English Syntax
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MODULE 7
The structure of Noun Phrases
Instructor: Lam Hoang Phuc
7.1. Structure of basic Noun Phrases
▪ NPs consisting of a pronoun or a name are the only
non-branching NPs.
▪ In the basic case, the two immediate constituents of NP
are: DET and NOM (Determiner and Nominal).
▪ DET always has NOM as its sister.
▪ All modifiers of the head noun fall under NOM.
7.2. Determiners
▪ 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
touchstone as to what counts as a determiner. Any
expression that occupies the same position in NP
structure as an article counts as a determiner.
▪ There is a small set of words which perform the same
function as the articles:
o demonstratives (DEM): this, that, these, those
o quantifiers (Q): some, any, no, each, every, either,
neither
o possessives (POSS): my, your, its, her, his, our, their,
John’s
7.2. Determiners
▪ Examples of determiners:
7.2. Determiners
▪ The determiner position may not always be filled by an
actual word.
E.g. Essays must be word-processed.
Smoke gets in your eyes.
▪ Although these NPs contain just one word, they should
still be analysed as having a [DET + NOM] structure:
7.2. Determiners
▪ A possessive determiner (POSS) can either be simple (my,
your, etc.) or consist of a full NP plus ’s.
E.g. John’s father
7.3. Pre-determiners
▪ Words such as all, both, double, treble, and half co-occur
with and precede determiners. They are called
pre-determiners (PRE-DET).
E.g. all the men
▪ Pre-determiners determine an NP.
E.g.
7.3. Pre-determiners
▪ It should be noted that pre-determiners don’t always
precede determiners.
E.g. all men
▪ A good way to determine whether the word preceding
the NOM is a determiner or pre-determiner is to insert an
article before the NOM. If this can be done, then the word
in question is a pre-determiner.
E.g. all in all men is a pre-determiner since we can insert the
article the between the two (all the men).
7.3. Pre-determiners
▪ Summary of how the NP node can be expanded:
7.4. The structure of NOM
▪ In the structure of NOM, the head noun can coexist with
pre-modifiers, post-modifiers, and complements.
▪ The complement of NOM always follows the head noun.
One potential problem in the analysis of NOM is whether
to treat the constituent following the head noun as either
complement or post-modifier.
▪ If the constituent is a complement, then it is a sister of N.
If the constituent is a post-modifier, then it is a sister of
NOM.
7.4. The structure of NOM
E.g. by Newton is a post-modifier since it is a sister of NOM.
In contrast, of the argument is a complement since it is a
sister of N.
7.4. The structure of NOM
▪ A replacement test with one can be used to determine
whether the constituent following the head noun is a
post-modifer or complement.
▪ One can only replace NOM, not N.
E.g. in those observations by Newton, ones can replace
observations (those ones by Newton), so observations is
NOM and thus by Newton is a post-modifier (sister of NOM).
in Larry’s summary of the argument, one cannot replace
summary (*Larry’s one of the argument), so summary is N
and thus of the argument is a complement (sister of N).
7.4. The structure of NOM
▪ NOM is a recursive category. Every modifier must be
immediately dominated by a NOM.
The number of NOMs in a NP is determined by the number
of modifiers plus the head noun.
E.g. in the bold clowns, there are two NOMs.
7.5. Pre-modifiers in NOM
1. Quantifying adjectives
▪ Much, many, few, and little are quantifying adjectives
(QA). They are treated as adjectives rather than
determiners because:
a) Like adjectives, they co-occur with and follow
determiners (e.g. those many books).
b) Like adjectives, they may occur in the VP, functioning
as subject-predicatives (e.g. His mistakes were many).
c) Like adjectives, they are gradable (e.g. too much garlic).
7.5. Pre-modifiers in NOM
1. Quantifying adjectives
▪ Numerals (the cardinal numerals one, two, three . . . and
the ordinal numerals first, second, third . . . ) should also
be treated as quantifying adjectives within NOM, since
they follow DET (e.g. the one mistake).
▪ Quantifying adjectives (QAs) are head of AP. APs with a
QA as head always precede other APs in NOM.
7.5. Pre-modifiers in NOM
2. Participle phrases (PartP)
▪ The non-finite forms of verbs may also appear as
pre-modifiers within NOM:
o PROGRESSIVE: the sleeping guard
o PERFECT: the departed nymphs
o PASSIVE: a forgotten valley
▪ The perfect and passive participles can only be
distinguished by appealing to the meaning
▪ Since these forms are verbal rather than adjectival, they
are not gradable (E.g. *the slightly sleeping guard).
DEG can be used to distinguish between participle phrase
and adjective phrase.
▪ Participle phrases can be modified by general adverbs
(E.g. the rapidly congealing gravy)
7.5. Pre-modifiers in NOM
3. Nouns
▪ Nouns themselves may act as pre-modifiers of nouns.
▪ In a sequence of modifiers that includes a noun modifier,
noun modifiers always appear last.
▪ Such noun–noun combinations are compound nouns.
They are not treated as phrasal, but as compound words.
E.g.
7.6. Post-modifiers
1. Prepositional Phrases
▪ PP can post-modifies NOM, and the NOM within the NP of
the PP can be post-modified aby another PP, and this
could go on indefinitely.
E.g. an expedition to the pub in the village at the foot of that
mountain
▪ However, in an expedition to the pub for more cherry
brandy, the PP for more cherry brandy doesn’t modify the
NOM pub, but instead modifies the larger NOM
expedition to the pub.
▪ Deciding on which is the correct representation involves
consideration on meaning.
7.6. Post-modifiers
1. Prepositional Phrases
▪ Post-modifying PPs can present cases of ambiguity.
E.g. an agreement between workers on overtime can be
understood as either:
a) on overtime modifies the NOM [agreement (between
workers)] – ‘an overtime agreement’
b) on overtime modifies just the N workers – ‘workers
who are on overtime’
7.6. Post-modifiers
1. Prepositional Phrases
▪ When NOM includes both a pre-modifying AP and a
post-modifying PP, deciding on which modifies the NOM
dominating the head involves attending to the meaning.
▪ E.g. in that nuclear scientist from Germany, nuclear
scientist denotes a category of scientist. Since such a
category exists, it’s appropriate there should be an
expression to denote it. So [nuclear scientist] is a
constituent.
7.6. Post-modifiers
1. Prepositional Phrases
▪ In some cases, either analysis is possible. However, the
analysis that associates the more permanent and/or
intrinsic property more closely with the head noun will
generally seem more natural.
E.g. in the unknown scientist from Germany, it is more
natural to analyse the phrase as [[unknown] [scientist from
Germany]] since being from Germany is more
permanent/intrinsic than being unknown.
7.6. Post-modifiers
2. More on Adjective Phrases
▪ A few adjectives can pre-modify or post-modify the head
noun in NOM.
▪ As post-modifiers, APs occupy the same position in the
structure of NOM as PPs. The Aps normally include a
complement in the form of a PP.
E.g. the chef responsible for the sauce.
▪ There’s a reason why such APs must post-modify the
Noun. Call it ‘The Friendly Head Principle’ (FHP): within
NOM, the head of a modifying phrase wants to be as close
as possible to the head noun.
7.7. Modification of pronouns
▪ Some pronouns can be post-modified by an AP or PP
within the structure of an NP.
E.g.
7.7. Modification of pronouns
▪ The same analysis may be appropriate for the following:
▪ However, since it has been established that these words
are categorised as either determiners or pre-determiners,
it could be awkward to treat them as pronouns.
▪ It’s arguable, then, that these words are what they always
were: determiners or pre-determiners. They only appear
to have changed into pronouns – and thus be functioning
as the head of their NP because the real head of the NP
has been ellipted.
7.7. Modification of pronouns
REFERENCES
Burton-Roberts, N. (2016). Analysing sentences: An
introduction to English syntax (4th ed.). Oxfordshire:
Routledge.