The functional value of non-integration in clause combining: Interpersonal versus discursive independence

Abstract

It is argued that the distinction between integrated and non-integrated intonation for dependent clauses, which is often used as an important parameter in typologies of clause combining mechanisms, is not a unitary phenomenon. The distinction between integrated and non-integrated intonation in these contexts correlates with two different functional parameters. On the one hand, there is the parameter of interpersonal independence, according to which a dependent clause can either have no interpersonal value of its own and completely depend on the interpersonal resources of its main clause, or be interpersonally independent of its main clause and have an assertive force of its own. On the other hand, there is the parameter of discursive independence, according to which a dependent clause can either form one single focus domain with its main clause, or function independently of the focus domain of its main clause. These two parameters are organized hierarchically, in that a discursively independent clause can still be interpersonally dependent, whereas an interpersonally independent clause is necessarily also discursively independent.