The Loom Of Language

162 The Loom of Language

The distinction between coosdmate aud sub: >i donate uak-words is
uscial because the nom>il lules oi v/oid-o^dcx msonv. Inn^ungcb aienot
rhe same m cl«>u->e& v,<bich begin widi the latter Though we may some-
times leave out that 11 i conif)]o\' l'ii ;U>h, *Md its equ"f«ilenr r*» a complex
Scandinavian 01 Cciman, beutenee, rht best del'nition oi n uboreunate
clause is that At cm begin, with one oi these voreK, Grammar booH
sometimes distmpur.h QIC pnn^ipal Itoui tht suboi(linage Uause 01
clauses in a complex sentence by the i^atcn^cnt tiiut <l*c pnneipul clause
ib the most irnpoitant patt of the statement Whet IT r we usii.Jly convey
aixy r^,J disuucuon beiwcm the relative importaute ui tiae u»i)sutuent
clauses m u complex Sintencc js at 1* ast doubtful

In jdation to word order., the distinction between eonidmute and
subordiuaie clauses is riot smponant to the student of a Romance
language In Romance languages, as m Lnp,lishi the order of words in
each pait oi a complex seiittme ?> the suinc, Two minor exceptions
arc

(a) m Romance, os in Teutonic languages, the icL'tiw {»onoun

comes at the bcgmnmg of a clause even \\hcu it is not the
subject, a^ m the reader for whom he wrote t/n\ novel - «;

(b) Bnglishj Lkc tJihcr I'cutomc laaguages,, permits subject-verb

inversion instead of the usual sequence akei ?/., when a con-
dition is hypothetical, as in: win* he 1o come if he came

A similar inversion is possible in Scandinavian languages,, and is
common in German. It is reminiscent of the Chinese idiom of expressing
condition by a question. In complex sentences, Scandinavian is not
precisely the same as English word-order. In any Scandinavian $«&•-
ordimte dame the negative particle <md any particle indicating time
stands in front of the verb. Scandinavian word-order in a complex
sentence is illusttated by:

This is the house that Jaek not will (not} build
Your passport will expire, if you longer stay (lander) *
t____......____.............j "
The difference between woxd~order of a subordinate clause and of
a simple &entcuce is much greater m German 01 Dutch ilwn in Scan-
dinavian languages.