English grammar - Roger Berry 2012
A3.1 Noun phrases
A3 Noun phrases and determiners
Section A. Introduction
In A2 we looked at nouns as a word class. But when we want to study texts and analyse sentences (for example, to identify subjects and objects), we need to recognise a larger
unit: the noun phrase. A noun phrase is a noun and all the words that ’go’ with it. It can consist of just a noun:
Money is bad for you.
People are strange.
London is a fantastic place.
And a pronoun can also function as a noun phrase:
She is my best friend.
But usually there is more than one word.
Noun phrases can consist of up to four parts, as in the diagram:
Figure A3.1.1 The four parts of a noun phrase
The last three parts are dealt with below. Determiners, as a distinct word class, are given a fuller treatment afterwards.
Heads
The head is the central part of a noun phrase; it is the only part which is obligatory, though if it is a singular count noun, there must be a determiner with it: a table or that table, not simply ’table. Heads are usually nouns, but can sometimes be adjectives (the poor); see B3. The head is the word that changes for number. It agrees with the determiner and any following verb (if the noun phrase is the subject).
Premodifiers
The function of premodifiers is to add information about the head noun; to ’modify’ or limit its meaning. So the reference of red roses and science students is more restricted than that of roses and students.
Typically premodifiers consist of one or more adjectives:
big business; small change; a beautiful, red dress (see A4 for more on adjectives.)
However, nouns are also common:
a newspaper reporter; a paper cutter; climate change.
When a noun is used as a premodifier, it can be related to a noun phrase with a postmodifying prepositional phrase (see below under postmodification): a reporter for a newspaper.
Activity A3.1
Look at the noun phrases below and say whether the underlined premodifiers are adjectives or nouns.
1. business communication
2. (a) summery dress
3. (a) car driver
4. modern communication
5. (the) summer term
6. (a) brown paper bag
There is no absolute limit to the number of premodifiers in one noun phrase:
the great big British breakfast tradition
It is also possible to show an object-verb relationship by using a hyphen in a compound premodifier:
a flesh-eating virus, a power-sharing agreement (’an agreement to share power’) But for more complex structural relationships with a noun phrase a postmodifier (see below) must be used.
Activity A3.2
The phrase an English teacher is ambiguous. What are the two possible meanings, and how can you explain them in terms of premodification and different word classes?
Activity A3.3
What is the difference between health food and healthy food?
Postmodifiers
The postmodifier position is where extensive and complex information about the head is given. It can consist of:
□ a prepositional phrase (see A4): the woman in a long dress; a friend of the director
□ an adjective phrase: a man capable of anything (see A4)
□ a clause, especially a relative clause: a decision which was greeted with surprise (see B10)
□ a non-finite clause: a memorial dedicated to the victims (see A10)
□ an adverb: the first time around, a long way back
Postmodification with prepositional phrases is the most common type.
There is a special type of postmodification where the preposition is determined by the noun, and the prepositional phrase is seen as necessary to complete its meaning. Here are just a few examples:
I have great admiration for her.
'This isn’t the solution to our problem.
It affected his relationship with his children.
They expressed surprise at the announcement.
There is a widespread belief in reincarnation.
Such prepositional phrases are sometimes called ’complements’. Many such nouns are typically used with one particular preposition. For example, it would be strange to use a different preposition with belief. This use should not be confused with prepositional phrases that are independent of the noun (see adverbials in A8) e.g.
This is a widespread belief in government circles.
Complements are also found with adjectives (see A4) and can take the form of clauses rather than prepositional phrases (see A10).
Terminology
In some approaches to English grammar the term ’complement’ has a much wider interpretation.
Combinations involving more than one of the above types of postmodification are possible. In such cases noun phrases can become extremely long:
. . . a man in a red overcoat who was holding a gun in his left hand.
Here the noun phrase, whose head is man, contains several other noun phrases: a red overcoat, a gun, and his left hand, all with their own head nouns. This is the concept of recursion. Sentences may be composed of very long noun phrases involving several instances of such recursion; we will see examples of this in C10.
Another type of postmodification is ’apposition’: this is where a noun phrase is placed next to another to show a relationship of identity. (Clauses can also be used in apposition to a noun phrase - see A10.) This is particularly common with a proper noun followed by a description or explanation of it:
Malcolm Fox, the boy’s father, was delighted.
For almost a hundred years after her death, Emma Hamilton (1765-1815), Nelsons celebrated mistress, was airbrushed from the official record.
Activity A3.4
Identify the head noun and postmodifier in the noun phrases below, all taken from this section. Remember that one way to identify a head is to pluralise (or ’singularise’) a noun phrase if possible and to see which word changes.
1. postmodification with a particular preposition
2. the following prepositional phrase
3. a very inefficient and limiting system of communication
4. very long noun phrases involving several instances of such recursion