"Relative clauses" with no relativized element

[Suzanne Kemmer]

Talmy, yes Joan B did not invent noun complements nor
the term for them; but my recollection, in passing, was that she
named 'that' in such structures as "complementizer" (and I also 
recall that she referred to 'that' relativizers  with the same term, 
while recognizing other differences between the two structures.)  

I may be wrong on that, but it's a different recollection, claim, or whatever,
than the one you refer to.  

Not all the head nouns are nominalizations, but most are.
S.

On Sep 10, 2010, at 12:43 PM, Tom Givon wrote:

> 
> 
> Looking through my "English Grammar (Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1993), vol. I, ch. 6, section 6.6.4. "Noun complements",  p. 298, I find this construction described and analyzed as the product of nominalization of clauses with verbs that take verbal complements ('know', 'think', 'say' etc. The preceding section (6.6.3. "Complex NP's arising through nominalization", p. 287) deals more generally with nominalizations. The term "noun complements" was used in syntax classes at UCLA in the mid 1960s, so certainly Joan Bresnan did not invent it.  Best,  TG
> 
> ===========
> 
> Thomas E. Payne wrote:
>> Can anyone help me name the following structure in English, and maybe point
>> me to some references? I do not find reference to this in the Cambridge
>> Grammar of the English Language or any other of my English grammar books.
>> But then, maybe I just don't know where to look.
>> 
>>  Here are two examples from a play:
>> 
>> His protestations of devotion in the trial scene are, in our opinion,
>> genuine, as is his confession [that his affair with the Countess is
>> platonic].
>> 
>> The bracketed clause seems to modify "confession", though there is no
>> position for a confession in the clause itself.
>> 
>> . . . forced hither with an impious black design [to have my innocence and
>> youth become the sacrifice of brutal violence].
>> 
>>  Here the bracketed non-finite clause seems to modify "design."
>> 
>>  These are not all that rare. I'm reminded of examples like:
>> 
>> "The claim [that my client is a murderer] is totally false."
>> 
>>  Are these relative clauses? If so what kind? Thanks for any help.
>> 
>> Tom Payne
>> 
>>  
> 
>