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Unit 4: The Noun Phrase
- We already know that ‘form’ is realized by noun phrases, verb phrases and prepositional
phrases and ‘function’ by participants, processes and circumstances. Moreover, clauses are
made up of one process, expressed by the verb phrase, and that these verb phrases usually have
one lexical verb although they may have more than one (e.g. am listening, am trying to listen). Hence,
there are one or more participants in a clause and these are usually realized by noun phrases.
So, if a clause has three participants, we could have three noun phrases.
- How does a noun phrase play a large role in a clause?
It is clear that the noun phrases in a clause play a large role in two of the three functional
groups of a clause that represent experience: participant and circumstance
e.g.
I
bought
a dog
as a pet
Participant
process
participant
circumstance
Noun phrase verb phrase
noun phrase preposition + noun phrase
( prepositional phrase)
The idea
was born
at a particular hour
Participant
process
circumstance
Noun phrase
verb phrase
preposition + noun phrase
( prepositional phrase)
- A noun phrase also plays a significant role in written texts. It is a tool for forming
technical categories (e.g. artificial light, natural light), for describing (e.g. a blue haziness, dirty
fluorescent tubes) and for quantifying (e.g. hundreds of fluorescent tubes). It is the potential for
quantifying, describing and classifying (among other things) that makes the expansion of noun
phrases an important tool in writing.
- What must a noun phrase have?
A noun phrase must have, at the very least, a noun or a pronoun that functions as the head
word. The head word can be modified by elements coming before it (pre modification) and
elements coming after it (post modification). See Activity 2 page 107
e.g. an
important
painting
in art history
Determiner
premodification
Head word
postmodification
e.g. The
Determiner
lady
Head word
I bought the dog from
postmodification
- Is there a significant pattern between how premodification and
postmodification are used in spoken and written texts?
- Noun phrases with a modifier are relatively rare in the spoken mode in contrast to the written
mode. See page 109
- What are the functional groups that act as premodifiers?
- Determiners are functions words used to specify the kind of reference a noun has.
Determiners are ‘pointers’ in a noun phrase. They point to the entity that the head word is
Summarized by: Ranya AL-Esh
1
E303/1st Semester 2006/2007
referencing. The function of the determiner can be performed by a range of different word
classes, most commonly:
- Articles (a, an, the) a, an narrow down the reference to a single member of class (a
car). The definite article the does not identify the entity but instead tells us the
identification of the head word in the text . ‘the car’.
- Articles are much less common in conversations than in written texts,
why??
-
This is because in conversations, we usually use many pronouns which generally do not
need articles. In contrast, the written registers use many more nouns resulting in many
more articles.
-
Demonstratives (this, that, these, those …etc.) they refer to the proximity of the entity (e.g.
those books mean they are’ not near me”
- Possessives (my, his, her…etc.)
- Possessives (genitives) (’s) Possessive determiners refer to the standpoint of the speaker
or writer ( e.g. my book, your book, Tom’s book)
- Premodifiers answer questions: Which? What is it like? What kind/ type is
it? They are describers and classifiers.
- Describers function to describe the head word by attaching to it some
attribute or quality. Describers provide answers to the question’ what is it like?
They are usually realized by adjectives (. e.g. blue haziness, ancient town)
-
Classifiers act to indicate the class or category of the entity (head word) . They
answer the question ‘ what type is it?’ Classifiers are usually realized by
adjectives (e.g. solar energy) and nouns (e.g. an oil painting)
Apart from determiners, describers and classifiers, there is another functional group that acts
as a premodifier and that is the numerative.
- Numeratives quantify and order items numerically by indicating some numerical
features of the head noun such as how many? e.g. three categories of offence,
some really useful touches
In what quantity? e.g. a pound of apples, around a kilogram of cheese
Where the noun comes in a counting or numerical sequence? e.g. the third
insect, the preceding train, the subsequent train
- What is the usual order for functional groups of premodifiers?
Now, the usual order in English for the above functional groups is as follows:
Determiner numerative describer(s) classifier(s)
head noun
e.g.
the
four
small
oil
paintings
In case of :
e.g.
one of
the
four
small
oil
pre-numerative Determiner numerative describer(s) classifier(s)
paintings
head noun
- Post modifiers are elements whose functions are to further qualify the head nouns and so
their functional labels are qualifiers.
Post modifiers can be realized either by clauses or prepositional phrases or both.
Summarized by: Ranya AL-Esh
2
E303/1st Semester 2006/2007
e.g. 1- many effects to tackle pollution (clause)
2- Many effects to tackle pollution from various industries
Clause
prepositional phrase
3- Many effects to tackle pollution from various industries during the communism era
Clause
prepositional phrase
prepositional phrase
- What is embedding or nesting?
- The third example above shows embedding or nesting. It is the fact that qualifiers are being
qualified by other qualifiers.(i.e. qualifiers inside other qualifiers)
-Prepositional phrases can perform a number of functions in the clause. One function is
as a qualifier of the head in a noun phrase e.g.
Alice was reading the book by the window (Qualifier)
The other function is as a circumstance in the clause e.g.
Alice was reading a book by the window. (Circumstance)
See Activity 8, Page 120
-Which part of speech cannot be premodified or post modified- adjectives,
verbs or pronouns?
- Pronouns cannot be premodified or postmodified.They lack the referential content provided
by noun heads, and therefore they depend much more on context for their interpretations than
determiners. Pronouns often mark simplicity and informality in communication
-Why does the process of ‘nominalization’ enable more formality in written
English?
- Nominalization is the process by which nouns are formed from verbs, adjectives, adverbs e.g.
fly, flight/ futile-futility/ excitedly, excitement.
By normalizing, one would have the choice of a more formal style for example using crack
both as a verb and a noun, using grow as a verb and growth as a noun. This will also involve
grammatical processes such as the use of passive voice and personal pronouns.
Summarized by: Ranya AL-Esh
3
E303/1st Semester 2006/2007