Sentence Structure, Catalan Dialects, and Literary Masters
Understanding Sentence Structure
Mussitar: whisper / Flatter: flatter, soap (figuratively) / Rebequeries: quirks, rarities / Disabled: damaged, corrupt / Enlletgir: make ugly / Nasty: rude.
A sentence is a linguistic unit with complete sense that relates a subject with a predicate. When a sentence has only one verb in a personal form, the sentence is called simple. If it has more than one verb, it is called a compound sentence. A compound sentence consists of propositions, which are simple sentences related to each other in different ways: through a link (coordinated or subordinate sentences) or with punctuation (comma, semicolon, colon).
Types of Sentences
- Coordinated Sentences: These sentences have no dependency relationship between them. They are linked by a coordinating conjunction or conjunctive phrase.
- Juxtaposed Sentences: These are joined without any link, relying only on intonation and punctuation marks.
- Subordinate Sentences: These sentences have a dependency relationship with the main sentence.
Coordinated Sentence Breakdown
Coordinated sentences include propositions that are equally important syntactically:
- Copulative (and, not): Express the sum of ideas.
- Disjunctive (or, either): Express exclusion of ideas.
- Adversative (but, however): Express opposition of ideas.
- Distributive (either…or, one…the other): Indicate distribution between propositions, each introduced by a link.
- Illative or Consecutive (therefore, so, consequently): Express consequence.
- Explanatory (that is, i.e.): Used for clarifications.
Example: He will quickly call the nearest police station *and* wait for the officers.
Juxtaposed Sentence Breakdown
Juxtaposed sentences include propositions that are equally important syntactically but do not use connecting links. Intonation and punctuation establish the relationships.
Example: Arnau has already decided; he is a very quick guy.
Subordinate Sentence Breakdown
Subordinate sentences include propositions that depend on each other.
Example: When you came into the kitchen quietly, you realized that thieves had emptied the house.
- Substantive Subordinate Clauses: Equivalent to a noun or a nominal phrase, performing the same syntactic functions (subject, direct object, indirect object, attribute).
- Adjective Subordinate Clauses: Equivalent to an adjective and modify a noun.
- Adverbial Subordinate Clauses: Divided into two groups:
- Temporal, locative, and manner clauses have a comparative value and often complement the verb of the main sentence.
- Consecutive, conditional, concessive, causal, and final clauses cannot be replaced by any adverb.
Catalan Language and Dialects
Language is a system of signs used for communication between speakers of a particular language community. A dialect is how this system of signs is used in a particular geographical area. Every language is both a language and a dialect. The Catalan language is divided into two major groups: Eastern (Central, Balearic Islands, Roussillon, and Alghero) and Western (Northwestern and Valencian).
Literary Figures: Rodoreda and Villalonga
Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí
Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí was born in Sant Gervasi in the early twentieth century. Her first novel was *Am I an Honest Woman?* She died in the late twentieth century. Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages. Some of her notable works include:
- Aloma
- Twenty-Two Stories
- The Street of Camellias
- Garden by the Sea
- My Christina and Other Stories
- Broken Mirror
- Travel and Flowers
- So Much War
- Death in Spring
Llorenç Villalonga i Pons
Llorenç Villalonga i Pons was born in Palma de Mallorca in the late nineteenth century and died in Palma at the end of the twentieth century. His first novel was *Lady of Death*. Other notable works include *The Novel of Palmyra* and *Bearn*.