Types of conjunctions

Abstract

We will make a distinction between the classes of coordinate conjunctions in what follows: n-ary vs. binary conjunctions. Their distribution is asymmetrical in the sense that, while binary conjunctions are only able to coordinate members of a well-defined set of syntactic categories, n-ary ones can be applied to any category that is coordinatable at all: those that the binary conjunctions apply to, as well as those that they do not. N-ary conjunctions require an agreement of number, person, definiteness features of the coordinated noun phrases and the result shows up in the selection of the verbal agreement morphemes. Binary conjunctions attribute features to the predicative categories coordinated and the result of this does not affect the agreement morphemes of verbs. Binary conjunctions, as functors, select the arguments of the conventional implicatures they stand for.