It is important to distinguish between embedding on the one hand and the ʻtacticʼ relations of parataxis and hypotaxis on the other. Whereas parataxis and hypotaxis are relations BETWEEN clauses (or other ranking elements), embedding is not. Embedding is a mechanism whereby a clause or phrase comes to function as a constituent WITHIN the structure of a group, which itself is a constituent of a clause. Hence there is no direct relationship between an embedded clause and the clause within which it is embedded; the relationship of an embedded clause to the ʻouterʼ clause is an indirect one, with a group as intermediary. The embedded clause functions in the structure of the group, and the group functions in the structure of the clause.
- Halliday (1985), a pag.219