Syntactic Economy and Expressiveness: An Analysis of Nominative Absolute Participial Constructions
Syntactic Economy and Expressiveness: An Analysis of Nominative Absolute Participial Constructions

Summary/Abstract: Nominative absolute participial constructions are a distinctive and stylistically versatile feature of Modern English syntax. Comprising a noun phrase in the nominative case in combination with a participial phrase, they form a clause that is grammatically independent of the main sentence. These constructions provide contextual information related to time, cause, condition, or attendant circumstance. Nominative absolute participial constructions are syntactically independent but semantically linked adjuncts, which enhances their ability to play a significant role in improving narrative flow, technical precision, and literary expressiveness. The present paper investigates their structural properties, semantic versatility, diachronic evolution, and examines the propensity of their employment.

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