Syntax : Chapter III: Noun Phrase

As phrases are often described according to the classes of the words that function in them and also the order in which their components are arranged, Noun phrase get its name from the head word which is a noun.

In English, a noun phrase is composed of 3 main parts: Pre-modification; Central and Post-modification. The Central part, which is also called "the head", is obligatory. The other 2 parts are optional.

About the head, the most common kind of head of a Noun Phrase is a Noun (Obviously ^^). The second one is pronoun, mostly a personal pronoun. Other kinds are : Indefinite Pronoun, Possessive Pronoun and Demonstrative Pronoun. When the head is a Pronoun, it is rarely (or never) preceded by any kind of modification. Post-modification, mostly Relative Clause, can follow it, in this case.

Take a look at the Pre-modification:

Here is the "structure" of a Pre-modification :

Identifier + numeral/quantifier + Adjective + Noun modifier

+ Identifier: This section includes : Articles, Demonstratives and Possessives. They're mutually exclusive in English, which means only one can be present at a time in a context.

+ Numeral/Quantifier: We can insert more than one component, though there are also some limitation. There are several favourite sequences:

Ordinal numeral + Indefinite quantifier

Ordinal numeral + Cardinal numeral

Indefinite quantifier + Cardinal numeral

+ Pre-determiner: this kind of modification is not included in the structure. It appears before the pre-modification. They have a quantifier reference and the most common are 'all', 'both', and 'half' together with fraction numeral.

+ Adjective: Several adjectives, or none at all, may occur in a Noun phrase but when it happens, there appears to be some principle of ordering:

epithet ( most important characteristics) - size - shape - age - colour - origin - substance - present participle - denominal (derived from noun)

+ Noun modifier: Often, there is only one noun modifier present in a Noun phrase. Noun modifier + head noun construction is often the first stage in the formation of compound noun.

+ Noun phrase in the genitive case: this kind is marked by an ('s) added to its final words and often indicate possession. This explains why they are more commonly found with animate nouns as head than inanimate nouns. Also, the NP genitive case may be considered to be substituting for a possessive indentifer in the noun phrase in which it occurs as a pre-deteminer. Thus, NP genitive may in turn be the subject to analysis like any other noun phrase.

Finally, Post-modification:

The post-modification position in a Noun phrase is filled by clauses or phrases rather than by specific wordclasses or subclasses. There are 4 kinds: Relative clause, Non-finite clause, Prepositional phrase and Adjective/Adverb.

+ Adjective and Adverb:

Adjectives usually follow indefinite pronouns as head and do not normally come after a noun. However, there are a few cases (probably ones copied from French),eg. blood royal, heir apparent.

Adverbs are more frequently found and they could be regarded as the reduction of a prepositional phrase. It seems that those can function alternatively as a preposition.

+ Relative clause: A relative clause is a full clause consisting of a relative pronoun as a head which refers back to the head noun of the noun phrase in which it occurs as a post-modifier.

Who and Whom stands for heads that refers to persons while Which is used for non-human things.

Genitive relative pronoun Whose functions like an NP genitive within one of the noun phrases of the relative clause.

Whose => of whom (for human and non-human head nouns)

However, some native speakers may prefer 'of which' for non-human head nouns.

...

OK, I've just explained what we all learnt from secondary and high school ^^. Now what do you think if I say comparison relates to relative clause ? ^^ Let's examine an example:

She buys more clothes in a month than I buy in a year.

In this example, the 'relative clause' is 'than I buy in a year' and the equivalent of relative pronouns is 'that', which refers back to 'more'.

One more thing, a superlative adjective as pre-modifier may be followed by a relative clause introduced by 'that'.

+ Non-finite clause: this kind is a kind of clause without subjects, introduced by a non-finite form of the verb. Commonly, we'll meet 3 kinds: Infinitive clause; Present Participle Clause and Past Participle Clause.

They are often regarded as reductions of relative clauses.

- Present Participle clause relates to an active (often progressive form but not always)

- Past Participle clause is always linked to a passive and thus restricted to transitive verbs.

For Present and Past Participle clauses as post-modifiers in noun phrases the implied subject is the head of the noun phrase. However, for infinitive clauses, this is not always true.

It is also possible to insert a specific subject by means of a 'for phrase'.

+ Prepositional phrase: the full range of preposition is used to introduce post-modifying prepositional phrases. Like non-finite clauses, prepositional phrases may have a relationship with fuller relative clauses, very often with the verb 'be'.

* As I finished this part, I discovered that the difference between these kinds was that they varied in their explicity. From relative clause to non-finite clause and finally prepositional phrase, the explicity increases.

Phew, this chapter is so long, huh ? But it's really interesting when you do research and understand those you were once introduced to without awareness of their 'origins'. isn't it ? My first entry may stop here, hehe

- NHƯ ANH -