DISJUNCTIVE CLAUSES

Section 9-3 DISJUNCTIVE CLAUSES

Exclusive disjunction
Condition-alternative clauses
Sequentive and alternative clauses combined
An inclusive disjunctive connective
A connective for equivalence

Classes of Disjunction and its Secondary Relationships

Typically the author means a disjunctive clause to be either inclusive or exclusive. An inclusive disjunction is false only if both clauses are false.

(1)	Bolts and bars are not the best of our institutions, nor is shrewdness in trade a mark of wisdom. — Emerson.
	a.	Bolts and bars are not the best of our institutions.
	b.	Shrewdness in trade is not a mark of wisdom.	Disj (CL)

This example joins the subject of the first clause with a compounding and, which we discuss later in §10-2. The second clause is negative and joins to the first, which is also negative, with a negative disjunctive nor.

Inclusive Disjunctive Clauses [iDisj(CL)]

Exclusive disjunction.

Exclusive disjunction occurs when only one of the alternatives may hold.

(1)	A debit should be indicated with red ink or you can simply place it in angled brackets.
	a.	A debit should be indicated with red ink.
	b.	You can simply place it in angled brackets.	xDisj (CL)

This particular example conjoins two words, a topic of chapter 10.

(2)	A signed integer must be prefixed with a plus or a minus.
	a.	A signed integer must be prefixed with a plus.
	b.	A signed integer must be prefixed with a minus.	xDisj (N)

Exclusive Disjunctive Clauses [xDisj(CL)]

Condition-alternative clauses.

The alternatives of disjunctive clauses may imply that certain adverbial relations hold. Often the disjunctive may suggest that the alternative in the second clause is conditional, i.e., condition-alternative. However, the alternative is actually conditional on a meaning opposite from the explicit statement of the first clause. In this case for clarity the analyst may reconstruct the implication with an additional paraphrastic sentence. I mark this sentence expressing the understood counterfactual supposition with (u) for “understood.”

(1)	They have all had a truth in them or men would not have taken them up. — Carlyle.
	a.	They have all had a truth in them.
	au.	(They may not have all had a truth in them.)
	b.	Men would not have taken them up (in this case).	cnDisj (CL)
(2)	Ye have quitted the ways of God or ye would not have been unhappy. — Carlyle.
	a.	Ye have quitted the ways of God.
	au.	(Ye may not have quitted the ways of God.)
	b.	Ye would not have been unhappy (in this case).	cnDisj (CL)
(3)	There must be work done by the arms or none of us could live. — Ruskin.
	a.	There must be work done by the arms.
	[a₁.	There may be work done by the arms. ]
	[a₂.	This must be. ]	DecNC (Subj)
	au.	(Work may not be done by the arms.) [neg. of a₁]
	b.	None of us could live (in this case).	cnDisj (CL)

In (3) the alternative in the first clause is the result of what is asserted in the second clause while the truth of the second clause is conditional on the opposite of the basic premise of the first clause. (We discuss the declarative noun clause (DecNC) in chapter 16).

Condition-Alternative Clauses [cnDisj(CL)]

Sequentive and alternative clauses combined.

There is little to preclude the addition of alternative adverbial meaning to a disjunctive when there is also sequentive meaning added to a conjunctive. Here is an example which includes a vocative (parenthetical insert) to the qualificative-sequentive compounding of the first and second. The disjunctive implies that the negative potential of this clause is a condition on the last clause.

(1)	Come down and help us, Rustum, or we lose. — Matthew Arnold.
	a&bi.	(I say this to) Rustum.
	am.	Come down.
	bm.	(Moreover) help us.	Voc; qConj (CL)
	u.=a&b	(You may not come down and help us.)
	b.	We lose (in this case).	cnDisj (CL)
(2)	But hospitality must be for service and not for show, or it pulls down the host. — Emerson.
	a.	But hospitality must be for service.
	[a₁.	Hospitality may be for service. / Hospitality may not be for service.]
	[a₂.	But this must be. / But this must not be. ]	DecNC (Subj)
	b.	(Moreover) hospitality must not be for show.	qConj (AVP)
	[b₁.	(Moreover) hospitality may be for show. ]
	[b₂.	But this must not be. ]	DecNC (Subj)
	u=b₁&a₁	(But hospitality may be for show and not for service.)
	b.	It pulls down the host (in this case).	cnDisj (CL)

In the following example the first two paraphrastic sentences are joined by their distinctive noun phrase attributes so that both . . . and joins adjectives (cf. §10-1). The last two sentences are joined with a negative disjunctive nor, presumably because the predicate adjectives adherent and detached and locomotive are contrasting opposites and the negative second clause is a result of the first.

(3)	With a very few exceptions, both the red and the white coral polyps are, in their adult state, firmly adherent to the sea-bottom; nor do these buds naturally become detached and locomotive. — Huxley.
	aa.	With a very few exceptions the red coral polyps in their adult state are firmly adherent to the sea-bottom.
	ab.	With a very few exceptions the white coral polyps in their adult state are firmly adherent to the sea-bottom.	Conj (NP)
	ba.	These buds do not naturally become detached (in consequence of this).
	bb.	These buds do not naturally become locomotive (in consequence of this).	Conj (Adj); rDisj (CL)

An inclusive disjunctive connective.

It is possible, though some condemn the practice, particularly in writing, to combine the conjunctive and disjunctive joining of clauses with the connective and/or. The meaning of this combination shares the meanings of both conjunctions in the sense that and/or makes the inclusive nature of the disjunctive meaning explicit.

(1)	That offense is punishable by a fine and/or a term in jail. — (Merriam-Webster, 1987)
	a.	That offense is punishable by a fine.
	b.	That offense is punishable by a term in jail.	iDisj. (ARG)

In other words the offense is punishable by 1) a fine alone, 2) a term in jail without a fine, or 3) both a fine and a term in jail simultaneously. The only possibility excluded is that neither penalty be imposed. Normally, however, the author leaves inclusive disjunction implicit:

(2)	They descended fearless into all gulfs and bedlams. — Carlyle.
	a.	They descended fearless into all gulfs.
	b.	They descended fearless into all bedlams.	iDisj (N)

A connective for equivalence.

English sometimes utilizes the disjunctive or to relate two nouns that are meant to be interchangeable.

(1)	The prince or chief governor was elected annually, but only by the nobles. — Motley.
	aa.	The prince was elected annually.
	ab.	The chief governor was elected annually.	eDisj (ARG)
	b.	He was elected only by the nobles.	Advers (AVP)

The very equivalence of the two elements makes it difficult to connect two clauses in this relationship without some reduction or ellipsis being involved.

(2)

The garbage was burned or "waste incinerated."

Equative Disjunctive Clauses [eDisj(CL)]

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