In linguistics, an absolute construction is a
grammatical construction
In linguistics, a grammatical construction is any syntax, syntactic string of words ranging from Sentence (linguistics), sentences over phrase structure rules, phrasal structures to certain complex lexemes, such as phrasal verbs.
Grammatical const ...
standing apart from a normal or usual syntactical relation with other words or sentence elements. It can be a
non-finite clause
In linguistics, a non-finite clause is a dependent or embedded clause that represents a state or event in the same way no matter whether it takes place before, during, or after text production. In this sense, a non-finite dependent clause represe ...
that is
subordinate
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...
in form and modifies an entire sentence, an
adjective
An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
or
possessive pronoun
A possessive or ktetic form ( abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a number of other types of relation to a greater or le ...
standing alone without a modified
substantive
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example ...
, or a
transitive verb
A transitive verb is a verb that entails one or more transitive objects, for example, 'enjoys' in ''Amadeus enjoys music''. This contrasts with intransitive verbs, which do not entail transitive objects, for example, 'arose' in ''Beatrice arose ...
when its object is implied but not stated.
[American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition] The term ''absolute'' derives from Latin , meaning "loosened from" or "separated".
Because the non-finite clause, called the absolute clause (or simply the absolute), is not semantically attached to any single element in the sentence, it is easily confused with a
dangling participle.
The difference is that the
participial phrase
In linguistics, a participle (; abbr. ) is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from a verb and used as an adject ...
of a dangling participle is intended to modify a particular noun, but is instead erroneously attached to a different noun, whereas a participial phrase serving as an absolute clause is not intended to modify any noun at all.
English
The absolute construction, or
nominative absolute, is not particularly common in modern English and is generally more often seen in writing than in speech, apart from a few fixed expressions such as "weather permitting". Examples include:
*''Weather permitting'', we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
*''All things considered'', it's not a bad idea.
*''This being the case'', let us go.
*''The referee having finally arrived'', the game began.
Latin
Absolute clauses appear in Classical Latin with the modifying present or past participle in the
ablative case
In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages. It is used to indicate motion away from something, make ...
; for this reason they are referred to as
ablative absolutes.
An ablative absolute describes some general circumstance under which the action of a sentence occurs. When translated into English, ablative absolutes are often translated as "with
oun articiple:
*''Urbe capta'' Aeneas fugit.
''With the city captured'', Aeneas fled.
Absolute clauses also appear with an adjective, although less frequently:
*Omnem enim illam partem regionemque ''vivo Cn. Pompeio'' bellum instauraturam esse credebat.
He believed that region, ''with Gnaeus Pompeius alive'', was going to repeat the war. (
De Bello Alexandrino 42)
In Late Latin, absolute clauses also appear in the nominative and accusative cases, even in conjunction with an ablative absolute:
*''Benedicens nos episcopus,'' profecti sumus
''With the bishop blessing us,'' we departed. (4th century,
Peregrinatio Egeriae 16.7)
*Machinis constructis, ''omniaque genera tormentorum adhibita'', ...
With the machines built, ''and with all types of torture devices in use...'' (6th century,
Jordanes
Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life.
He wrote two works, one on R ...
)
Other Indo-European languages
Absolute constructions occur with other
grammatical case
A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and Numeral (linguistics), numerals) that corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a Nominal group (functional grammar), n ...
s in
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
, such as
accusative absolute in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
German and Latin,
genitive absolute
In Ancient Greek grammar, the genitive absolute is a grammatical construction consisting of a participle and often a noun both in the genitive case, which is very similar to the Latin grammar#Ablative, ablative absolute in Latin. A genitive absolut ...
in Greek, dative absolute in
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
,
Gothic and
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...
, locative absolute in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and instrumental absolute in Anglo-Saxon.
See also
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References
{{Reflist
Grammar
Syntax
Generative syntax