Subordinate Clause

Definition

A subordinate clause is an embedded clause that can stand as a conditional or complement clause in relation to a main clause. (Suttles, 2003, p. 95) In Halkomelem, these clauses are produced by prefixing one of two subordinating particles (wə-1 ‘if, when, that’ and ʔəł- ‘whenever, whatever’) to the first word in a predicate and replacing its co-ordinate subject person marker with a subordinate subject person marker. Subordinate clauses are used as conditional clauses, indirect commands, indirect questions, and complements in specific situations. (Suttles, 2003, pp. 121-122)

In Skwxwu7mesh, the defining characteristics of subordinate clause types like nominalized clauses, conjunctive clauses, and /u/ clauses are: i) how they mark the subject, ii) the presence of various clitics. (Jacobs, 2013, p. 1)

Examples

Examples in the Halkomelem Context with Main-Clause Forms on the Left and Subordinate-Clause Forms on the Right (Suttles, 2003, p. 122)
Examples in the Skwxwu7mesh Context of /u/ Subordinate Clauses (Jacobs, 2013, p. 33)

References

Jacobs, P. W. (2013). Subordinate clauses in Skwxwu7mesh: Their form and function. Northwest Journal of Linguistics, 7(2), 1-54.

Suttles, W. (2004). Musqueum reference grammar. UBC Press. SFU Student Access.