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Taka Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

weight of information

0 01i01font00(1) The teacher explained the meaning of modifying phrases,02font00 01font01u00and she pointed 02u02font01font00to the sentence on the board.02font02br
01font00(2) 02font02i01font00The teacher explained the meaning of modifying phrases,02font00 01font01u00pointing02u02font00 01font00to the sentence on the board.02br
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02font01font00Most grammar books say (1) and (2) is the same. But do you naive speakers really01i00 sense 02i00both are exactly the same? Do 'and she pointed...' and 'pointing...' have the same 'weight' of information? 02br
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00 I don't know, but, to me, it seems that the participle 'pointing' in (2) is very 'light'---it's just additional information to the main clause 'the teacher explained...'---whereas 'and she pointed...' in (1) is as 'heavy' as the main clause; it sounds like it has the same informational value with the main clause.02br
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6 Answers
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0To me there is a time difference.02br
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00In the first it sounds as though she made her explanation then turned and pointed at the sentence.02br
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00In the second she was explaining while pointing at the sentence.0-
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0 Thank you, nona. But right now I'm not thinking about the dergree of synchronism. Let's take another example.02br
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01i01font00(3)02font00 01u01font00He had no alternative02font02u00, 01font00and he gave in to their demands.02font
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0 I think if you said SO he gave into their demands, you have that sense of "causation" that you get from the second more than the first. 0-
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01cite10Taka12cite11i11font10(12font12i11font101) The teacher explained the meaning of modifying phrases,12font10 11font11u10and she pointed 12u12font11font10
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0Hi Taka,02br
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01font00But do you01font00 naive02font00 speakers really01i00 sense 02i00both are exactly the same . . .02font00 Somehow, I sense that you are not going to take our comments seriously!02br
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00Perhaps saying it in the form of a
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Clive12cite10Hi Taka,12br
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11font10But do you11font10 naive12font10 speakers really11i10 sense 12i10both are exactly the same . . .12font10 Somehow, I sense that you are not going to take our commen
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