Simple complicated sentence as a monopredicative structure

Abstract

The article considers semantic-syntactic features that indicate complication of a simple sentence. A sentence is considered to be complicated if it realizes two or propositions, one of which is less communicatively valuable.

The position of the simple complicated sentence in reference to the simple sentence and to the compound / complex one is characterized. The complicated sentence has a structure of a simple sentence but its semantic load is closer to a compound / complex one.

The term “simple complicated sentence” is defined as syntactic monopredicative structure that has additional predicativity (half-predicativity) when main information is being commented on thus realizing two or more prepositions, and has syntactic means of coordination such as conjunctions, particles, pronouns, modal words, repetitions, word-order, intonation.

The syntactic categories predicativity (as a universal above category for any sentence) and additional predicativity / half-predicativity (as one of simple complicated sentence features) are analyzed. Predicativity in linguistics is considered to be correlation of the sentence content to the reality; it is the syntactic category that forms the sentence by giving its content the character of message about any fact of the reality. Half-predicativity is the syntactic meaning that partly coincides with the predicative one but doesn’t form the sentence.

The constructions that make a sentence complicated are homogeneous parts; detached secondary parts; parenthetic words and elements; direct addresses. Such constructions have additional predicativity. Due to the above given constructions a complicated sentence never corresponds to the predicative minimum of the sentence.

Parts of coordinative construction are means of expressing proposition and mediums of additional predicativity and together with predicative base form semantically complicated sentence.