complement (n.) (comp)

A term used in the analysis of GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION, to refer to a major CONSTITUENT of SENTENCE or CLAUSE STRUCTURE, traditionally associated with ‘completing’ the action specified by the VERB. In its broadest sense, complement therefore is a very general notion, subsuming all obligatory features of the PREDICATE other than the verb, e.g. OBJECTS (e.g. She kicked the ball) and ADVERBIALS (e.g. She was in the garden). In some approaches, the complement is given a more restricted definition, e.g. to refer only to the ‘completing’ function of structures following the verb to be (or similar verbs) – in such an analysis, She saw the doctor would be SUBJECT– Verb–Object, whereas She is a doctor would be Subject–Verb–Complement. A further distinction is sometimes made between complements of the subject and those of the object, as in She is a doctor (subject complement) and She called me a fool (object complement). Complement clauses of various kinds are recognized, this notion sometimes being interpreted as any kind of SUBORDINATE clause, sometimes as only one type of subordinate clause (e.g. a clause following be, such as That is what I said). However, the domain of complementation remains an unclear area in linguistic analysis, and there are several unresolved issues, e.g. whether the PARTICLES in phrasal verbs (e.g. come in) should be subsumed under this heading. In GENERATIVE grammar, a complement is a SISTER constituent of a ZERO-level category. Categories other than the verb are also sometimes said to take complements, e.g. in a student of physics, of physics is said to be the complement of student. In X-BAR SYNTAX, the term is used in opposition to ADJUNCT (cf. a student with long hair).

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم صناعة الشبابيك يشرع بإدامة شباكين قديمين لمرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام)

فرقة العباس (عليه السلام) تختتم خدماتها المقدمة للزائرين في سامراء

موكب العتبتين المقدستين يحيي ذكرى استشهاد الإمام الهادي (عليه السلام) في سامراء

العتبة العسكرية المقدسة تكرّم وفد العتبة العباسية المقدسة لمشاركته في تقديم الخدمات للزائرين

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Zero-anaphora (“pro-drop”)

Annotated Phrase Structure trees

Word-level (lexical) categories

Syntax and speech

Word Order- Classifiers and phrasal dependents in DP

Word order- Suffixal Pl and Art

Syntax Word order and restrictive vs. nonrestrictive modification

Syntax

Language Mixture—Grammar

Change in grammar and pronunciation

Word order

Grammaticalization.