:-oQuote:
It is simply called a negative appositive
Never heard the term so far.
I love x, not Y.
I loveX,[not Y]. :?:
I can't, but I keep trying. ;-)Quote:
Can you, Afit, R-K?
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4750/sue.gif
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:-oQuote:
It is simply called a negative appositive
Never heard the term so far.
I love x, not Y.
I loveX,[not Y]. :?:
I can't, but I keep trying. ;-)Quote:
Can you, Afit, R-K?
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4750/sue.gif
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afit
(1) Thank you for your beautiful diagrams.
(2) I can hardly type these words let alone post a diagram.
(3) If we accept the idea of a negative appositive, then I believe that an appositive
(positive or negative) should be diagrammed with parentheses:
Usingenglish.com (a leading English helpline) / is/ famous.
(4) Now let's have a negative appositive such as:
California, not Texas, has the most people. / California has the most people, not Texas.
(a) I believe we would R-K it as:
California (Texas)/ has/ people.
(i) we would put "most" on a diagonal line under "people."
(ii) I always get confused where to put "the." Does it go on its own diagonal line under "people," or does it go on a bent line under "most"?
(iii) The million dollar question is: where does "not" go?
(a) I propose writing "not" on a short line above and to the left of "Texas," with a dotted line leading down and connecting to the horizontal line.
(5) Thanks to Mr. Antonson, usingenglish.com is the only English helpline that
offers a forum devoted to questions about Reed-Kellogg. I hope that he offers us
his "map" of the sentence.
Somehow, Alfie, I KNEW that you could R-K ;-)))
Frank
I have only vague ideas as to how I have managed to earn the benefit of the doubt with you. :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Antonson
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/20/calnottex.gifQuote:
Originally Posted by TheParser
This you like? :?::up:
California, and not Texas, has the most people.
Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to define or modify the other. When this device is used, the two elements are said to be in apposition.
This is obviously not the case with "California" and "not Texas".
What is your definition for an appositive, James?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afit
Beautiful!!! I was thinking, though, that the line for "not" would be a horizontal
line above and to the left of the word in parentheses ("Texas").
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afit
Yes, I always thought that two noun elements had to be positive in order to qualify
for the term "appositive":
The United States, the most important country in the world, lies between two
oceans.
But as I explained, many grammarians accept the idea of negative appositives:
Family, not money, is the most important thing in life.
It seems a nifty way to diagram such sentences -- instead of dreaming up some
long ellipsis.
"Not" belongs to "Texas"; that is why I branched it off the parenthesised part.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheParser
I think we can call it what we want, as long as we understand to what "not" belongs and how "not Texas" is bound to the matrix clause.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheParser
What I am missing from grammarians is the provision of motivation for accepting their views.
When I teach about appositives, I use the term "renames". It would probably be better to say "re-states".
"He was angry, furious" For me "furious" here is an appositive.
Incidentally, at the moment I am too lazy to find it, but in some Shakespearean play (I think that it is "Love's Labour's Lost" there is an absolutely ridiculous (spectacular) example of extended apposition. I think it is telling what love is, the appositives being predicate nominatives.