copular verbs - Does English allow a zero copula in subordinate clauses?


In a casual search of the web, I found a few indications English does not allow zero copulas (https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/a/1468). However, I frequently see sentences with subordinate clauses that juxtapose a noun phrase with an adverb phrase, such as the following from a contemporary sci-fi author:



Kai stares up at me from the grave, his eyes hard as obsidian.



If this clause were made into a sentence, it would take an obligatory verb:



*His eyes hard as obsidian.
His eyes are hard as obsidian.



The original clause seems to contain an implicit "to be." Is it an example of a zero copula? If not, what is this construction called?



Answer



It depends on your definition of a clause. The traditional definition is "a finite verb and all its dependencies"; then your phrase is not a clause.


The construction is called an absolute construction: a noun and an attribute together forming an adverbial constituent.


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