josen95
New member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- Philippines
- Current Location
- Philippines
----------------------------------------
According to this Wikipedia article (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_relative_clauses#_) English allows a special case of relative clauses called 'nominal' or 'fused relative clauses' that contain 'fused relative pronouns' which replace both the antecedent and the modifier in the sentence.
e.g. "I did what he desired."
-where fused relative pronoun 'what' replaces
a 'which' modifying a 'that' ("...that which he desired.")
Why is there a need to refer to them as 'fused relative pronouns' when they function exactly the same as 'interrogative pronouns' in indirect questions (i.e. interrogative content clauses)?
...as mentioned in these Wikipedia articles (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative_word)(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_clause)
e.g. "I did what he desired."
-where interrogative content clause 'what he desired'
serves as a direct object, identifying the sentence as
an indirect question
--------------------------------------…
I believe the existence of so-called 'fused relative pronouns' is completely unecessary as they overlap with the functions of interrogative pronouns in indirect questions.
Therefore: When a regular relative clause containing "...that which..."
fuses the two, the result is an interrogative content clause containing the interrogative pronoun 'what'. (not some special case of relative clauses)
Can anyone confirm this?
According to this Wikipedia article (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_relative_clauses#_) English allows a special case of relative clauses called 'nominal' or 'fused relative clauses' that contain 'fused relative pronouns' which replace both the antecedent and the modifier in the sentence.
e.g. "I did what he desired."
-where fused relative pronoun 'what' replaces
a 'which' modifying a 'that' ("...that which he desired.")
Why is there a need to refer to them as 'fused relative pronouns' when they function exactly the same as 'interrogative pronouns' in indirect questions (i.e. interrogative content clauses)?
...as mentioned in these Wikipedia articles (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative_word)(en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_clause)
e.g. "I did what he desired."
-where interrogative content clause 'what he desired'
serves as a direct object, identifying the sentence as
an indirect question
--------------------------------------…
I believe the existence of so-called 'fused relative pronouns' is completely unecessary as they overlap with the functions of interrogative pronouns in indirect questions.
Therefore: When a regular relative clause containing "...that which..."
fuses the two, the result is an interrogative content clause containing the interrogative pronoun 'what'. (not some special case of relative clauses)
Can anyone confirm this?