Languages & Linguistics
Noun Phrase
A noun phrase is a group of words centered around a noun that functions as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence. It typically consists of the noun and any associated modifiers, such as adjectives, articles, and other nouns. Noun phrases can vary in length and complexity, and they play a crucial role in sentence structure and meaning.
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eBook - PDFIntroducing English Syntax
A Basic Guide for Students of English
- Peter Fenn, Götz Schwab(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
4 Phrases and their structure (I) 4.0 Phrases As we saw in the last chapter, the phrase is the most basic unit in sentence analysis. It is a structural unit based on word-class, and is the smallest unit that can fill a sentence function. In this chapter we take a close look at what phrases consist of, i.e. what we will call here in a general sense their composition. Like sentences, phrases can be analysed internally in terms of both structures and functions. In other words, the composition of a phrase consists of phrase functions and the struc- tures that fill them. That is, like sentences, phrases can be analysed on the one hand structurally, and on the other hand functionally: (1) Composition of phrase Structures Functions What this means concretely we will see in the following. In this first chapter on the phrase, we will be looking at Noun Phrases, prepositional phrases, adjective phrases, and adverb phrases. 4.1 The Noun Phrase Let us look first of all at some typical structural patterns in the Noun Phrase: (2) a. noun alone trees b. article + noun the trees Phrases and their structure (I) 65 c. article + adjective phrase + noun the big trees d. article + adjective phrase + noun + prepositional phrase the big trees in our garden The minimum that we need in order to form a Noun Phrase is a single noun, as in (2)a. The rest is just a selection, of course. The prepositional phrase could follow the noun on its own (trees in our garden), for example, or the adjective could be used without the article (big trees). We´re simply looking here at the main pos- sibilities for combining structural elements within a Noun Phrase. As can be seen in (2)c. and (2)d., other types of phrase unit can also be included, here an adjec- tive phrase and a prepositional phrase. One phrase inside another one is a general phenomenon in syntax. The prepositional phrase itself here (in our garden), for instance, also contains a further Noun Phrase (our garden).
eBook - PDF- Martin J. Endley(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Information Age Publishing(Publisher)
Linguistic Perspectives on English Grammar, pages 3–37 Copyright © 2010 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 3 1 Nouns and Noun Phrases in Linguistic Perspective T his chapter is primarily concerned with one of the major word catego- ries in English, the noun. My aim is to show how linguistics can throw light on the nature of nouns and the functions they typically perform. I will also devote quite a lot of space to discussing certain problematic issues that arise in connection with nouns. As a way of leading into this, however, I want to take a look at a more basic issue, namely, how linguists categorize words in the first place. Throughout the following discussion, and the book as a whole, I treat the term word as if it were a straightforward and unproblematic notion. It should be mentioned at the outset that in reality this is not the case. In fact, in linguistic circles, much ink has been spilt on the nature of words. For our purposes, a working definition might be that a word is “a lexical item involving an association of sound and meaning.” You should keep in mind, however, that this definition conceals an array of difficulties and complexi- ties, discussion of which is beyond the scope of this book. 4 Linguistic Perspectives on English Grammar Categorizing Words A preliminary step in describing the grammar of a language is to agree on a classification of its words. The motivation underlying this effort is simple: By classifying words into groups we are able to make economical generaliza- tions about the language rather than treating each individual word as if it were an isolated item. Words can be classified into various “parts of speech,” or what linguists often call syntactic categories (or lexical categories, or word classes). You are no doubt familiar with these categories already and have probably learned certain traditional definitions.
Available until 9 Dec |Learn more- Celia Kerslake, Aslı Göksel(Authors)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
In some cases, the nominal and the auxiliary verb are joined up: affet-‘forgive’, hallet-‘solve’, hallol-‘be solved’ (for the phonological properties of words combining with et-see 2.2 ). These compounds are inflected like ordinary verbs: (87) Ahmet arkada ş -lar-ı n-a hep yard ı m ed -er. Ahmet friend-PL-3SG.POSS-DAT always help AUX-AOR ‘Ahmet always helps his friends.’ (88) [Beni anlamamak]-ta inat ed -iyor. ‘S/he obstinately refuses to understand me.’ 14 THE Noun Phrase A Noun Phrase is any sequence of words that can function as the subject of a sentence: (1) Bunu sen al. ‘ You take this one.’ (2) [Her gün oraya gidip gelmek] zor. ‘It’s difficult [to go there and back every day] .’ A Noun Phrase can also function as some kind of complement, such as: An object: (3) Yeni kom ş ular ı tan ı m ı yordum. ‘I didn’t know the new neighbours .’ A subject complement: (4) O s ı rada lise ö ğ rencisi ydik. ‘We were high school students at the time.’ The complement of a postposition: (5) Bunlar ı [Amerika’n ı n diç politikas ı n ı daha iyi anlamak isteyenler] için yaz ı yorum. ‘I’m writ ing all this for people who want to understand American foreign policy better .’ The most complex kinds of Noun Phrases are subordinate clauses, which are discussed elsewhere in this book: noun clauses (exemplified in (2) above) form the subject of Chapter 24 , and headless relative clauses (as in (5) above) are explained in 25.3 . In this chapter we look first at the structure of the Noun Phrase ( 14.1 ), then consider the extent to which distinctions of countability are grammaticalized ( 14.2 ). The next sections explain how Noun Phrases are inflected for number ( 14.3.1 ), possession (person) ( 14.3.2 ) and case ( 14.3.3 ). The last two sections examine composite structures involving a combination of two Noun Phrases: the genitive-possessive construction ( 14.4 ) and partitive constructions ( 14.5 ).
eBook - PDF- Edna Amir Coffin, Shmuel Bolozky(Authors)
- 2005(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Chapter 11 Noun Phrases 11.1 Introduction to Noun Phrases 11.2 Noun Phrase: noun + adjective 11.3 Comparative and superlative adjectives 11.4 Apposition Noun Phrases 11.5 Construct phrases 11.6 Phrases of possession 11.7 Phrases with demonstrative pronouns 11.8 Prepositional phrases 11 9 Numeral and quantifier phrases 11.10 Noun Phrases with determiners 11.11 Gerunds and infinitives in Noun Phrases 11.1 Introduction to Noun Phrases A Noun Phrase consists of a single noun (indefinite or definite), which can have additional components modify it. A single noun can have an article added to it or a pronoun suffixed to it and remain a single word, or independent words can be added to it as modifiers. The noun itself is viewed as the head of the phrase. It is the central item in the phrase. The other added components expand the meaning of the head noun or particularize it. The additional components can be articles, adjectives, demonstrative pronouns, numerals, other modifying nouns, prepositions with pronouns, relative clauses, or gerunds and infinitives that function as nouns. The Noun Phrase can function as a subject, a nominal predicate, a direct or indirect object, or within larger constituents (e.g., within a prepositional phrase or a sentential adverb, etc.). Here are some illustrations of the most basic positions: Chapter 11: Noun Phrases 253 Subject These dogs are old. . Predicate Shunra is a cute cat . . Direct object Where did you buy this dog ? ? Indirect object They went for a walk with their dogs. . 11.1.1 Indefinite Noun Phrases There is no indefinite article in Hebrew. Nouns that have no article are indefinite. Tell me, do you have (any) tickets for the show? , ? It is possible to add the number / ‘one’ to a singular noun, to indicate a similar notion to ‘one object/an object’. I only have one ticket . . There is only one restaurant in which he is willing to eat.
eBook - ePub- Gerald Nelson(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Noun Phrases are grammatically very versatile. They can perform a wide range of functions in sentence structure as well as in phrase structure. In sentence structure, Noun Phrases have the following functions:- 1 Subject (1.4): A large tile fell from the roof.Four people entered the room.The man who lives beside us is unwell.
- 2 Subject Complement (1.6.2): Paul is my nephew .She is a teacher of English .That is the wrong way to wire a plug .
- 3 Direct Object (1.6.3): The plane left the runway .I bought a jar of coffee .Our teacher writes detective stories .
- 4 Indirect Object (1.6.4): She told the chairman the bad news.I offered the girl beside me a drink.It gives people with disabilities more independence.
- 5 Object Complement (1.6.5): She called him a loser .They appointed him President of the Board of Trade .The trade unions made Britain the country it is today .
- 6 Adjunct (1.8):
Last week , our freezer broke down.She’s going to Harvard next year .One day you’ll regret quitting college.
- 7 Prepositional Complement (3.5): over the moonbehind our houseat the cinema
- 8 Premodifier in another Noun Phrase (3.6.3) a school uniformthe computer screena traffic accident
- 9 In quantifying or measuring expressions, Noun Phrases function as Premodifiers in an adverb phrase (3.3), adjective phrase (3.4), or prepositional phrase (3.5):
two minutes earlier (adverb phrase)six years old (adjective phrase)ten metres below the surface (prepositional phrase)
Apposition is a relationship between two Noun Phrases which have identical reference:3.6.6 Appositionthe US President, Donald TrumpThe two Noun Phrases, the US President and Donald Trump
eBook - PDF- Rolf Kreyer, Joybrato Mukherjee(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
4 The Noun Phrase 4.1 The notion of 'head' In the previous chapter we discussed the verb phrase. It was defined as a phrase that consists of verbal elements only. The Noun Phrase, however, cannot be de- fined as a phrase that consists only of Noun Phrases, since it contains words from a number of different word classes. Consider the examples below, where in ad- dition to nouns we also find determiners, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and verbs. (1) a) your attitudes (s1a-002:048) b) other activities for the disabled (s1a-001:001) c) the problems associated with Edward's authority and status in the duchy of Aquitaine (w2a-010:084) d) a video of some of the work we'd done (s1a-001:119) e) the layout of buses (w2d-009:089) Accordingly, we have to come up with another criterion to define the Noun Phrase. This criterion makes reference to the notion of 'head', namely: a Noun Phrase is a phrase which has a noun as its head. The problem, then, of course is to define 'head'. The head can informally be defined as the most important ele- ment of the phrase. This means if a phrase can be reduced to one of the words that it contains without leading to ungrammaticality, this word is the head of the phrase, as in the examples below (the Noun Phrase is in italics, the head in bold print). (2) a) Have your attitudes changed towards disabled? (s1a-002:048) a') Have attitudes changed towards disabled? b) What did you see as missing from other activities for the disabled? (s1a-001:001) b') What did you see as missing from activities? c) By 1290 the problems associated with Edward's authority and status in the duchy of Aquitaine were becoming more acute. (w2a-010:084) c') By 1290 problems were becoming more acute. This criterion is not 100 per cent foolproof, as it does not work with the Noun Phrases under (1d and e).
eBook - ePubAnalysing Sentences
An Introduction to English Syntax
- Noel Burton-Roberts(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
7 The structure of Noun PhrasesDOI: 10.4324/9781003118916-8You now have an idea of how phrasal categories (NP, VP, AP, PP, AdvP) fit in the structure of VP and their functions (complement, adjunct). Here I look in more detail at the internal structure of NPs and the phrasal categories that can figure in NPs.S ingle - word NPs have already been mentioned. These are NPs consisting of a pronoun or a name . Here’s a reminder:[1][2]The NP node in [1] and [2] is said to be non -branching . NPs consisting of a pronoun or a name are the only non-branching NPs allowed for in this book . All other NPs have branching representations. They all have two immediate constituents.DET and NOM (Determiner and Nominal) are the two immediate constituents of NP, in the basic case. DET always has NOM as its sister. DET determines NOM. For example:[3]NOM is a level of NP structure intermediate between the phrasal (NP) level and the lexical (N) level. All modifiers of the head noun fall under NOM. Since modifiers are optional, it follows that NOM can consist just of N, as in [3]. But first I look at the elements that come under the DET node.Determiners
Determiners constitute a FUNCTIONAL (not lexical) category. They are a fixed set of ‘grammatical’ words that give information relating to definiteness and indefiniteness (roughly, whether the thing referred to by the NP is familiar to both speaker and hearer or not) and information about quantity and proportion.The basic determiners are the articles (art ): the definite article – the – and the indefinite article – a(n).The articles are ‘basic’ in the sense that they provide a test of what counts as a determiner. Any expression that occupies the same position in NP structure as an article counts as a determiner . How can you tell whether an expression is occupying the same (DET) position as an article? Well, if a word can appear in sequence with an article – if a word can co -occur
eBook - PDF- Christian Döhler(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Language Science Press(Publisher)
7 Syntax of the Noun Phrase 7.1 Introduction Te Noun Phrase in Komnzo is defned as a group o f nominals which jointly ful fl a functional role in the clause. Noun Phrases may also contain a single nominal. Te case markers which assign the specifc functional role a tach to the rightmost element of the Noun Phrase. Noun Phrases in Komnzo cannot be scrambled. Terefore, case enclitics and the emphatic particle fof – if present – can be used to identify the right edge of a Noun Phrase. Typically one intonation contour covers a single Noun Phrase. Te head of a Noun Phrase can be a noun (§3.1.2), a property noun (§3.1.4), a per-sonal pronoun (§3.1.9), the indefnite pronoun (§3.1.11), the recognitional demonstrative (§3.1.12.6) or an interrogative (§3.1.10). Te head of a Noun Phrase can be omi ted, leaving only a demonstrative, adjective, quantifer or locational. Tis is possible only i f the head of the Noun Phrase can be recovered from context. Noun Phrases can be dropped from the clause, in which case only the indexing in the verb provides information about the arguments. Consequently, infected verbs can and o fen do stand alone as a clause. Tis chapter begins with an overview of the structure of the Noun Phrase in §7.2. I describe the slots of a Noun Phrase and their respective fllers in §7.3 -§7.5. Te chapter closes with a description of the inclusory construction in §7.6. In this construction, two or more Noun Phrases constitute a functional unit without forming a matrix Noun Phrase. 7.2 Te structure of the Noun Phrase I analyse Noun Phrases as fat structures made up by functional slots. Each slot may be flled by particular elements. Te abstract structure is shown in Figure 7.1. determiner slot premodifer slot head slot postmodifer slot determiner adjective noun determiner demonstrative property noun property noun adjective indefnite numeral nominalised verb locational interrogative quantifer pers.
eBook - ePub- José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke, José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
14
Structure of the Noun Phrase
M. CARME PICALLO1 Introductory remarks
This chapter discusses several issues concerning the syntax of Spanish Noun Phrases. These are structures headed by a noun, its extended projections and its arguments or modifiers, if any. The strings within brackets in (1a–f) instantiate Noun Phrases:(1) a.[El anillo] estaba escondido ‘The ring was hidden.’ b. De allí colgaban [tres hermosos grabados de Piranesi] from there hung [three beautiful engravings by Piranesi] ‘Three beautiful engravings by Piranesi were hanging from there.’ c. No quería recordar [el bombardeo del puente] not wanted to remember [the bombardment of the bridge] ‘S/he did not want to remember the bombardment of the bridge.’ d. [Todos los comentarios] son bienvenidos ‘All comments are welcome.’ e. [El que te dejé] se ha roto ‘The (one) that I lent you is broken.’ f. Sólo vi a [la de Banyoles] ‘(I) only saw the (one) from Banyoles.’ g. [La roja] era la más vistosa ‘The red (one) was the most colorful.’In these examples, the lexical head of the construction is a noun. It can be either overt, as in (1a–d), or it can be phonologically null in Spanish, as in (1e–g). As shown, the noun may appear with a series of phrasal complements or elements of various types (adjectives, quantifiers or determiners, among others) that may precede or follow it.Studies on the denotation and properties of Noun Phrases have a long tradition in Philosophy and Linguistics. In the generative literature, accounts on their constituency and syntactic properties have closely reflected the theoretical framework assumed at different stages of the scientific history of the field. The discussion here mainly focuses on relatively recent proposals and revolves around two intertwined themes: the difference between nouns and other predicates with respect to thematic properties, and the types of categories that have been claimed to constitute the functional architecture of Noun Phrases. The chapter is organized as follows: Section 2 discusses some approaches related to the argument structure of nouns; Section 3 is devoted to the possible functional projections under the Determiner Phrase (DP) domain; and Section 4 focuses on adnominal adjectives, their interpretation and the hierarchical order in which they appear.
eBook - PDFLinguistic Analysis
From Data to Theory
- Annarita Puglielli, Mara Frascarelli(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
4. The structure of the Noun Phrase 4.1. The internal structure of the NP In Chapters 1 and 2, we saw that the X' structure is a universal and indefinitely recursive model, and showed how categories are formed as a consequence of lexical insertion in phrasal and clausal environments. From this perspective, the verb is the head of the phrase functioning as the predicate of a non-nominal sentence (i.e. in a predicative construction with a TAM system and, in some cases, agreement features). However, when a lexical root, after insertion, projects a phrase into an argument position (within the VP) or a non-argument position (outside the VP or within a different phrase, as a modifier), it assumes the category of noun. The corresponding phrase (an NP) has the following internal structure: (1) The structure in (1) is thus assumed by an NP in any position, whether the NP is an argument, modifier, predicate or adjunct, and the lexical root in N° shows the distributional characteristics of a noun. The evidence for this is that it can cooccur with articles, demonstratives and quantifiers (see section 1.3.1. and below), it can be defined in terms of categories such as gender and number (in inflecting and agglutinative languages) and, finally, it can cooccur with what were previously defined as second-level modifiers (section 1.5.3.). In this chapter we will first concentrate on the internal structure of the NP and later examine argumental NPs in order to describe the syntactic relationship that exists between them and the verbal head of the VP. We will then focus on the functional area assumed for this category (the DP, Determiner Phrase, dominating the NP). Finally, we will present a brief Spec NP N’ N° Compl The structure of the Noun Phrase 130 discussion of the most typical modifiers of the nominal head, i.e.
eBook - PDF- Laura McPherson(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter Mouton(Publisher)
8 Noun Phrase structure The preceding chapters have focused on nominal morphology, including root and stem shapes, affixation, and compounding; in every case, nouns were treated in iso-lation. In this chapter, we turn to how nouns combine with other elements to create Noun Phrases (NPs). This includes modification (adjectives), quantification (numerals and other quantifiers), determiners, possession, and combinations thereof. Relative clauses, another form of nominal modification, will be discussed separately in Chap-ter 17. Note that the use of NP to describe Noun Phrases is meant purely descriptively. The facts could easily fit into a theory of syntax involving the DP (Determiner Phrase). In the course of this chapter, I will address morphological characteristics of nomi-nal modifiers, including adjectives and quantifiers, so as to avoid repetition that would result from treating them in their own chapters. 8.1 Linear order of NP elements Before turning to individual NP elements as they combine with the head noun, I first lay out the maximal NP structure in Seenku. The linear order of a complex Noun Phrase can be summarized as follows: 1. Possessor or (In)definite determiner 2. Noun 3. Adjective* 4. Numeral 5. Demonstrative/Indefinite determiner 6. Quantifier The head noun is shown in bold. Preceding the head noun, we find a slot that can contain either a possessor or a determiner, either indefinite or definite. Definite deter-miners, which can be either a general definite or discourse definite, often though not obligatorily combine with a demonstrative determiner following the noun, in a posi-tion that can also host the indefinite determiner (though it will only appear in one slot for any given NP). All other Noun Phrase elements follow the head noun: adjectives (where the asterix indicates one or more), numerals, demonstrative determiners, and quantifiers. The following examples illustrate these orders: (1) a.
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