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Uvod u morfosintaksu, lecture 03, 12 13
The complexity of the noun phrase
Noun phrases can be indefinitely complex, because
 sentences themselves can be reshaped so as to come
 within noun-phrase structure.
For example, the following simple and complex
 sentences (1a) – (1e) can be re-expressed as one simple
 sentence (2) with a very complex noun phrase as
 subject.
The complexity of the noun phrase
(1) (a) That girl is Angela Hunt.
(b) That girl is tall.
(c) That girl was standing in the corner.
(d) You waved to that girl when you entered.
(e) That girl became angry because you waved to her.
(2) That tall girl standing in the corner who
  became angry because you waved to her when
  you entered is Angela Hunt.
The complexity of the noun phrase
The sentence (2) has introduced many changes:
the suppression all or part of the verbs in (1b) and
 (1c) (different in tense and aspect);
the complement tall in (1b) is put before the noun
 girl;
the replacement of that girl in (1e) by who.
The structure of the noun phrase
(3) Gustav Husak stepped down as party chief.
(4) The old man stepped down as party chief.
(5) He stepped down as party chief.
(6) Gustav Husak, 74, who restored
 Czechoslovakia to Communist orthodoxy after
 the brief enlightenment of the 1968 Prague
 Spring, stepped down as party chief.
Noun phrases – can be realized as names, nouns
 or pronouns.
The structure of the noun phrase
In describing noun phrases, we distinguish 4
 components:
(I) The head – around which the other
 components cluster and which dictates concord
 (i.e. subject-verb agreement) and other kinds of
 congruence with the rest of the sentence outside
 the noun phrase:
(7) That tall girl standing in the corner… is …
(8) Those tall girls standing in the corner… are …
(9) He addressed that tall girl standing in the
 corner.
The structure of the noun phrase
(II) The determiner – its role is to determine the kind of
 reference of the noun phrase. We distinguish 3 classes of
 determiners, set up on the basis of their position in the
 noun phrase in relation to each other:
Central determiners: the, a, zero; demonstratives (this,
 that, these, those); possessives (my, our, your, his, her, its,
 their); wh-determiners which, whose, whichever, whatever,
 whosever, whether as relatives, indefinite relatives or
 interrogatives; the negative determiner no; universal
 determiners every, each; the nonassertive dual determiner
 either; the negative dual determiner neither; determiners
 that cooccur only with uncountable nouns and plural
 countable nouns (some, any, enough).
The structure of the noun phrase
Predeterminers – form a class in generally being
 mutually exclusive, preceding the central determiners
 with which they can cooccur, and in having to do with
 quantification. There are two subsets: (a) all, both,
 half; (b) the multipliers (twice, double, three times,
 once, etc.)
The structure of the noun phrase
Postdeterminers – take their place immediately
 after determiners . They fall into two classes: (a)
 ordinals (first, fourth, last, other, etc.); (b) quantifiers
 (seven, ninety, many, few, plenty of, a lot of, little, etc.)
The structure of the noun phrase
(III) The premodification – comprises all the items
 placed before the head and after the determiner. Most
 common premodifiers are adjectives, participles and
 nouns.
The structure of the noun phrase
    There are four premodifier slots:
1.   Central position – central adjectives. They can occur both
     predicatively and attributively, they can be intensified by
     very, and they are gradable.
2. Precentral position – peripheral, nongradable adjectives
     that are most typically intensifiers such as entire, certain,
     complete.
3. Postcentral position – participles and colour adjectives,
     retired, sleeping, red, pink.
4. Prehead position – the position nearest to the head,
     contains the least adjectival and the most nominal items
     (denominal adjectives Scottish, statistical, political).
Example:
(10) certain rich American producers
The structure of the noun phrase
(IV) The postmodification – comprises all the items
 placed after the head: prepositional phrases, nonfinite
 clauses, relative clauses, postposed adjectives, adverb
 phrases, apposition.
Premodification
(a) ADJECTIVE:
(11) I visited his delightful cottage.
(b) PARTICIPLE:
(12) I visited his crumbling cottage. (-ing participle)
(13) I visited his completed cottage. (-ed participle)
(c) NOUN:
(14) I visited his country cottage.
(d) ADVERB:
(15) I visited his far-away cottage.
(e) CLAUSE:
(16) Sotheby’s is selling off Elton’s effects in a four-day,
  2000-lot, you’ve-seen-the-catalogue, now-wear-the-T-
  shirt sale that kicks off the autumn saleroom season.
The grammatical status of the
genitive
As determiner – for the most part, genitives function
 exactly like central definite determiners and thus preclude
 the co-occurrence of other determiners:
(17) (a) a new briefcase
(b) the new briefcase       (*a the new briefcase)
(c) this new briefcase      (*the this new briefcase)
(d) Joan’s new briefcase(*the Joan’s new briefcase)
This equally applies when the genitive is a phrase
 incorporating its own determiner:
(18) my cousin’s new briefcase ≠ my new briefcase
(19) my handsome cousin’s new briefcase
The grammatical status of the
genitive
The items preceding the genitive relate to that genitive:
(20) that old gentleman’s son = ‘the son of that old
 gentleman’; ≠ ‘that son of the old gentleman’
Exception – in cases where the preceding item is
 predeterminer, since the predeterminer may relate either
 to the genitive noun or to the noun that follows it:
(21) We attributed both the girls’ success to their hard
 work. (‘the success of both the girls’)
(22) Both the girl’s parents were present. (‘both the
 parents of the girl’)
The grammatical status of the
genitive
As modifier – when the genitive is used
 descriptively, it functions as a premodifier.
 Determiners in such noun phrases usually relate not
 to the genitive but to the noun following it:
(23) They attend a women’s university in Kyoto. (‘*a
 women’)
So also, other modifying items in the noun phrase
 relate to the noun following the genitive:
(24) She lives in a quaint old shepherd's cottage. (it
 is probably the cottage that is quaint and old, not the
 shepherd)
Postmodification
(a) RELATIVE CLAUSE:
(25) Teachers who go on strike will pay dearly for
 deserting their classrooms. (RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE)
(26) The editor of the Hindu, Mr N. Ram, who
 had flown specially from Madras, urged the
 president to set Mr Jeyaraj free. (NONRESTRICTIVE RELATIVE
  CLAUSE)

(b) NONFINITE CLAUSES:
-ing PARTICIPLE CLAUSES:
(27) Doctors switched off the machine keeping baby
  Alexander Davies alive. (-ing PARTICIPLE CLAUSE)
Postmodification
-ed PARTICIPLE CLAUSES:
(28) Police were led to the spot by a man already
 charged with abducting and threatening to
 kill an 18-year-old slaughterhouse worker. (-ed
 PARTICIPLE CLAUSE)

INFINITIVE CLAUSES:
(29) which will be removed as part of new arms
 deal to be signed in Washington
Postmodification
(c) PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES:
(30) Since his arrival at Anfield from Watford
 for a fee of £ 900, 000, John Barnes has captured
 the imagination of supporters...
(d) POSTPOSED ADJECTIVE PHRASES:
(31) the city would surely have been packed with
 volunteers, art historians and fund raisers
 anxious to save a cultural heritage they felt
 they shared
Postmodification
(e) ADVERB PHRASES:
(32) The road back was dense with traffic.
(f) APPOSITION:
Two or more structures are in apposition when they
 have identity of reference. Apposition can be
 expressed by:
Noun phrases:
(33) Mr Simpson, the vicar of Barmston, said last
 night:...
Postmodification
Nominal that-clauses:
(34) Mikhail Gorbachev’s new wave rolled on
 yesterday with the promise that Russia would stop
 pushing around her Iron Curtain neighbours.
Nonfinite clauses:
(35) His only interest in life, playing football, has
 brought him many friends.
(36) Mr Gorbachev’s decision to call on the Prime
 Minister on the eve of the historic Washington
 summit is seen in Whitehall as...

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Uvod u morfosintaksu, lecture 03, 12 13

  • 2. The complexity of the noun phrase Noun phrases can be indefinitely complex, because sentences themselves can be reshaped so as to come within noun-phrase structure. For example, the following simple and complex sentences (1a) – (1e) can be re-expressed as one simple sentence (2) with a very complex noun phrase as subject.
  • 3. The complexity of the noun phrase (1) (a) That girl is Angela Hunt. (b) That girl is tall. (c) That girl was standing in the corner. (d) You waved to that girl when you entered. (e) That girl became angry because you waved to her. (2) That tall girl standing in the corner who became angry because you waved to her when you entered is Angela Hunt.
  • 4. The complexity of the noun phrase The sentence (2) has introduced many changes: the suppression all or part of the verbs in (1b) and (1c) (different in tense and aspect); the complement tall in (1b) is put before the noun girl; the replacement of that girl in (1e) by who.
  • 5. The structure of the noun phrase (3) Gustav Husak stepped down as party chief. (4) The old man stepped down as party chief. (5) He stepped down as party chief. (6) Gustav Husak, 74, who restored Czechoslovakia to Communist orthodoxy after the brief enlightenment of the 1968 Prague Spring, stepped down as party chief. Noun phrases – can be realized as names, nouns or pronouns.
  • 6. The structure of the noun phrase In describing noun phrases, we distinguish 4 components: (I) The head – around which the other components cluster and which dictates concord (i.e. subject-verb agreement) and other kinds of congruence with the rest of the sentence outside the noun phrase: (7) That tall girl standing in the corner… is … (8) Those tall girls standing in the corner… are … (9) He addressed that tall girl standing in the corner.
  • 7. The structure of the noun phrase (II) The determiner – its role is to determine the kind of reference of the noun phrase. We distinguish 3 classes of determiners, set up on the basis of their position in the noun phrase in relation to each other: Central determiners: the, a, zero; demonstratives (this, that, these, those); possessives (my, our, your, his, her, its, their); wh-determiners which, whose, whichever, whatever, whosever, whether as relatives, indefinite relatives or interrogatives; the negative determiner no; universal determiners every, each; the nonassertive dual determiner either; the negative dual determiner neither; determiners that cooccur only with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns (some, any, enough).
  • 8. The structure of the noun phrase Predeterminers – form a class in generally being mutually exclusive, preceding the central determiners with which they can cooccur, and in having to do with quantification. There are two subsets: (a) all, both, half; (b) the multipliers (twice, double, three times, once, etc.)
  • 9. The structure of the noun phrase Postdeterminers – take their place immediately after determiners . They fall into two classes: (a) ordinals (first, fourth, last, other, etc.); (b) quantifiers (seven, ninety, many, few, plenty of, a lot of, little, etc.)
  • 10. The structure of the noun phrase (III) The premodification – comprises all the items placed before the head and after the determiner. Most common premodifiers are adjectives, participles and nouns.
  • 11. The structure of the noun phrase  There are four premodifier slots: 1. Central position – central adjectives. They can occur both predicatively and attributively, they can be intensified by very, and they are gradable. 2. Precentral position – peripheral, nongradable adjectives that are most typically intensifiers such as entire, certain, complete. 3. Postcentral position – participles and colour adjectives, retired, sleeping, red, pink. 4. Prehead position – the position nearest to the head, contains the least adjectival and the most nominal items (denominal adjectives Scottish, statistical, political). Example: (10) certain rich American producers
  • 12. The structure of the noun phrase (IV) The postmodification – comprises all the items placed after the head: prepositional phrases, nonfinite clauses, relative clauses, postposed adjectives, adverb phrases, apposition.
  • 13. Premodification (a) ADJECTIVE: (11) I visited his delightful cottage. (b) PARTICIPLE: (12) I visited his crumbling cottage. (-ing participle) (13) I visited his completed cottage. (-ed participle) (c) NOUN: (14) I visited his country cottage. (d) ADVERB: (15) I visited his far-away cottage. (e) CLAUSE: (16) Sotheby’s is selling off Elton’s effects in a four-day, 2000-lot, you’ve-seen-the-catalogue, now-wear-the-T- shirt sale that kicks off the autumn saleroom season.
  • 14. The grammatical status of the genitive As determiner – for the most part, genitives function exactly like central definite determiners and thus preclude the co-occurrence of other determiners: (17) (a) a new briefcase (b) the new briefcase (*a the new briefcase) (c) this new briefcase (*the this new briefcase) (d) Joan’s new briefcase(*the Joan’s new briefcase) This equally applies when the genitive is a phrase incorporating its own determiner: (18) my cousin’s new briefcase ≠ my new briefcase (19) my handsome cousin’s new briefcase
  • 15. The grammatical status of the genitive The items preceding the genitive relate to that genitive: (20) that old gentleman’s son = ‘the son of that old gentleman’; ≠ ‘that son of the old gentleman’ Exception – in cases where the preceding item is predeterminer, since the predeterminer may relate either to the genitive noun or to the noun that follows it: (21) We attributed both the girls’ success to their hard work. (‘the success of both the girls’) (22) Both the girl’s parents were present. (‘both the parents of the girl’)
  • 16. The grammatical status of the genitive As modifier – when the genitive is used descriptively, it functions as a premodifier. Determiners in such noun phrases usually relate not to the genitive but to the noun following it: (23) They attend a women’s university in Kyoto. (‘*a women’) So also, other modifying items in the noun phrase relate to the noun following the genitive: (24) She lives in a quaint old shepherd's cottage. (it is probably the cottage that is quaint and old, not the shepherd)
  • 17. Postmodification (a) RELATIVE CLAUSE: (25) Teachers who go on strike will pay dearly for deserting their classrooms. (RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE) (26) The editor of the Hindu, Mr N. Ram, who had flown specially from Madras, urged the president to set Mr Jeyaraj free. (NONRESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE) (b) NONFINITE CLAUSES: -ing PARTICIPLE CLAUSES: (27) Doctors switched off the machine keeping baby Alexander Davies alive. (-ing PARTICIPLE CLAUSE)
  • 18. Postmodification -ed PARTICIPLE CLAUSES: (28) Police were led to the spot by a man already charged with abducting and threatening to kill an 18-year-old slaughterhouse worker. (-ed PARTICIPLE CLAUSE) INFINITIVE CLAUSES: (29) which will be removed as part of new arms deal to be signed in Washington
  • 19. Postmodification (c) PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES: (30) Since his arrival at Anfield from Watford for a fee of £ 900, 000, John Barnes has captured the imagination of supporters... (d) POSTPOSED ADJECTIVE PHRASES: (31) the city would surely have been packed with volunteers, art historians and fund raisers anxious to save a cultural heritage they felt they shared
  • 20. Postmodification (e) ADVERB PHRASES: (32) The road back was dense with traffic. (f) APPOSITION: Two or more structures are in apposition when they have identity of reference. Apposition can be expressed by: Noun phrases: (33) Mr Simpson, the vicar of Barmston, said last night:...
  • 21. Postmodification Nominal that-clauses: (34) Mikhail Gorbachev’s new wave rolled on yesterday with the promise that Russia would stop pushing around her Iron Curtain neighbours. Nonfinite clauses: (35) His only interest in life, playing football, has brought him many friends. (36) Mr Gorbachev’s decision to call on the Prime Minister on the eve of the historic Washington summit is seen in Whitehall as...