Manner-of-speaking that-complements as close apposition structures

Abstract

An elusive property of that-clauses following manner-of-speaking verbs is that they do not behave like that-clauses following other non-factive verbs when it comes to the availability of wh-extraction, main clause phenomena and complementizer drop. Non-factive that-clauses allow wh-extraction, main clause phenomena and complementizer drop, but manner-of-speaking that-clauses resist them. In addition, the behavior of manner-of-speaking that-clauses patterns with noun complement clauses and that-clauses following the pronoun it. In this paper, I argue that the referential and adjunct status of manner-of-speaking that-clauses, noun complement clauses and that-clauses following the pronoun it is responsible for their shared restrictions on wh-extraction, main clause phenomena and complementizer drop. Specifically, I argue all three of these that-clauses are referential adjuncts in a close apposition relationship with a nominal object.