the view on <how-phrase> had been <noun>

[malgeul91]

Hello!

I wonder if this sentence structure is possible/natural in English: The view on how-phrase had been noun.

The sentence I wanted to write was: "The traditionally accepted view on how predicates select for their complement had been subcategorization."

Thank you.

 

[Glasguensis]

It doesn't sound very natural to me, because this means that "subcategorization" needs to be a method of selection, which doesn't seem right. But since this is clearly a technical subject, perhaps in your context such a meaning exists.

 

[malgeul91]

Thank you, @Glasguensis!
Would it be (more) natural if I changed "subcategorization" to "subcategorization theory"?

 

[Glasguensis]

Are you sure that "select" is the correct verb ?

 

[malgeul91]

@Glasguensis I'm quite sure, since there are terms like "complement selection", "s-selection(semantic selection)" and "c-selection(category selection)"!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_(linguistics)#S-selection_vs._c-selection

 

[Glasguensis]

As I said, it's a technical subject and I am unfamiliar with the terms.

 

[Florentia52]

I am not familiar with the field, either, which makes the sentence difficult to assess, but I can't think of a way to use a noun in that position. I would expect to see a past participle with "view" as its subject.

 

[Glasguensis]

If I change the example, I think a noun is entirely possible, provided that it's the name of a method.

The traditionally accepted view on how farmers accelerate crop growth had been fertilization.

 

[malgeul91]

Thank you, @Florentia52 and @Glasguensis!
Especially, the last comment with your example sentence was very helpful!

If I change the example, I think a noun is entirely possible, provided that it's the name of a method. The traditionally accepted view on how farmers accelerate crop growth had been fertilization.