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Results for whiz deletion
Search options not deleted user 15299
15 votes

passive Vs active or omission of 'which is'

The rule is called Whiz-Deletion. The name is a mnemonic. The Wh- part of Whiz-Deletion comes from the fact that relative pronouns start with wh-. … The -iz part of Whiz-Deletion comes from the fact that the most common form of be is is. The "Deletion" part of Whiz-Deletion means that these are the parts that are deleted. …
John Lawler's user avatar
5 votes

"named" vs "that is named"

There is a syntactic rule, called Whiz-Deletion, which is available in certain relative clauses. … The funny name comes from the fact that the relative pronoun is usually a wh-word, and the auxiliary is usually is, so whiz deletion is just Wh-is deletion. …
John Lawler's user avatar
2 votes

She ended up (being??) a rich woman

Auxiliary forms of be can be deleted by many rules, since they're predictable, so Whiz-deletion and to be-deletion are common in relative clauses and infinitive complements. … This also happens to being auxiliaries with end up: the man who was standing on the corner ==> the man standing on the corner (Whiz-deletion) He's considered to be lazy ==> He's considered lazy (to be-deletion
John Lawler's user avatar
2 votes

essential vs. nonessential phrases

are, respectively, reduced by Whiz-Deletion from relative clauses A friend of mine, who is (named) George, called ... The poem which/that is (entitled) "The Road Not Taken" is one of ... … Either kind of relative clause produces an appositive NP whenever the clause has a predicate noun, and its subject and auxiliary be are removed by Whiz-Deletion. …
John Lawler's user avatar
12 votes
Accepted

"There are several reasons proposed for the collapse of the bridge."

This is another reduced relative clause, with Whiz-Deletion operating, this time on the be of the Passive, rather than the be of the Progressive, like the question this morning. … Whiz-deletion removes the boldfaced markers, since they are predictable (by native speakers, at least) and contribute nothing to the meaning, just the structure. …
John Lawler's user avatar
12 votes
Accepted

What do you call a past participle+noun construction clause such as “No offense meant” “Your...

Given that, = Given that topic we just mentioned, There is no general term for rules that do this, like To be-Deletion, Whiz Deletion, Conjunction Reduction, Conversational Deletion, etc. … They are deletion rules, obviously, but far from the only ones. …
John Lawler's user avatar
3 votes

On the structure of "search for weapons and bands of pro-Hussein fighters still holding out"

It's another case of Whiz-deletion. The original was something like ... bands of pro-Hussein fighters who/which/that are still holding out. … where Whiz-deletion, as is its wont, deleted the boldfaced part -- the Wh-word subject of the relative clause, and the auxiliary be of the progressive construction that follows it. …
John Lawler's user avatar
33 votes
Accepted

What is a noun modifying clause?

The rule called Whiz-Deletion by linguists (from the fact that it deletes a Wh-word plus a form of be, quite often is; a monosyllabic variant of "Wh-is deletion"), when applied to a relative clause, creates … Interestingly, there is a codicil to Whiz-Deletion that applies when there is only one adjective left after deletion. …
John Lawler's user avatar
4 votes

Non verbal predicates in English

Both types require an auxiliary be, though this often gets wiped by Whiz Deletion or some other clause-reduction rule. In addition, singular count nouns serving as predicates require an article. … Especially for adjective predicates, this is the norm, and it's reasonable to assume that any attributive adjective is reduced from a relative clause with a predicate adjective by Whiz-Deletion and adjective-preposing …
John Lawler's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Am I using "that" too often?

Complementizer deletion is one of a number of shortenings that English uses, like contractions (don't, we'll), informal spellings of new contractions, (hafta, shouldna), Whiz-Deletion, Equi and Raising …
John Lawler's user avatar
2 votes
Accepted

Complex sentences question

(1) is a case of Whiz-Deletion from a relative clause, producing a post-nominal participial clause. (2) is a case of a dropped non-Subject relative pronoun which/that; they're optional, after all. …
John Lawler's user avatar
3 votes

I know this comma is correct, but why?

by means of Whiz-Deletion, which deletes unnecessary Wh- is strings at the beginning of a relative clause (in this case, a non-restrictive relative clause), thereby -- in this case -- forming an appositive …
John Lawler's user avatar
3 votes

Why can we use present participles but not past participles in some reduced relative clauses?

That's the form that the well-known English syntactic rule of Whiz-Deletion requires. And it really doesn't have anything to do with which kind of participle is used. … There are a lot of grammatical rules like Whiz-Deletion, and they produce ungrammatical sentences when they're not applied correctly. …
John Lawler's user avatar
1 vote
Accepted

when to use "that is/are" for definitions

non-verbal predicates, with auxiliary be: the man who is asleep in the chair a car which was driven off a cliff some hummus that was sitting on the table That kind of structure is where one finds Whiz-Deletion
John Lawler's user avatar
0 votes

How do I identify and punctuate appositives?

These sentences (with the addition of the syntactic rule of Whiz-Deletion) mean the same as two of your example sentences; the others are less likely to occur: A bold innovator, (who was named/called) … Indeed, relative clauses that undergo Whiz-Deletion are the likely source of most appositives. …
John Lawler's user avatar

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