Revised as of
28 Jan 2023
Catena. A short but exciting word — it makes me think of a Mexican cantina with margaritas, enchiladas and carne asada, quesadillas, and mole poblano and more . . . yum . . .
Hmmm, my thoughts reflect the word, for a catena is a chain of words strung together much like a phrase — a chain that takes on its own “group” meaning — and changes the meaning of the individual words. A chain that can be strung together into a string of catenas, making up a sentence that eventually tells us the tale.
For example, words such as ball, fire, dance, sing, play, school, etc., take on a different meaning when combined with another word(s):
| play ball | play in the mud |
| fire it up | fireball |
| home school | go to school |
| rains cats and dogs | |
At heart, catena is a series of individual words that are linked together, creating that chain.
Grammar Explanations is…
…an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.
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| Catena | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part of Speech: Grammar, Linguistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definition: A word or series of words that form a single phrase (a unit of syntax and morphology), like a chain in a sentence and closely associated with dependency grammars.
This combined phrase cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts, but must be taken as a whole, i.e., a phrasal verb. A.k.a., compound verb, verb-adverb combination, verb-particle construction, two-part word/verb or three-part word/verb (depending on the number of particles), multi-word verb |
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| Basic Catena | Definition: Combines two words that immediately changes the definition of the both words with the headword (the word being modified). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Idiosyncratic Meaning | Definition: The ultimate catena, it combines words so that the combination cannot be defined using the individual words’ own meanings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Collocation | Definition: A grouping of words that often go together or that commonly occur together. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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They took on the boss. Janet relies on her friends. It jumped out of the box. Legend:
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| Idiom | Definition: A type of figure of speech consisting of a verb and a noun (and more) that are a type of collocation catena.
You may also want to read the post “Idiom“. A.k.a., proper idiom |
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Keep your fingers crossed.
Sara blew her top at her brother’s antics. Shelby can’t make up her mind. Gimme a break, Jim, they’re just pulling your leg. He is gonna take it on the chin. She’d better not step on my toes! It scared the daylights out of me! |
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| Rule: Idioms cannot be altered in any major way without losing their idiomatic meaning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Credit to: Osborne |
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| Discontinuity | Definition: Occurs when a word or phrase is separated from another word or phrase and causes confusion in what is meant.
Types of Discontinuity:
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| Extraposition | Definition: The placing of a word or group of words outside or at the end of a clause, while retaining the sense of the wording. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Something that was unexpected then occurred.
Something then occurred that was unexpected. Did anyone whom you expected to help actually help? Did anyone actually help whom you expected to help? They called someone to pick up the kids before school. They called someone before school to pick up the kids. Legend:
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| Rule: The subject is often postponed and replaced by it at the start. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crying over spilt milk is no use.
It’s no use crying over spilt milk. Legend:
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| Topicalization | Definition: Moves the catena to the front of the sentence.
It’s a rare discontinuity in English, and many are only marginally acceptable when the catena is shifted. |
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The boys roll rocks for entertainment.
For entertainment, the boys roll rocks. Everyone refused to answer because the pressure was too great. Because the pressure was too great, everyone refused to answer. Legend:
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| Wh-fronting | Definition: Occurs when a wh-expression is at the front of the clause in order to focus it and occurs in:
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Which house does Jim plan to buy?
Why has that been annoying you? Nobody knows what they have been saying. That one. He’s the person who we have been seeking. Those are dangers which you have been ignoring. He’s one politician whose flip-flops nobody is willing to forget. Legend:
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| Ellipsis | Definition: The omission of one or more words that are not necessary for the phrase to be understood.
Elided (omitted) material is considered a catena. You may also want to explore the post “Ellipsis“. Types of Ellipses include:
A.k.a., elliptical construction |
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| Answer Fragment | Definition: Omits the phrase.
A.k.a., fragment answer |
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“Who can play the guitar?” “John can play the guitar.”
“Does Abby speak Greek fluently?” “No, Abby speaks Albanian fluently.” Legend:
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| Antecedent-contained Ellipsis | Definition: Verb phrases that MUST be identical, although the second verb phrase is omitted.
A.k.a., antecedent-contained deletion |
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He is thinking the same thing I am thinking.
John washed the dishes, and Mary did wash the dishes, too. John washed the dishes on Tuesday, and Mary did wash the dishes on Tuesday, too. Legend:
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| Argument-contained Ellipsis | Definition: A verb phrase ellipsis that doesn’t function properly in English and yet sites insist on including it (to compare it to other languages in which it does work). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comparative Deletion | Definition: The exact same word is omitted in the second clause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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More girls were there today than girls were there yesterday.
Legend:
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| Gapping | Definition: Lacking a head noun in the catena, you can skip the second usage of the catena.
Gapping cannot operate backwards, so the antecedent to the gap must come before the gap. |
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Should I attempt to call you or you attempt to call me?
Some ate bread, and others ate rice. Fred likes to pet the cat, and Sally likes to pet the dog. Jim has been being observed by me, and Tom has been being observed by you. Legend:
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| Noun-phrase Ellipsis (NP-ellipsis) | Definition: At a minimum, the head noun of the phrase/clause (phrases) is omitted (elided) in one of the phrases and the sentence is still understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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At the most, everything else in the noun phrase that follows the word that introduces the ellipsis may be omitted.
There are several ways to create an NP-ellipsis by:
A.k.a., N-ellipsis, ‘N′’-ellipsis, NPE, noun ellipsis, NP-ellipsis |
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| John can play five instruments, and Mary can play six instruments.
Because he did the first two problems, she is going to do that last three problems. When Susan brings her dog, Sam brings his dog too. Even though he skipped one task, he did do the rest of the tasks. Jill likes your story even though she hates Bill’s story. Because you bought two donuts, I bought three donuts. I caught the first train before you caught the second train. Some school kids like syntax, and some school kids don’t. Each student was helped so that each student would understand. Susan likes her big red fish with a stripe and Tom likes his big red fish with a stripe too. Susan likes her big red fish with a stripe and Tom likes his big red fish with spots. Legend:
Credit to: Noun Ellipsis |
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| Predicate-argument Structure | Definition: The structure is a combination of a predicate and its arguments, i.e., any expression(s) in a sentence that expands on what the verb is expressing and helps complete the meaning of the predicate. (It can take up to three arguments.)
A predicate catena is a phrase (an argument) that contributes to the meaning of the sentence predicate, i.e., the predicate-argument structure. Credit to: Nordquist |
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The cat was bitten by the dog. The dog bit the cat. Mary cut the dress. Mary cut the dress on the cutting table. The dress was cut by Mary. Peter flew his kite. Peter flew his kite high in the sky. High in the sky, Peter’s kite flew. Helen hit Donny with a baseball yesterday. Yesterday, Helen hit Donny with a baseball. Donny was hit by Helen yesterday by a baseball. Yesterday, Donny was hit with a baseball by Helen. With a baseball, Helen hit Donny yesterday. Yesterday, Donny was hit by Helen with a baseball. |
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| Pseudogapping | Definition: Most but not all of a verb phrase is omitted in a sentence.
Credit to: Nordquist |
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John can play the guitar and Mary can play the violin.
Ashley is managing the club Thursday, and Sam is managing the club Friday. Legend:
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| Sluicing | Definition: A stranded wh-phrase that is part of an Credit to: Nordquist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John can play something, but I don’t know what.
I was afraid of something that day, but I didn’t know of what. Jack bought something, but I don’t know what. “Someone called.” “Really? Who?“ Jack called, but I don’t know (when/how/why/where from). A car is parked on the lawn — find out whose. Uncle Henry told me to expect someone, but he didn’t say who. My folks were fightin’ last week, but I don’t know what about. Someone called for you yesterday, but I don’t know who. Legend:
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| Stripping | Definition: Occurs in a sentence when everything in one clause is omitted but a single element remains.
That single element is often accompanied by a particle such as also, as well, or too, to help clarify the meaning. A.k.a., bare argument |
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Pedro left La Paz, and Maréa left La Paz as well.
Laura drank the milk last night, or perhaps Laura drank the juice last night. I met Aisha yesterday, but I did not meet her daughter. She told John to come outside, and Ben to come outside too. Legend:
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| VP-ellipsis | Definition: At the head of the second phrase, the non-finite verb has been left out, i.e., elided.
A.k.a., verb phrase ellipsis, VPE |
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Rule: The elided (omitted) verb phrase (VP) must be a non-finite verb phrase phrase; it cannot be a finite VP.
The ellipsis must be introduced by an auxiliary verb — be, can, do, don’t, could, have, may, might, shall, should, will, won’t, would, etc.) or by the infinitive particle to. |
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| John can play the guitar and Mary can play the guitar, too.
She will sell sea shells, and he will sell sea shells too. You might do it, but I won’t do it. She won’t laugh, but he will laugh. Susan has been cheating, and Fred has been cheating too. Larry is not telling the truth, neither is Jim telling the truth. They will do it if they want to do it. Sam wants to eat, and Fred wants to eat as well. Susan will write the paper, won’t she write the paper? |
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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Grammar Explanations by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Catenae
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Nordquist, Richard. “Argument Structure in English Grammar Meaning in Linguistics Related to Verb .” ThoughtCo. Web. 25 February 2019. Accessed 26 April 2019. <https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-argument-linguistics-1689003>.
— —. “sluicing (grammar).” Thoughtco. Web. 6 March 2017. Accessed 27 April 2019. <https://www.thoughtco.com/sluicing-grammar-1691968>.
Osborne, Timothy. “Is Linear Order Derived?” Meaning Text.net. 8–9 September 2011. 6 April 2019. <http://meaningtext.net/mtt2011/proceedings/papers/Osborne.pdf>.
“Verb Phrase Ellipsis“. Wikipedia.org. 30 June 2018. 6 Apr 2019. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb_phrase_ellipsis>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
The cropped Chain Painting by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Liz Dunagan, US Navy, Yokosuka, Japan, 23 December 2015, is in the public domain courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
