title: Verbless clause
text: # Verbless clause
  
  Verbless clauses are comprised, semantically, of a predicand, expressed or not, and a verbless predicate. For example, the underlined string in [With the children so sick,] we've been at home a lot means the same thing as the clause the children are so sick. It attributes the predicate "so sick" to the predicand "the children". In most contexts, *the children so sick would be ungrammatical.
  
  ## History of the concept
  
  In the early days of generative grammar, new conceptions of the clause were emerging. Paul Postal and Noam Chomsky argued that every verb phrase had a subject, even if none was expressed, (though Joan Bresnan and Michael Brame disagreed). As a result, every VP was thought to head a clause.
  
  The idea of verbless clauses was perhaps introduced by James McCawley in the early 1980s with examples like the underlined part of with John in jail... meaning "John is in jail".
  
  ## Examples
  
  ### English
  
  In Modern English, verbless clauses are common as the complement of with or $without.^{:1267}$
  
  Other prepositions such as although, once, when, and while also take verbless clause complements, such as Although no longer a student, she still dreamed of the $school,^{:1267}$ in which the predicand corresponds to the subject of the main clause, she. Supplements, too can be verbless clauses, as in Many people came, some of them children or Break over, they returned to work.
  
  Neither A comprehensive grammar of the English $language^{:1068}$ norThe Cambridge grammar of the English language offer any speculations about the structure(s) of such clauses. The latter says, without hedging, "the head of a clause (the predicate) is realised by a $VP."^{:50}$ It's not clear how such a statement could be compatible with the existence of verbless clauses.
  
  Verbless clauses in English :
  
  | Independent | Dependent |
  | - | - |
  | What a great thing to do! How odd that nobody noticed! Out of my way! | He stood there quietly, with his hands in his pockets. Whether a fact or not, it is commonly believed. Whatever the reason, it's annoying. He didn't love her as much as she him. The bramble shook as if alive. |
  
  ### Gurindji Kriol language
  
  Ascriptive clauses consist of a subject noun and nominalised adjective.
  
  ankaj
  
  poor.thing
  
  dat
  
  the
  
  karu
  
  child
  
  im
  
  3SG
  
  yapakayi-wn
  
  small-NMLZ
  
  ankaj dat karu im yapakayi-wn
  
  poor.thing the child 3SG small-NMLZ
  
  "Poor thing, that child is only a baby."
  
  Existential clauses contain a subject with locative phrase.
  
  dat
  
  the
  
  warlaku
  
  dog
  
  im
  
  3SG
  
  andanith
  
  underneath
  
  jiya-ngka
  
  chair-LOC
  
  dat warlaku im andanith jiya-ngka
  
  the dog 3SG underneath chair-LOC
  
  "The dog is underneath the chair."
  
  Possessive constructions consist of a nominal acting as a predicates, taking another nominal argument. In these clauses the head is marked dative. Inalienable nominals (body parts and kinship) are only optionally marked dative.
  
  wartarra
  
  hey
  
  yu
  
  2SG
  
  bin
  
  PST
  
  kirt
  
  break
  
  dat
  
  the
  
  ngakparn-ku
  
  frot-DAT
  
  hawuj
  
  house
  
  wartarra yu bin kirt dat ngakparn-ku hawuj
  
  hey 2SG PST break the frot-DAT house
  
  "Hey you broke the frog's home (the bottle)."
  
  ### Jingulu language
  
  In Jingulu language, predicates in verbless clauses can be adjectives or nouns, possessors, adpositionals, or adverbs.
  
  Verbless clause example:
  
  Miringmi
  
  gum
  
  bardakurrumi.
  
  good(v)
  
  Miringmi bardakurrumi.
  
  gum good(v)
  
  'Gum is $good.'^{:87}$
  
  ### Merei-Tiale language
  
  In Merei-Tiale language, there are verbless equative clauses.
  
  | I | nau | motei | na | tasale |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | A:P | 1 | IRR.3.NEG | A:C | white-man |
  | 'I am not a $white-man'^{:37}$ |||||
  | I | nie | motei | na | tija |
  | A:P | 3 | IRR.3.NEG | A:C | teacher |
  | 'He is not a $teacher'^{:37}$ |||||
  
  ### Modern Scots
  
  In Modern Scots, examples are seen in relative clauses. She haed tae walk the hale lenth o the road an her seiven month pregnant "She had to walk the whole length of the road—and she seven months pregnant". He telt me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg "He told me to run—and me with my sore leg".
  
  ### Shilha language
  
  Shilha language has examples like the following:
  
      darnɣ argan ar inkkr ɣ tagant (with.us EL-argan it.is.growing in EA-forest) "we have an argan tree growing in the forest"
      is ur dark kra yaḍnin? (question not with.you something other) "don't you have something different?"
  