Knowledge base · Part XIII — Nominalization, Relativization, and Complementation · this topic as a network

106. Nominalized Complements and Control/Raising

How does a language form complement clauses and distinguish them from relative clauses, including in control and raising constructions?

12 sentences from 16 sources · every sentence names the pages it rests on

Overview

How are clausal complements formed, and what distinguishes them from other nominalized structures?

Noun complement clauses in Ainu lack an internal syntactic gap and have no underlying base clause. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.6)

The arity-0 diagnostic

What diagnostic uses the arity of the embedded clause to separate complement clauses from relative clauses?

In a complement clause construction, the nominal head only nominalizes the entire clause without having a grammatical role inside it. (Nakagawa 2024: 507) The nouns uske and usi function both as complementizers when preceded by an arity-0 complete clause and as relative clause heads when preceded by an incomplete clause. (Nakagawa 2024: 509)

hekattar tura sinot=an hi ka a=onaha kopan

children COMIT play=4.S NMLZ even 4.A=father refuse

‘My father refused even that I play with the children.’

Nakagawa 2024: 507 · HK

Complement-taking predicates

Which semantic classes of matrix predicates take nominalized complements?

The selection of a complementizer depends on discourse context and the semantic class of the matrix predicate. (Bugaeva 2012) Certain complement-taking predicates require overt nominalizers such as hi or pe, whereas others allow zero-nominalization. (Bugaeva 2016)

hi as complementizer

What is the function of the maximally abstract complementizer in nominalizing clauses?

a=ye hi ka a=kar hi ka a=eramiskari

4.A=say NMLZ even 4.A=do NMLZ even 4.A=not.understand

‘not knowing what to say or what to do’

NINJAL 2003 · CHI

ku=kemeyki kor ku=itak hi iyotta pirka

1SG.A=sew while 1SG.A=speak NMLZ most be.good

‘Speaking while sewing is best.’

Bugaeva 2016: 261 · SAR

The sensory nominalizers as perception complements

How do sensory nominalizers function as perception complement markers?

Noun complement clauses employ a paradigm of possessive evidential forms as complementizers, including ru-w-e, haw-e, sir-i, and hum-i. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.6) Evidential markers in Ainu function as complement clause markers. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7)

hekaci apkas sir-i ku=nukar

child walk appearance-POSS 1SG.A=see

‘I saw the child walking.’

· constructed· HK

hekaci itak haw-e ku=nu

child speak voice-POSS 1SG.A=hear

‘I heard the child speaking.’

· constructed· HK

kuni as complement marker

What is the semantic profile of the complementizer used for future-oriented or directed content?

hosipi=an kuni a=ye

return=4.S PURP 4.A=say

‘I said I would return.’

Nakagawa 2024: 476 · HK

ahun kuni a=ye akusu toykooripak

enter PURP 4.A=say when be.very.abashed

‘When I told them to enter, they were very abashed.’

ILCAA Ainu materials 1976 · SAR

pirka kuni ku=ramu

be.good PURP 1SG.A=think

‘I think it would be good.’

· constructed· HK

míre kuni p ére kuni p nepki ne ki wa

clothe PURP NMLZ feed PURP NMLZ be.work COP do CONJ

‘making things to clothe (the grandchild) and things to feed (her) her work,’

ILCAA Ainu materials 1976 · SAR

Other indirect-speech complementizers

What other elements serve as complementizers in indirect speech and thought?

The use of interrogative particles as complementizers is restricted to ya. (Nakagawa 2024: 333)

ku=matnepo tanto ek kunak ye kor an

1SG.A=daughter today come COMP say while exist

‘My daughter is saying she will come today.’

Satō 2008: 177 · CHI

Bare complementation

How do languages allow bare finite clauses to function as complements without a nominalizer?

Zero-nominalization represents the oldest stratum of nominalization in Ainu, while nominalizing words developed later. (proposed in Bugaeva 2016) In prolative infinitive constructions, Class II verbs appear in their bare form without personal affixes. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936)

The constituency of the nominalized clause

What is the structural debate about whether nominalized clauses form a biclausal or monoclausal complex predicate?

Complement clauses in Ainu can function syntactically as S or O, and rarely as A. (Bugaeva 2012) Noun complement clauses pattern syntactically as possessive noun phrases, with the modifying clause serving as the possessor and referent for possessive marking on the head. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.6)