ABSTRACT
Subordinateclauses,or'that...'clauses,arereportedspeechorthought. HerearesomeexamplesinEnglish:
Ithinkthatthebusislate(originalthought:'Thebusislate') HesaidSusanwasill(originalstatement:'Susanisill') Iwassuretheposthadgone(originalthought:'Theposthasgone')
TheoriginalthoughtorstatementisveryimportantinWelsh,becausethe formofthelink-word(='that')variesdependingonhowtheoriginalis framed.Otherthanthat,theprinciplesareessentiallythesameinboth languages-butlet'slook,forexample,atthesetwopairsofsentences:
1(a)Mae'rbwsyndod(originalthought/statement) Thebusiscoming
(b)Dwi'nmeddwlfodybwsyndod(reported) Ithinkthatthebusiscoming
2(a)Byddybwsyndodamddeg(originalthought/statement) Thebuswillcomeatten
(b)Dwi'nmeddwlybyddybwsyndodamddeg(reported) Ithinkthatthebuswillcomeatten
Inpair1,theverbintheoriginal(mae)isdeleted,andanewword(fod) putinitsplacetoformthesubordinateclause.Youcanprobablyseethat itdoestheworkofboth'that'and'is'.Inpair2,ontheotherhand,we seeasituationmorelikethatinEnglish,withawordfor'that'simply insertedandnootherchangesmade.Inthisunitwewilldealwiththe firsttype.
