English Syntax
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MODULE 3
Sentence structure: Categories
Instructor: Lam Hoang Phuc
3.1. Nouns
▪ The traditional definition of a noun: a noun is the name of
a person, place, or thing.
▪ This definition is problematic since there are words which
do not refer to any person, place, or thing but are
nevertheless nouns. E.g. honesty.
It’s better to say that a word is considered a noun when it
has the same range of functions (i.e. same distribution) as
other words that obviously are nouns by the traditional
definition.
▪ In addition, nouns can be identified through their range of
possible word forms (morphological possibilities).
▪ One morphological identifying feature of all nouns is that
they have a genitive (or possessive) form.
▪ E.g. Bill’s, mud’s, joke’s
3.1. Nouns
▪ Proper nouns: names, spelt with an initial capital. E.g.
January, Frankenstein, Bugsy
▪ Common nouns: other nouns. All common nouns can
combine with the word the (the definite article) to form a
Noun Phrase.
▪ Count nouns: common nouns that refer to things that can
be counted. Count nouns:
a) can combine with a/an (the indefinite article) to form a
Noun Phrase. E.g. a stream
b) can combine with numerals (one, two, three…) and
with expressions like several, many, etc. to form a
Noun Phrase. E.g. one car, several books
c) can be marked for plural. E.g. accidents
3.1. Nouns
▪ Mass nouns: refer to ‘things’ that cannot be counted. E.g.
butter, foam.
▪ it is often possible to turn a mass noun into a count noun
precisely by preceding it with a/an, or a numeral, and/or
giving it a plural form. This usually involves a change of
meaning.
E.g. two butters (two kinds of butter).
▪ Many nouns are both mass and count.
E.g. theory can stand alone or with some as a mass noun, but
it can also be preceded by a and by numerals and be plural
as a count noun.
3.1. Nouns
▪ Pronouns can stand in place of complete Noun Phrases
(NPs).
▪ There are different kinds of pronouns:
o definite pronouns: she/her, it, I/me, we/us, you,
they/them
o reflexive (definite) pronouns: myself, itself, ourselves,
etc.
o indefinite pronouns: something, someone, anything,
anyone
o demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
o interrogative (question) pronouns: who, which, what
o possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours,
theirs.
3.2. Lexical and phrasal categories (noun and
Noun Phrase)
▪ It is the category of the head word that determines the
category of the phrase as a whole.
▪ It is the head noun that determines the number (singular
or plural) and the gender (masculine, feminine, or
neutral) of the Noun Phrase as a whole.
▪ Only one noun in a Noun Phrase can function as its head.
The head can be identified by replacing NP with a
pronoun.
E.g. in the sentence The man devouring the plums is grinning
broadly, man is the head since the subject noun phrase can
be replaced by he.
It is the head noun that determines what sort of thing or
person the whole NP refers to.
3.2. Lexical and phrasal categories (noun and
Noun Phrase)
▪ A Noun Phrase can consist simply of a head noun.
▪ Names (i.e. proper nouns) and pronouns are full NPs in
their right.
E.g.
When single words have the functions that full phrases
have, we need to treat them as full phrases of the
appropriate category.
3.3. Adjectives and adverbs
▪ Many adjectives have characteristic endings, such as
-able, -al, -ate, -ful, -ic, -ing, -ish, -ive, -less, -ous, -y. E.g.
capable, economical.
▪ The more common adjectives tend not to have
characteristic endings. E.g. nice, old, hot.
▪ Many adjectives have the morphological possibility of
taking a comparative (-er) and a superlative (-est) suffix.
E.g. newest, subtler
▪ Others do not but instead may be modified by the
comparative and superlative degree adverbs more and
most, less and least. E.g. more beautiful
▪ Yet other adjectives have irregular comparative and
superlative forms. E.g. good, better, best
3.3. Adjectives and adverbs
▪ The main function of degree adverbs is to modify
adjectives (specifying the degree of the attribute
expressed by the adjective).
▪ Adjectives that accept the -er/-est inflection or
modification by degree adverbs are called gradable
adjectives.
▪ non-gradable adjectives do not accept the -er/-est
inflection, or modification by degree adverb. E.g. atomic,
dead, potential.
3.4. Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases
▪ Adjective Phrases (AP) are centred on adjectives (A).
▪ an AP can consist of an unmodified head, a simple
adjective.
▪ In an AP, the A can be modified by a degree adverb (DEG).
E.g.
3.4. Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases
▪ Like degree adverbs, general adverbs can modify
adjectives within Adjective Phrases. E.g. oddly
inconclusive.
▪ The vast majority of general adverbs are formed from
adjectives by the addition of –ly.
▪ General adverbs can themselves be modified by degree
adverbs, to form adverb phrases (AdvPs).
▪ An AdvP can consist of just a simple (general) adverb.
3.4. Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases
▪ Example of phrase marker with AdvP:
3.5. Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
▪ Two basic forms of PP:
a) PPs in which the preposition (P) is complemented by
an NP.
▪ E.g.
▪ The relation between a preposition and the following
Noun Phrase is a head~complement relation
3.5. Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
b) PPs consisting of just a P.
▪ E.g.
▪ These single-word PPs express either a spatial location or
a temporal location.
3.6. Co-ordinate Phrases
▪ Co-ordinate NPs have as many heads as there are nouns
co-ordinated in them.
E.g. Max and Adrian has two heads: (1) Max, (2) Adrian,
co-ordinated by and.
▪ Other co-ordinators are but and or.
▪ A co-ordinate NP as a whole is plural regardless of
whether the heads are singular or plural.
▪ The heads of a co-ordinate NP are themselves NPs. This
can be demonstrated by showing that, even within the
co-ordinate NP, they can themselves be replaced by
pronouns.
E.g. He and Adrian are being melodramatic.
Max and he are being melodramatic.
3.6. Co-ordinate Phrases
▪ Examples of phrase markers with co-ordinate NPs:
3.6. Co-ordinate Phrases
▪ Any constituent, of any category, can consist of a
co-ordination of constituents of the same category.
The mother and the sisters of the co-ordinator all have
the same category label.
E.g.
3.6. Co-ordinate Phrases
3.6. Co-ordinate Phrases
▪ PHRASAL CATEGORIES (NP, VP, AP, PP, and AdvP) have a
variety of functions: subject, predicate, modifier or
complement. But LEXICAL CATEGORIES (N, V, A, P, and
Adv) have only one function – they always function as
HEAD of the appropriate phrasal category.
In any phrase marker, LEXICAL categories must always be
dominated by a node bearing the appropriate PHRASAL
category label (even if those phrases contain nothing in
addition to the head).
REFERENCES
Burton-Roberts, N. (2016). Analysing sentences: An
introduction to English syntax (4th ed.). Oxfordshire:
Routledge.