[Grammar] Grammatical function

[coolpro]

"[[They] [[shot] [him] [in [what appears to be] a gangland killing.]]]".

What is the grammatical function of the clause "what appears to be"?

 

[coolpro]

Anyone?

 

[White Hat]

"what appears to be a gangland killing" - complex prepositional object

 

[5jj]

"what appears to be a gangland killing" - complex indirect object

My understanding of 'complex indirect object' is that it is simply an expanded indirect object, as in

I gave the student with the highest overall marks a special prize.

I am not sure what terminology would be appropriate for "what appears to be a gangland killing", but I am pretty sure it is nothing to do with indirect objects.

 

[White Hat]

I didn't see your post. I'd realized that since there is a preposition before the part in question, it must be a complex prepositional object.

 

[coolpro]

"what appears to be a gangland killing" - complex indirect object

what appears to be a gangland killing is not even a syntactic constituent. It doesn't have a function. in what appears to be a gangland killing is and does have though.

It sounds like in what appears to be a gangland killing is an adjunct that modifies the verb shot and we have an independent clause what appears to be stepped in to the adjunct.

 

[White Hat]

What do you need this for? Are you writing a program?

 

[coolpro]

What do you need this for? Are you writing a program?

I'm not writing a program.

 

[White Hat]

what appears to be a gangland killing is not even a syntactic constituent. It doesn't have a function. in what appears to be a gangland killing is and does have though.

It sounds like in what appears to be a gangland killing is an adjunct that modifies the verb shot and we have an independent clause what appears to be stepped in to the adjunct.

Yes, sure, "in" should be counted.

 

[White Hat]

I'm not writing a program.

You don't speak Russian, do you?

 

[coolpro]

No, I don't. I know the Russian alphabet and some phrases though.

 

[White Hat]

No, I don't. I know the Russian alphabet and some phrases though.

There is a beautiful grammar book. It's in Russian, but it does name some of the stuff in English. Here it is:

.  .., ..

 

[coolpro]

Thanks. I have several e-books about the syntax of the English language.

 

[White Hat]

Thanks. I have several e-books about the syntax of the English language.

Wait for the Dutch guy. He knows the ropes.

 

[Afit]

"[[They] [[shot] [him] [in [what appears to be] a gangland killing.]]]".

What is the grammatical function of the clause "what appears to be"?

Nothing, IMO. It is not a single constituent in the sentence.

They shot him [in [something [that appears to be a gangland killing]]].
They shot him [in [w [hat appears to be a gangland killing]]].
what appears to be a gangland killing = nominal relative clause

 

[White Hat]

I found this online:

24— ‘they talked to the casino about what had happened’
‘Talk’ is a prepositional verb. When it has an object, the preposition ‘to’ must be put between the object and the verb. In the text, the object is the noun clause ‘what happened,’ but the verb can also have a noun phrase as its object as in “He wanted to talk to a good lawyer.”

about what had happened

in what appears


Do you see any similarities?

Can we say "what appears to be a gangland killing" is the object of the preposition "in"?

Look here too.

And here:

In class today, we talked about what Mr. Duncan expects in our next research essay.

About = preposition; what Mr. Duncan expects in our next research essay = noun clause or the object of the preposition.

 

[White Hat]

So "what appears to be" is a noun clause functioning as an object of a preposition?

Here is what this source says:
She found fault in what he had asked her.

The clause "what he had asked her" is the
object of the preposition "in" in this sentence.

 

[coolpro]

How about the sentence She - I think - is friendly. ?

I think is a separate clause. But it's an independent clause. So could be say that there is no function of I think?

 

[White Hat]

How about the sentence She - I think - is friendly. ?

I think is a separate clause. But it's an independent clause. So could be say that there is no function of I think?

It's a stance adverbial.

"The category that is called ‘comment clauses’ belongs to stance adverbials as well. Comment clauses are primarily a spoken feature, being especially common in conversation. However, the expression it seems (and occasionally it appears) is used as a comment clause in the expository written registers.
For instance: Neither, it seems, does it believe in newfangled technology. In speech, they often have a parenthetic role, with “increased speed” and “decreased loudness”.

For example: The rest, I suppose, will never be known."

 

[coolpro]

Why isn't what appears to be a stance adverbal as well?