VI.88 Surely the most neglected among the frequent PATTERNS in the real GRAMMAR of English is the NON-CLAUSE,[Note 16] a discourse unit which serves the functions of a CLAUSE without having the form of SUBJECT plus VERB. In speaking, it occurs as an UTTERANCE in a distinct TONE GROUP, and usually with at least one STRONG STRESS; in writing, it occurs as a SENTENCE beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. School “grammars” would spurn it as a “sentence fragment”, a heinous error vilified on the Internet as a “grammar outlaw” (cf. VI.74) -- a rebel without a clause, so to speak. Linguistic “grammars” would re-tailor it into a CLAUSE that happens to be “subjectless” or “verbless” (or both), or which, for obscure motives, has undergone “ellipsis” but is still “understood” as a CLAUSE (cf. VI.111). Both moves obey staid notions of English “grammar” modelled on “formal” written English.
VI.89 In authentic discursive practice, NON-CLAUSES are essential as functional and prosodic units. One recent survey found them to constitute more than one third of all units in a sample of English conversation.[Note 17] They are natural products of cooperative interaction, as in [371-72] (BNC data).
[371] Ruth: you’ve got some imbeciles coming! Paul: Who are they? Ruth: [laughing] Well mainly the children. Paul: Dunno them. Ruth: Your cousins.
[372] Margaret: Do you remember that great big jumble sale they had that raised over a thousand pounds? They had under the erm Richard: What, the Scouts? Terence: multi-storey? Margaret: Yeah. Richard: Four or five years ago now.
Written English too can produce abundant NON-CLAUSES [373], especially when representing conversation [374].
[373] John Major is now being exposed for what some of us always warned that he was. A fake. A flake. A wimp. A phoney. (Daily Mirror)
[374] “I thought it was appalling”, she said. “What d’you mean, appalling?” “The noise. The dirt. The mindless, repetitive work.” (Nice Work)
VI.90 In respect to position, the LOOK-AHEAD NON-CLAUSE points forward to a MAJOR CLAUSE, as in [375]; the LOOK-BACK NON-CLAUSE points backward, as in [376]; and the FREE NON-CLAUSE stands alone without pointing to any nearby CLAUSE, as in [377].
[375] My noble father. He is looking down on us now (Man and Superman)
[376] Something of a surprise. You being here. And in your cab. (Suburban Dead)
[377] They found him in a trance. […] “Glorious, stirring sight!” murmured Toad. (Wind in the Willows)
VI.91 In the organisation of CONVERSATIONAL TURNS among several speakers, a NON-CLAUSE can point ahead to the next TURN [378]; or, far more commonly, it points back to the previous TURN [379]. Or again, it can share a TURN with a CLAUSE [380] or with another NON-CLAUSE [381].
[378] “You and I —” “We shall always remember him”, I said, hastily. (Heart of Darkness)
[379] “You sound very dull”, Katharine remarked. “Merely middle class”. Denham replied. (Night and Day)
[380] “But that’s you. Your handwriting.” (Chung Kuo)
[381] “Sorry”, I shouted. “My fault. Should have spotted it myself.” (Uncle Albert)
VI.92 The BALANCE favouring the PREDICATE over the SUBJECT in the English CLAUSE, noted back in IV.271, may suggest why the SUBJECT is more often missing than the VERB, and is easier to leave out in context [382-83]. Even so, NON-CLAUSES without a VERB, as in [384], are no rarity.
[382] Gets a bit lonely since our accident, you know. Can’t get about. (Samaritan)
[383] “What do you think they does?” “Don’t know.” “Gets up a grand tea drinkin”. (Pickwick)
[384] But Baldwin and Mrs B. are wonderful. Never a word of bitterness or complaint. (Constitutional Texts)
VI.93 All four of the MAJOR CLAUSE TYPES reviewed in IV.C.1-4 have corresponding MINOR NON-CLAUSES. A NON-CLAUSE STATEMENT can range from a single WORD in [385] to an extensive PHRASE [386]. Each usually has at least one CERTAIN STRONG STRESS, often for END WEIGHT, and is set off by longer pauses conventionally marked in written English with periods and highlighted here with double upright lines. Stylistic effects can be quite impressive [387-88].
[385] She ¡took her·¡self ¡off for ¡long !walks to ¡pon·der in the !ice and !wind and !snow. | | !Cold. | | !Chill. | | !Freez·ing. | | !Wet. | | (I Believe in Angels)
[386] ¡She was !noth·ing to ¡him. | | ¡Just an·¡oth·er !wor·ship·per in a ¡long !string of !sub·jects. (Undo)
[387] The !door, her !moth·er ¡com·ing. | | !Sway·ing, !skel·e·tal, and her ¡face like !snow. | | !Clutch·ing ¡some·thing ¡wrapped in !pa·per. | | !Red on her !face and her !coat. (Lying Together)
[388] The ¡damp, ¡yel·low-¡brick !school·¡build·ing in its !cin·der·y !grounds. | | The ¡State !Bank, | !stuc·co ¡mask·ing !wood. | | The !Farm·ers’ ¡Na·tion·al !Bank. | | An I·¡on·ic !tem·ple of !mar·ble. (Main Street)
These series of NON-CLAUSES nicely invoke a disjointed series of visual impressions, e.g., for the spectral materialisation of the “mother” in [387]; or for the iconic representation of the planlessness of Gopher Prairie in [388], where “each man had built with the most valiant disregard of all the others” (Main Street).
VI.94 Several indicators suggest that such NON-CLAUSES can count as STATEMENTS and not just fortuitous leftovers. They can have their own topics, as in news headlines:
[389] Baker’s hard man “soft” on grammar (London Standard)
[390] Sri Lanka rebels ready for autonomy (BBC World News)
Also, they can have a MINOR CLAUSE depending on them, though such usages are not common in my data, e.g.:
[391] A fever. Which took Thérèse by the throat and shook her (Daughters)
[392] The winter. When things would be quieter maybe on the farm. (Oral history)BNC
And they can be loosely linked with “and” to a nearby CLAUSE, much like the NON-FINITES shown in VI.83, but without any VERB form:
[393] He was forever ill-treating her, and she too proud to complain. (Sherlock Holmes)
[394] At a Labour conference you get Gerry Adams turning up at a fringe meeting, and he the leader of Sinn Fein (Independent)
[395] It’s funny you should be calling on her, and you a respectable young lady (Ridgeway)
VI.95 One simple function of a NON-CLAUSE STATEMENT is to echo or repeat, e.g., to emphasize what you just said [396]; or to show you have taken in what someone else has said [397]; or to indicate some reservation about it [398].
[396] “In game-playing I always win. Always”, he emphasised. (My Heart)
[397] “I could rent a place like this next year. In September.” “September”, she repeated and listened to the rain. (same)
[398] “You write novels?” “Oh yes. That is, I want to write them”. “Novels”, she repeated. “Why do you write novels?” (Voyage Out)
A more elaborate function is to supply an ITEM or PATTERN that might otherwise have been integrated into a nearby CLAUSE, such as a MODIFIER [399], DIRECT OBJECT [400], or ADVERBIAL [401]. But sometimes no plausible format for integrating is readily indicated [402].
[399] The barmaid caught my eye in the mirror. Beautiful. (Other Country)
[400] I have various packets. And the tin of milk. And a plum. And a peach. (What’s It Like Out)
[401] It just took off like a rocket from there. Every night. All the time. (Living with Heroin)
[402] He was beautiful, your brother. Always a fair price. Always there. (Payback)
[403] Their nerves burned like open sores on a dog’s neck. White knuckles. Wild eyes. (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail)
Common too are FREE NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS whose main function is to comment on something in the communicative situation:
[404] They found Mr. Jarvis greasing a cat’s paws with butter. “A fine animal”, said Psmith. (Psmith)
[405] He took from De Gautet a bottle which he carried, and put it to his lips. “Hardly a drop! he cried discontentedly, and flung it in the moat. (Zenda)
[406] Grace appeared at the doorway with a tray in her hands, holding sandwiches, French fries, two glasses of milk. “Time for a break, boys.” “Ah, relief”, Byron said. (Undo)
[407] Mac eyed George’s retreating back till he had turned the corner. “A nice pleasant gentleman, Mr. Bevan”, he said. (Damsel)
VI.96 Like the separated DEPENDENT CLAUSES reviewed in VI.74, NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS are popular for answering QUESTIONS.
[408] “Who is Glinda?” inquired the Scarecrow. “The Witch of the South”. (Oz)
[409] “What’s the matter with him?” “Just crazy drunk”. (Jungle)
[410] “Are you drunk?” “Tolerable sober, my angel”, returns Mr. Bucket. (Bleak House)
[411] “Where is the book?” “In the laboratory.” (Egoist)
By contrast, full CLAUSES might sound quite inappropriate. Even in carefully composed discourse like [412], they could create an irritable or pedantic impression; and in casual talk like [413] from BNC data, they could seem baldly out of place.
[412] Algernon: What brings you up to town?
Jack: Oh, pleasure, pleasure! […] [compare: Pleasure brings me up to town.]
Algernon: Where have you been since last Thursday?
Jack: In the country. […] [compare: I have been in the country since last Thursday] (Oscar Wilde, Importance of Being Earnest)
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[413] Ruth : Have you got two tens you want to change for a twenty, Paul? Paul: No, sorry. (BNC) [compare: No, I am sorry that I have not got two tens I want to change for a twenty.]
The version shown for [413] could seem almost as stern as saying “I can’t bother with you”
VI.97 NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS can be strategically positioned near the ITEM they look toward in a nearby CLAUSE. A LOOK-AHEAD NON-CLAUSE STATEMENT might look toward a SUBJECT [414] more naturally than toward an OBJECT [415]; a LOOK-BACK NON-CLAUSE STATEMENT might look toward an added OBJECT [416] more naturally than to an added SUBJECT [417].
[414] A very fierce-looking man, Don Carlos. He asked me for a cigar in a most familiar manner. (Nostromo)
[415] James Cardiff. You remember him. Chap with red hair (Nudists)
[416] He went away, taking his men with him. And the guns of course. (WouldBeGoods)
[417] Tildy came -- a midnight beauty, with starry eyes and tapering limbs. And her brother, correspondingly homely. And then the big boys. (Souls of Black Folk)
Similarly, NON-CLAUSES in the function of ADVERBIALS, such as PLACE or TIME, typically resemble LOOK-BACK STATEMENTS [418-19], recalling the unmarked position of ADVERBIALS in a complete CLAUSE (cf. IV.290).
[418] You must come here at once, Lord Wisbeach. To-night. To-day. (Picadilly Jim)
[419] We’re still in the office block. In the basement. (Darkfall)
VI.98 NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS can also be followed by TAG STATEMENTS, such as PRO-NOUN + “be”-VERB [420-21], or DEMONSTRATIVE + “be”-VERB [422-23], or just DEMONSTRATIVE [424-25]. The NON-CLAUSE can carry a STRONG STRESS, whilst these TAGS probably prefer WEAK STRESS.
[420] Scientific !gen·tle·man, | ¡he was. (Adversary)
[421] My God! Mean as !muck, | ¡they are. (Rag Nymph)
[422] Sweaty !work, | ¡this is. (Green behind the Glass)
[423] Good drop of !gin, | ¡that was. (Ulysses)
[424] A gay old !grand·pa, | ¡this. (Octopus)
[425] Took some !do·ing, | ¡that. (Chickens)
In PROSODY, the usual PATTERN of NON-CLAUSE plus TAG has two falling CONTOURS separated by a short pause, one with STRONG STRESS for END WEIGHT and one with WEAK STRESS on the PRO-NOUN [426]. In a clear PROSODIC contrast, a STATEMENT CLAUSE with a FRONTED SUBJECT COMPLEMENT has one long falling CONTOUR with FRONT WEIGHT and a merely mechanical END WEIGHT without FOCUS, as shown in [427].
VI.99 Once more like MAJOR STATEMENTS, NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS can be followed by FRAMING TAGS (cf. VI.78).
[428] !So·ber !ser·i·ous !man with a ¡bit in the !sav·ings-¡bank, ¡I’d say. (Ulysses)
[429] “¡Same !suit”, said ¡Tup·pe. “¡Same !man, I’m ¡tel·ling you.” (Ultimate Truths)
[430] They’re par·¡tic·u·lar at the ¡Na·tion·al !Gal·ler·y. !Gov·ern·¡ment !show, you ¡know. (Adversary)
[431] She often ¡said she’d ¡like to !vis·it. !Slum·ming. The ex·!ot·ic, you ¡see. (Ulysses)
VI.100 NON-CLAUSE QUESTIONS are abundantly attested:
[432] Kent banish’d thus? And France in choler parted? And the King gone to-night? Subscrib’d his pow’r? Confin’d to exhibition? All this done upon the gad? (King Lear)
With greater intensity than NON-CLAUSE STATEMENTS, LOOK-BACK QUESTIONS repeat specific ITEMS to indicate some reservation [433-34]. The repeated ITEMS may be included in a NON-CLAUSE QUESTION-WORD QUESTION with “what” [435], “where” [436], or “who” [437].
[433] “That was brave.” “!Brave?” She ¡ech·oed the word in·!cred·u·lous·ly. “!Brave?” (Lover’s Charade)
[434] “You can ¡stay the !week·¡end.” ¡Rob·yn ¡stared a·!ghast. “!Stay the !week·¡end?” (Garden)
[435] You ¡ought to ¡get !ready”, she ¡said. “Get ¡ready for !what?” (Bury the Dead)
[436] “I want a ¡tick·et to ¡Cal·i·!for·ni·a, ¡please.” “¡Cal·i·¡for·ni·a !where?” (Alternative Assembly)
[437] “Have they ¡ta·ken him to !pris·on yet?” “¡Ta·ken !who to ¡pris·on?” (Affair at Styles)
VI.101 The omission of the SUBJECT in QUESTIONS works better when the AGENT or MEDIUM of the PROCESS VERB would be the hearer [439-39] than if it would be the speaker [440-41].<