2004
Volume 44, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1573-9775
  • E-ISSN: 2352-1236

Abstract

Abstract

Dutch style guides and teaching methods consider the direct sequence of the subordinating conjunctions ‘that’ and ‘if’ a stylistic lapse. It is advised to rewrite sentences containing the sequence by repositioning the conditional -clause to the final position of the sentence. This study aims to find out to what extent this stylistic lapse actually occurs in several types of texts, and in which situations the aforementioned advice is suitable. We use corpus data from different modes and registers, we provide an overview of language advice from grammars, style guides and teaching methods, and we provide a comparison of Dutch to the treatment of in English usage guides. Finally, we analyze the effects of the proposed reformulations, focusing on the function of the conditional clause in context. By doing so, we aim to formulate an informed view on the wide-spread advice concerning ‘that if’, and we aim to refine the advice available in the literature.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/TVT2022.2.004.REUN
2022-12-01
2024-12-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/15739775/44/2/TVT2022.2.004.REUN.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5117/TVT2022.2.004.REUN&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Agresti, A. (2007). An Introduction to Categorical Data Analysis (2e editie). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Boogaart, R. J. U., & Verheij, K. (2013). Als dát geen insubordinatie is! De pragmatiek van zelfstandige conditionele zinnen. In T. A. J. M.Janssen & J.Noordegraaf (red.), Honderd jaar taalwetenschap. Artikelen aangeboden aan Saskia Daalder bij haar afscheid van de Vrije Universiteit. (pp. 13–28). Amsterdam: Nodus Publikationen.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Briner, S., Virtue, S., & Kurby, C. (2012). Processing Causality in Narrative Events: Temporal Order Matters. Discourse Processes, 49(1), 61-77.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Burger, P., & Jong, J. de. (2009). Handboek stijl: adviezen voor aantrekkelijk schrijven. Groningen: Noordhoff Uitgevers.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Comrie, B. (1986). Conditionals: A Typology. In E. C.Traugott, A. T.Meulen, J. S.Reilly, & C. A.Ferguson (red.), On Conditionals (pp . 77–100). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Dancygier, B. (1998). Conditionals and Prediction: Time, Knowledge, and Causation in Conditional Constructions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Declerck, R., & Reed, S. (2001). Conditionals: A Comprehensive Empirical Analysis. Den Haag: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Diessel, H. (2005). Competing Motivations for the Ordering of Main and Adverbial Clauses. Linguistics, 43(3), 449–470.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Elling, R. (2000). Rapportagetechniek: Schrijven voor lezers met weinig tijd. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Ford, C. E., & Thompson, S. A. (1986). Conditionals in Discourse: A Text-Based Study from English. In E. C.Traugott, A. T.Meulen, J. S.Reilly, & C. A.Ferguson (red.), On Conditionals (pp. 353–372). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Greenberg, J. H. (1966). Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference to the Order of Meaningful Elements. In J. H.Greenberg (red.), Universals of Language (2nd ed., pp. 73–113). Massachussets: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Kaiser, E. (2019). Order of Mention in Causal Sequences: Talking about Cause and Effect in Narratives and Warning Signs. Discourse Processes, 56(8), 599–618.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Klein, S. (2018). Clozing in on readability: How linguistic features affect and predict text comprehension and on-line processing (proefschrift). Utrecht: LOT.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Lee, C.-B. (2001). The Information Status of English if-clauses in Natural Discourse. Language Research, 483–505.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Leech, G. (2007). New Resources, or Just Better old Ones? The Holy Grail of Representativeness. In M.Hundt, N.Nesselhauf, & C.Biewer (red.), Corpus Linguistics and the Web (pp. 133–149). Leiden: Brill.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Merkx, P., Flier, E., & Alers, R. (2018). Op Niveau Tweede Fase: Methode Taalvaardigheid Nederlands. Leeropdrachtenboek 5/6 vwo. Utrecht: Thieme Meulenhoff.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Oostdijk, N. (2000). The Spoken Dutch Corpus. Overview and First Evaluation. In M.Gravilidou, G.Carayannis, S.Markantanatou, S.Piperidis, & G.Stainhaouer (red.), LREC-2000 (Vol. 2, pp. 887–894).
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Oostdijk, N., Reynaert, M., Hoste, V., & Schuurman, I. (2013). The Construction of a 500-Million-Word Reference Corpus of Contemporary Written Dutch. In P.Spyns & J.Odijk (red.), Essential Speech and Language Technology for Dutch: Results by the Stevin Programme (pp. 219–247). Berlin: Springer.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Pander Maat, H. (2017). Zinslengte en zinscomplexiteit. Een corpusbenadering. Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing, 39(3), 297–328.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Peters, P. (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Renkema, J. (1989). Tangconstructies, Experimenteel Onderzoek Naar Leesbaarheid en Attentiewaarde. Spektator, 12, 444–462.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Renkema, J. (2020). Schrijfwijzer (6e editie). Amsterdam: Boom.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Renmans, B., & Van Belle, W. (2003). The use of the Particle dan in Dutch Conditional Sentences. Leuvense Bijdragen, 92, 141–158.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Reuneker, A. (2017). Sentence-medial if-clauses in Dutch. Nederlandse Taalkunde, 22(1), 137–148.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Reuneker, A. (2020). Clause Order and Syntactic Integration Patterns in Dutch Conditionals. Linguistics in the Netherlands, 37, 119–134.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Reuneker, A. (2022). Connecting Conditionals: A Corpus-Based Approach to Conditional Constructions in Dutch (proefschrift). Amsterdam: LOT.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Reuneker, A., & Boogaart, R. J. U. (2021). Dat als: Een schrijfadvies en de praktijk. In N.van der Sijs, L.Fonteyn, & M.van der Meulen (red.), Wat gebeurt er in het Nederlands?! Over taal, frequentie en variatie (pp. 177–182). Utrecht: Sterck & De Vreese.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Steenbakkers, J. (2018). Stijlperspectieven – Nieuwe lessen schrijfstijl voor midden- en bovenbouw vo. 32ste HSN-Conferentie, 281–285.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Steenbakkers, J., Stukker, N., & de Glopper, K. (2021). Formuleerproblemen in leerlingenwerk en schoolboeken Nederlands: Een onderzoek naar de aansluiting tussen de leerstof en de formuleerproblemen van leerlingen. Pedagogische Studiën, 98, 27–45.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Steenbergen, W., Frank, H., Grezel, J. E., Van der Hulst, M., Kooiman, M., Zetstra, H., & Honig, R. (2014). Nieuw Nederlands. Leerboeken 5/6 vwo. Groningen: Noordhoff.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Sweetser, E. E. (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantic Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Van der Horst, J. (1995). Analytische taalkunde. Den Haag: Nijhoff.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Van Rijt, J., Van den Broek, B., & Van den Bergh, H. (2022). Refocusing education in writing style? Relationships between stylistic lapses and the quality of Dutch secondary school students’ argumentative writing. Journal of Writing Research, 13(3), 415–446.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.5117/TVT2022.2.004.REUN
Loading
/content/journals/10.5117/TVT2022.2.004.REUN
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error