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It is Sunday afternoon. There are two boys in the candy shop. They are looking at the candy. A clerk is cleaning the desk. There is a clock on the wall there. It is five thirty. A sign is next to the clock. It says, “Don't drink here.” A woman and a man are taking pictures in front of the beautiful shop. They are happy.
Source: In the Candy Shop, Page 5 here

Is “there” a postpositive attribute or an apposition of “on the wall”?

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    I believe that we can parse it at least two ways: a) "There, there is a clock on the wall." b) "A wall is there. There is a clock on it." Both alternatives, though a little different from each other, are very similar in meaning, and can be used to describe exactly the same scene. If you chose to parse it as in b), I agree that the "there" there would be a post-positive attribute of "the wall". For more formal analyses, please wait for other answerers.
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 5:11
  • your link is bad. it keeps on loading and nothing loads for a long time.
    – Maulik V
    Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 5:45
  • Related: ell.stackexchange.com/a/8182/3281
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Apr 12, 2014 at 17:19

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I've spoken English all my life but the sentence Is “there” a postpositive attribute or an apposition of “on the wall”? is French to me.

Hell, let's break down the sentence and build it:

There is a clock.

To say 'there is', as we know, only means that in the space you've defined, you may find a clock. So, let's place the clock:

There is a clock on the wall.

This narrows down the possible locations of the clock, but, without context, this wall could be anywhere. Because we're currently talking about a candy shop, I'll assume the sentence means:

There is a clock on the wall in the candy shop.

English has a nice way of avoiding the need to mention a place twice. A candy shop is a 'place' and a place is later referred to as 'here' or 'there'.

There is a clock on the wall there.

I haven't the foggiest idea how this relates to your question, but I'm hoping this'll clear it up.

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  • "I've spoken English all my life" - hyperbole or prodigy?
    – bruised reed
    Commented Apr 11, 2014 at 16:05
  • Isn't all of language hyperbole? :)
    – MMJZ
    Commented Apr 11, 2014 at 19:08

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