secondarythat

Secondarythat is a neologism used in discourse analysis and syntax studies to describe a particular kind of that-clause that co-occurs with a main proposition but does not constitute the core assertion. In such constructions, the primary clause states a central claim, while the secondarythat clause adds hedging, qualification, or an ancillary stance about the proposition or the speaker’s attitude. The term is primarily used in scholarly annotations of corpora and in theoretical discussions about layered evaluative content.

Etymology and scope: The coinage combines secondary with that and has appeared in a small number of publications since the late 2010s. It has not achieved widespread adoption in standard grammar references, and some researchers prefer alternative labels such as “hedged that-clause” or “supplemental that.”

Functions and examples: The secondarythat often signals caution, reliability concerns, or context for the main claim. Examples include: “The plan will succeed, a secondarythat hedges the certainty of the main claim.” and “The device failed, a secondarythat casts doubt on the reported result.”

Cross-linguistic considerations and reception: The concept has been discussed mainly with exemplars in English, though cross-linguistic work notes that similar layering of clauses can occur in other languages. Critics argue that terminology may over-specify a phenomenon that is already handled by existing categories such as complements and adjuncts.

See also: that-clause, hedging, discourse analysis.