Adverbial clauses

[Roozbeh]

Hi,
I have two related questions.

1. What do you call these kinds of sentences in English? I believe that the sentence below is an "adverbial clause". Am I right?

- The Eskimos and many of the Indian tribes lived in undeveloped ways, using stone weapons and tools.:tick:


2. Can we say that the sentence below is equal to the one that I mentioned above? To me, the latter would not work.

- The Eskimos and many of the Indian tribes lived in undeveloped ways, who used stone weapons and tools.:cross:

Thanks.

 

[konungursvia]

Yes you are right. However, your text is very dated. We don't use the term Eskimo so much any more. It was originally a derogatory term from the Cree language, and means "blubber eaters." The people in question, who used to make igloos, call themselves the Inuit. (I have always wondered if there is any relation with the Innu, or even the Ainu).

 

[MikeNewYork]

In the US (Alaska), Eskimo is not considered offensive. Many have questioned the proposed meaning of "eaters of blubber" or "raw meat". The reason, I believe, that Alaskan Eskimos prefer "Eskimo" to "Innuit" is that many of them are not Innuit.

See more here: http://us.wow.com/wiki/Eskimo?s_it=wiks-1&s_chn=10&s_pt=aolsem&type=content&v_t=content

 

[Tdol]

Innuit is the PC-preferred term in BrE, though many are still adjusting. However, the text also uses Indian (assuming it's about America) and undeveloped, which suggest that it is probably an older text.

 

[MikeNewYork]

For me it makes no sense to develop a PC term for people who don't agree with the term.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Since three teachers have raised the matter of vocabulary, am I allowed to mention something that may interest our international guests and members?

Yesterday it was Columbus Day in the United States. (I discovered that when I found the post office closed for the day!)

Since a growing number of people feel that it is wrong to honor Columbus, some local governmental entities are now calling it Indigenous Peoples Day.

Another acceptable term (besides "indigenous people") is Native American. Regarding "Indian," I believe that most Americans still find it acceptable, but maybe it is a good idea NOT to use it, lest people think that we are referring to people from India.

 

[MikeNewYork]

What about the Cleveland Indians?

 

[konungursvia]

For me it makes no sense to develop a PC term for people who don't agree with the term.

Um, it was the 'Eskimos' in 1977 who voted, in an Alaska conference, to adopt the term Inuit. Many Alaskan locals still liked the term Eskimo, for political reasons: Inuktituk speakers and other natives (Dene) were all included in the Alaskan usage, so it had a unifying effect there. So it wasn't a PC term developed "for people who don't agree". Did you think outsiders chose it for them?

 

[Rover_KE]

To return to the OP:

I believe that the sentence below is an "adverbial clause". Am I right?

- The Eskimos and many of the Indian tribes lived in undeveloped ways, using stone weapons and tools.

I would call 'using stone weapons and tools' a participial phrase.

 

[TheParser]

Am I right?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Roozbeh:

I was afraid to answer your question until I read post #9 today.

Look at what my favorite grammarian says:

" A full so that clause of pure result ... can often be abridged [shortened] to a participial clause." (my emphases]

1. "He mistook me for a friend, so that he caused me some embarrassment."
2. "He mistook me for a friend, causing me some embarrassment."

I was just wondering. Could we say:

3. The indigenous peoples lived in underdeveloped ways, so that they used stone weapons and tools.
4. The indigenous peoples lived in underdeveloped ways, using stone weapons and tools.

This may (strong possibility) be what Americans call a win-win situation. That is to say, everyone is right! That is, you are right in the sense that "using stone weapons and tools" was originally an adverbial clause, and the moderator is right by pointing out that it is more accurate to label it a participial phrase in its abridged form.

IF I have interpreted the one and only George Oliver Curme correctly, all credit goes to his 1931 masterpiece A Grammar of the English Language, Vol. II, page 293.




-

 

[MikeNewYork]

For me, a clause must have a subject and a main verb; a phrase does not. It is easier to keep them straight that way.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, some do and that terminology confuses many others.