34
4. Nominal Relative Clauses
In the nominal relative clauses, there are nine sentences which are discovered. They function as a subject, direct objects, subject complement, an
appositive or prepositional complements. Those are introduced by wh-element, has role as wh-pronoun of the determiner Quirk et al., 1985: 318. And the thing
that differentiates this type to wh-interrogative clause is that the wh-pronouns combine the function of the relative pronoun with that of the determiner and head
of the whole noun phrase Leech and Svartvik, 1975: 250.
a. Nominal Relative Clause as a Subject
There is only one sentence containing a nominal relative clause functions as subject. The sentence is taken from the story which tells about the effort of the
Judea’s crew in order to leave the burning ship as fast as they can. [9] WHAT was left of the Judea followed at the end of the seven
fathom of the tow-rope. p.21 From the example above, the nominal clause that appears as a subject is
the first clause “what was left of Judea”. Here, the nominal relative clause is introduced by the relative pronoun what and it precedes the main verb followed.
And the reason why “what was left of Judea” functions a as subject is in that the rest of the sentence, “…followed at the end of the seven fathom of the tow-rope”,
is its predicate. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
35
b. Nominal Relative Clauses as Direct Objects
This function appears in two sentences and there is only one sentence taken, that is from the scene when all crew have preparation before sailing to
Bangkok. [10] I notice HOW attentive you are to john-to Captain. p. 6
The nominal relative clause is placed after the verb notice, and it is preceded by the wh-element how and it completes the action of verb notice.
c. Nominal Relative Clause as an Appositive The nominal relative clause functions as an appositive describes the
situation of pumping out the water because of rod leakage. [11] The thing, WHATEVER it was, struck my leg again. p. 9
From the example, the word whatever becomes the indicator of the nominal relative clause. It functions as an appositive and it is placed between
commas, meaning that the clause is added to bring the additional information and refers to something, and in this case it refers to the subject “the thing”.
d. Nominal Relative Clauses as Prepositional Complements
In this function, both examples are taken when the story took place in the harbor before their departure and when all crew were in hurry to save their life
from the fire. [12] He understood at once WHAT was the matter. p. 6
36 [13] I had never noticed so much before HOW twisted and bowed he
was. p. 15 From the examples above, the preposition complement appears after the
preposition at once and before. And the wh-pronouns what and how mark the occurrence of nominal relative clauses. For the example [13], the clause contains
a subject-operator inversion that may have a certain purpose to show a certain literary style, that is a dialectal inversion Quirk et al 1985: 318.
e. Nominal Relative Clause as Subject Complement
Kategori