SENTENCE HIERARCHY IN THE FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR OF THE OVIEDO SCHOOL

Abstract

According to the view of traditional grammar, the only hierarchical distinction in the sentence is the one between subject and predicate. Within the framework of European Functionalism, not a lot of progress has been made, as far as the establishment of the sentence hierarchy is concerned, the only remarkable exception being a work by Salvador Gutiérrez. Even though Gutierrez's work is, indeed, very accurate and detailed, it is based on the assumption that the sentence has the same category as the verb phrase; such an assumption is, in our view, difficult to maintain. We will defend that the sentence is a two-member structure, consisting of a subject and a predicate. Assuming this structure, we will posit a different syntactic hierarchy. Our hierarchy takes account of the different behaviours shown by verbal arguments, optional complements, subject and the extra-sentential functions. In addition, we will try to delve into a group of coordinated structures which have received little attention so far and whose behaviour seems to validate our hypothesis.