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What exactly is being attributed to the expert here?

AV Andrew Van WagnerMember

Regarding the bold, I don't know what exactly is being attributed to Stokes.

The word "adds" makes it seem like maybe only "which is one reason...havoc" is being attributed to him.

What if more is being attributed to him, though?

Is the "especially in working-age people" part being attributed to him?

See here:

https://archive.ph/86VdL#selection-963.442-963.709

For children, the aged and the rest of society, experts expect to see a long-term worsening trajectory of health and survival in coming years. One reason is the effect of “long COVID,” a cluster of debilitating symptoms, including fatigue, headache, pain and shortness of breath, that can last for months after an initial infection. The syndrome may also result in increased mortality, with people dying months after contacting the virus. Delays in getting health care, created by the crush of acute and long COVID patients during the pandemic, may lead to higher death rates for people who have developed diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other conditions. The U.S. already had a crisis of chronic disease, especially in working-age people, which is one reason why the coronavirus wreaked havoc, Stokes adds. “There’s an interaction with these chronic diseases, and it’s increasing the mortality risk from those conditions.”
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Gustavo, Co-ModeratorGustavo, Co-ModeratorProfessor of Legal and Financial Translation

Hi, Andrew,

Stokes's addition might actually be the whole sentence:

- Stokes adds that the U.S. already had a crisis of chronic disease, especially in working-age people, which is one reason why the coronavirus wreaked havoc.

The fact that "Stokes adds" appears at the end does not necessarily mean that it should only attach to the last phrase or clause.

David, ModeratorDavid, ModeratorModerator
@Andrew Van Wagner posted:

The U.S. already had a crisis of chronic disease, especially in working-age people, which is one reason why the coronavirus wreaked havoc, Stokes adds.

@Andrew Van Wagner posted:

. . . is there any way to ascertain what the piece is seeking to attribute to Stokes?

Hi, Andrew—From a grammatical standpoint, I agree with Gustavo that the clause is ambiguous. Syntax permits the clause of attribution ("Stokes adds") to be adjoined either to the sentential relative clause ("which is one reason why the coronavirus wreaked havoc") or to the matrix clause containing it.

HOWEVER, if the clause of attribution adjoins only to the sentential relative, then what was added by Stokes is that the referent of "which"—namely, the U.S.'s already having had a crisis of chronic diseases, especially in working-age people—is one reason why the coronavirus wreaked havoc.

THEREFORE, we can be certain Stokes acknowledges that the U.S. already had a crises of chronic disease, whether or not "Stokes adds" adjoins syntactically to the matrix clause, since the sentential relative clause points backward to the content of that clause by means of the relative pronoun "which."

Last edited by David, Moderator

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