Syntactic expletive
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| - | A '''syntactic expletive''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] '''{{sc|expl}}''') is a form of [[expletive]]: a word that in itself contributes nothing to the [[semantic]] meaning of a sentence, yet does perform a [[Syntax|syntactic]] role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/expletive |title=Expletive | Define Expletive at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |date= |accessdate=2013-10-15}}</ref> Expletive subjects in the form of [[dummy pronoun]]s are part of the [[grammar]] of many non-[[pro-drop language]]s such as English, whose clauses normally require overt provision of [[subject (grammar)|subject]] even when the subject can be pragmatically inferred. (For an alternative theory considering expletives like ''there'' as a dummy [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]] rather than a dummy [[subject (grammar)|subject]] based on the analysis of the [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] see Moro 1997<ref>[[Andrea Moro|Moro, A.]] 1997 ''The Raising of Predicates. Predicative Noun Phrases and the Theory of Clause Structure'', ''Cambridge Studies in Linguistics'', 80, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.</ref>). Consider this example: | + | A '''syntactic expletive''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] '''{{sc|expl}}''') is a form of [[expletive]]: a word that in itself contributes nothing to the [[semantic]] meaning of a sentence, yet does perform a [[Syntax|syntactic]] role. |
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| - | :"''It'' is important that you work hard for the exam." | + | |
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| - | Following the eighteenth-century conception of [[pronoun]], Bishop [[Robert Lowth]] objected that since [[It (pronoun)|"''it''"]] is a pronoun, it should have an [[Antecedent_(grammar)|antecedent]]. Since it cannot function without an antecedent in [[Latin]], Lowth declared the usage to be incorrect in [[English language|English]]. It is possible to rephrase such sentences omitting the syntactic expletive "it," for example: | + | |
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| - | :"That you work hard for the exam is important," or | + | |
| - | :"To work hard for the exam is important." | + | |
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| - | Since subject pronouns are not used in Latin except for emphasis, neither are expletive pronouns and the problem does not arise. For example, the Latin equivalent of ''it is necessary that you ...'', {{Lang-la|oportet tibi|label=none}}, translates to 'necessitates to you'. | + | |
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| - | Since English syntax and Latin syntax are not the same, the sentence was and is fully acceptable to native speakers of English and thus was and is widely considered to be proper grammar. ''It'' has no meaning here; it merely serves as a dummy [[Subject (grammar)|subject]]. (It is sometimes called ''preparatory it'' or ''prep it'', or a ''[[dummy pronoun]]''.) | + | |
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| - | Bishop Lowth did not condemn sentences that use ''there'' as an expletive, for example: | + | |
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| - | :"''There'' are ten desks here." | + | |
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| - | The nomenclature used for the constituents of sentences such as this is still a matter of some dispute, but ''there'' might be the subject, ''are'' the copula, and ''ten desks'' a predicate nominal. | + | |
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| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| *[[Existential clause]] | *[[Existential clause]] | ||
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A syntactic expletive (abbreviated Template:Sc) is a form of expletive: a word that in itself contributes nothing to the semantic meaning of a sentence, yet does perform a syntactic role.
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