When I read CGEL, Quirk et al, I found some terminology very obscure.
Now I need help.
What do "pro-predicate" and "pro-predication" exactly mean and how can I distinguish between them?
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1Are you asking the difference between "pro-predicate" and "pro-predication"? Also, please tell us what you already understand about them so we don't reinvent the wheel.– gotube ♦Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 19:04
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1“may have done” and “had done” are examples of what ace Anglo-American linguist Lynne Murphy calls “pro-predicate ‘do'” It's a relatively new usage formed from predicate in the same way as pronoun comes from noun.– FumbleFingersCommented Jun 21, 2023 at 19:59
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1What does CGEL say about it? What specifically don't you understand? Have you Googled "pro-predicate"? Please edit your question to answer these questions. This site requires people asking questions to have made the effort to find the answer themselves first.– gotube ♦Commented Jun 22, 2023 at 6:58
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1I don't have access to the full text of CEGL, but I'd assume that given do can apparently be used as a pro-verb (same as using a pronoun instead of a noun), and given that derived terms verbification and nounification are easily understood even if they're not in a dictionary, we should be able to understand pro-verbification and pro-predication in the same way, as derivatives o pro-verb and pro-predicate.– FumbleFingersCommented Jun 22, 2023 at 13:43
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1@user421993 Lots of people here understand what those terms mean. But we tend not to answer questions here until they meet the minimum standards, including demonstrating that you've made some effort to find the answer yourself. My comment is an effort to get you to improve the question to the point where more people would want to answer it.– gotube ♦Commented Jun 22, 2023 at 18:39
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1 Answer
It's most likely a reference to what is also called 'pro-predicative'.
This typically occurs with the pro-form "so", as in
They were very happy at that time, or at least they seemed so.
where "so" functions as predicative complement with "very happy" as its antecedent.
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Yes, your answer is one of the solutions related to my question. As mentioned in CGEL, pro-complement , pro-predication and pro-clause SO , as well as pro-predicate and pro-predication DO are in the list of pro-forms used for substitution. Thanks. Commented Jun 22, 2023 at 10:43
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1@user421993 Oxford Reference define it as 'The use of a pro-form to stand for a predicate or predication'. Pro-predicative "so" is common, as are other pro-forms like "do" in, for example She drove us to the station but she did so reluctantly, where "did so" is understood as "drove us to the station".– BillJCommented Jun 22, 2023 at 10:46
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Agree. Can you offer more information on how to distinguish between these two pieces of terminology? In my opinion, pro-predicate DO and Pro-predication DO may overlap in practice, but I am not sure. Commented Jun 22, 2023 at 10:51
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@user421993 I think you have your answer: any pro-form that functions as part or all of the predicate of a clause.– BillJCommented Jun 22, 2023 at 10:57