subordinate clauses

This type of subordinate clause adds information about who or what is being talked about in the main clause, and is typically introduced with a relative pronoun or adverb, as in these RTG examples.

(1) I was a miner who went on strike for a whole year in 1984-1985 in support of my Union (2013)

(2) Well he had red stains on his shoes which left nice footprints down the corridor (2019)

(3) At Farringdon we had a Biology teacher whose gob wobbled when she spoke - Wobblygob (2011)

There are at least two other forms of relative clause found in PDE: that and the 'zero' (Ø) relative pronoun.

(4) her dad was a miner that went to war at 35 (2011)

(5) She took inspiration from the books Ø she loved as a child (2013)

Which is used when the antecedent is a non-human creature or an inanimate entity or idea; that is used with human, non-human animate, and inanimate antecedents (2) and (4). Who (1) is used when its antecedent is human or has quasi-human characteristics, while whose (3) is used when the pronoun is in a genitive relationship with its antecedent (see the section on relative and interrogative pronouns for NEE forms of who and whose). Omission of the relative pronoun (as in 5) can only occur with certain types of 'restrictive' relative clause when the antecedent is not the subject.

The system is a complex one, with a complicated history (see Tagliamonte 2013: 94-105 and Beal 2010: 43-47). Research on British dialects has revealed considerable regional variation, including the omission of wh- relatives even when the antecedent is the subject. For example, in the SED participants were given the prompt 'If I didn’t know what a cowman is, you would tell me: He is the man ... looks after the cows.' As well as the more standard relativizers who and that, the survey recorded 'He is the man Ø looks after the cows' and use of as, at and what as relativizers ('He is the man as looks after the cows'; 'He is the man at looks after the cows'; 'He is the man what looks after the cows').

The SED records that and at as the favoured relativizers in Northumbria and Durham. As we might expect, RTG has plenty of examples of semi-standard that, but none of at, a form which is probably recessive (Beal 2010: 46). A question mark hangs over the use of relativizer what in NEE. It occurs in RTG, but infrequently.

(6) Fearne cotton and that bloke what was on radio 1 at nights a few years back (2019)

(7) George Clarke - architect gadgie what grew up in Roker Avenue (2019)

(8) They also have a song on FIFA15 and are hotly tipped by Zane Lowe (the prick what he is)(2014)

Historically, the what-relativizer has been regarded as a southern feature (Kortmann 2008: 491), but one which is potentially spreading northwards (Cheshire et al. 1993: 68). However, as Beal et al. point out 'although relative what is attested in North-Eastern varieties, it is still not used as frequently here as further south' (2012: 55). The RTG examples suggest that use of what might be associated with environments where the context is broadly disparaging towards the referent of the antecedent noun: 'that bloke' (a DJ), 'architect gadgie' (George Clarke), 'the prick' (Zane Lowe).

To-clauses

And specially, from every shires ende

Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,

The holy blisful martir for to seke,

That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.

To-clauses are non-finite subordinate clauses with a variety of roles, mainly associated with completing the meaning of the verb, adjective or noun in the main clause: 'I want to leave home'; 'I'm sad to leave home'; 'I have no plans to leave home'. In some English dialects, for to can be used as a complementizer, as well as to. There are a small number of examples in RTG.

(1) Aye, and also ask how my application for to be a lollipop woman is getting on (2014)

Not quite as rare are for to-clauses functioning as adverbial clauses rather than complements, in the same way that for to functions in the passage from Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales at the start of this section.

(2) Apparently the FA Board are meeting tomorrow for to hear the recommendation (2016)

(3) I can't find any numbers for to call them (2020)

Tagliamonte (2013: 116) states that 'the use of for to as an infinitival marker is fairly widely reported ... where it is considered a preservation of a historical complement structure.' It is attested for Scots and Irish dialects, and SED records 'for to see (the doctor)' across England, including all six northern counties with the exception of Westmorland (Upton et al. 1994: 504).

Its rarity in RTG suggests that it is a recessive feature in NEE.

Ing- and ed-clauses

After verbs of necessity such as need and want we sometimes see patterns of complementation in RTG which contrast with those found in SE.

(4) Struggled to read this, screen desperately needs cleaned (2019)

(5) they often find crap that don't need cleaned & foook your pc (2015)

(6) I'm not kidding the op wants slapped with a cringe stick, that's embarrassing (2014)

(7) Nice cross, but Jacobson wants punched in the face for letting Carroll go there (2010)

A more SE pattern here would be to use an ing-clause ('needs cleaning') or passive construction ('needs to be cleaned'). This feature is also found in Scots and Irish English, and some varieties in North America, possibly as a relic of Ulster Scots speech 'transported' there from the eighteenth century (Hickey 2014: 334).

So as

In SE the complex subordinator so that is sometimes used to introduce adverbial clauses of purpose. The OED records so as performing the same function, a usage it labels as 'dialectal' and 'colloquial'. It is not recorded in SED, though it does occur in a number of EDD citations, showing wide geographical distribution. Here's an example from Cornwall: 'Hold thy clack, father, an' tie thicky knot, so's it shan't slip.' In RTG full forms (8) are rarer than contracted ones (9 and 10).

(8) just trying to establish all the facts so as I can judge the factuality of statements made (2020)

(9) Just so's I know what to watch (2018)

(10) trying to kneel down so's they can reach the water (2014)

We might interpret so as/so's in RTG as the remnant of a wider dialectal use of the form as as a subordinator, mentioned in the section above on relative clauses.

Whiles

In the context of subordinate clauses, we might also note the occurrence of the subordinator whiles. It is uncommon in RTG, but where it is found it performs the same function as the SE conjunction while.

(11) I try to fall asleep whiles it's going on (2018)

(12) also, whiles i am on, why the fuck do people wander about with them poncey metal walking sticks (2012)

Whiles is not recorded in SED. But Heslop (1893: 782) has an entry for whiles as an adverb.

WHILES, at times, sometimes, now and then, ever and anon.

"Aa whiles meet him i' the mornins."

There are no instances of whiles as a conjunction in Northumberland Words, but in EDD it is attested for locations in the midlands and the south, and its history is a long one, with the earliest OED citation from the thirteenth century.

For a brief note on the origins of the adverbial -s ending, see the section on maybes and probablies in adverbs.