks like the compound infinitive phrase functions as a non-reduced apposition. It re-names the subject.

See my diagram below:



I will come back with the other sentence a bit later.

[Frank Antonson]

Yes! That is the way I analyse the quote. I diagram it slightly differently, with the compound infinitives over each other and the "that" after the infinitives.
Thanks for playing the game!
Linguist Farmer

[Kondorosi]

with the compound infinitives over each other and the "that" after the infinitives.

I like the way they both rest on the base line. If we placed them one over the other, that would signify to me that they do not carry equal syntactic weight. In my diagram, you can see the hierarchy, the equality of the infinitives, through their geometric position.

"that" after the infinitives

It is not the order that counts, it is what is bracketed that counts.

[Frank Antonson]

As far as stacking them is concerned, I fall back on House and Harman (hencforth H&H). I treat them just as I would "Jack and Jill went...".
I know that what is bracketed (or, in H&H, put in parentheses) is considered to be the appositive, but I try to keep the order of the sentence as much as possible.
Linguist Farmer

[Kondorosi]

.

wrong!

[TheParser]

Gentlemen: (1) Of course, I find your discussion fascinating. (2) Would either of you explain why you diagram "wherefore" as a subjective complement? I thought a subjective complement had to be a noun (He is a teacher) or an adjective (He is tall) or a preposition (The ring is of gold). "Wherefore" ("Why" or "For what reason" ) is an adverb. Can adverbs also be used to refer to the subject? Thanks for your clarification.

[Kondorosi]

Gentlemen: (1) Of course, I find your discussion fascinating. (2) Would either of you explain why you diagram "wherefore" as a subjective complement? I thought a subjective complement had to be a noun (He is a teacher) or an adjective (He is tall) or a preposition (The ring is of gold). "Wherefore" ("Why" or "For what reason" ) is an adverb. Can adverbs also be used to refer to the subject? Thanks for your clarification.

Hello Parser,

A copulative verb is always followed by either an adverbial complement or a subjective complement. The latter can be divided into two sub-groups: 1. predicate nominative, 2. predicate adjective. The function of a subjective complement is to rename the subject. The slated line denotes an adverbial complement.

[TheParser]

Hello Parser,

A copulative verb is always followed by either an adverbial complement or a subjective complement. The latter can be divided into two sub-groups: 1. predicate nominative, 2. predicate adjective. The function of a subjective complement is to rename the subject. The slated line denotes an adverbial complement.

Could you please give me some examples of an adverbial complement that follows a linking verb and that refers to the subject? Thank you.

[Kondorosi]

Could you please give me some examples of an adverbial complement that follows a linking verb and that refers to the subject? Thank you.

I can't. I can only give examples where the copulative verb is followed by an obligatory adverbial that completes the verb's meaning. My diagram is wrong. 'wherefore' branches off at the verb along a slanted line extending from top left to bottom right. Thanks for the questions. Otherwise I would not have realized I had been wrong.