Lecture 3:

THE ENGLISH COMPLEX NOUN PHRASE

I. COMPONENTS OF THE ENGLISH COMPLEX NOUN PHRASE

Pattern:
NP

Premodification

Head

Postmodification

Closed-system item(s) + open-class item(s) open-class item(s) E.g. The pretty girl in the corner

2. Dichotomies inherent in modification: a. Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive: (i) Restrictive: + The head can be viewed as a member of
a class which can be linguistically identified only through the modification that has been supplied. Eg. The pretty girl standing in the corner who became angry because you waved to her when you entered is Mary Smith. In this example, the girl is only identifiable as Mary Smith provided we understand that it is the particular girl who is pretty, who was standing in the corner, and who became angry. Such modification is restrictive. + Restrictive modification tends to be given more prosodic emphasis than the head.

(ii) Nonrestrictive: + The head can be viewed as unique or as a member of a class that has been independently identified; any modification given to such a head is additional information which is not essential for identifying the head. Eg. Mary Smith, who is in the corner, wants to meet you. In this example, Mary Smith 's identity is independent of whether or not she is in the corner, though the information on her present location may be usefull enough. + Nonrestrictive modification tends to be unstressed in prehead position. In pre-head position, its "parenthetic" relation is endorsed by being given a separate tone unit or in writing by being enclosed by commas.

b. Temporary vs. permanent. + Items placed in premodification position are given the linguistic status of permanent or at any rate characteristic features. + Adjectives which cannot premodify have a notably temporary reference. Eg. We can say "The man is ready/ but we cannot use the phrase "the ready man". c. Explicit vs. non-explicit. + Explicitness in postmodification varies considerablly: It is greater in the finite relative clause, lesser in the nonfinite clause, less still in the prepositional phrase and least in the one-head noun / adjective / adverb phrase. + Part of the relative clause's explicitness lies in the specifying power of the relative pronoun: It is capable of (a) showing agreement with the head and (b) of indicating its status as an element in the relative clause structure.

+ Observe the degrees of explicitness in the following:

The girl who was standing in the corner is Mary (1) person time posture position The girl standing in the corner is Mary (2) posture position The girl in the corner is Mary (3) position The girl there is Mary (4) position The girl is Mary (5) In example (1), the status, the time of action, the posture, and the position of the head noun referent are specified. In example (5), no such properties are indicated. E.g.

II. POSTMODIFICATION IN THE COMPLEX NOUN PHRASE 1. Items as postmodifiers:

Postmodifiers

P adj. P adv.

P prep. NP. Non-finites

Finites

(to) V V-ing Ved2 Relative Sent. rel. Appositive Note: The types of items in this diagram do not necessarily occur in the order thus mentioned Eg. Adj: The house more suitable to our budget is in the suburb. - Prep. Phrase: The man at the desk is trying to make his case. - Adv: The room upstairs is always noisy. - Non-finite clauses: + (to) V: Columbus was the first man to reach the destination. + V-ing : The pretty girl standing in the corner is Mary.

+ Ved 2: The only car repaired by that mechanic is mine. - Relative clauses: The book, that you lent me, was written by Jack London. - Sentential relative clauses: He admires Mrs Brown, which surprises me/ I find strange. - Appositive clauses: The belief that no one is infallible is well-founded.

2. The relative clause as postmodifier a. Relative pronouns in English: who, whom, whose that which For human(s) For both animate (humans) and inanimate For inanimates b. Case in the relative pronoun. + Case is used to indicate the status of the relative pronoun in its clause. + If the pronoun is in a genitive relation to a noun head, the pronoun can be "whose". c. Relative pronoun and adverbial. d. Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive relative clauses. e. Functions performed by relative pronouns in the relative clause: S, 0, C, A. f. The sentential relative clause: Features: + The only relative pronoun used is WHICH. + The sentential relative clause is separated from the preceding clause by a comma. + The antecedent of WHICH is the whole preceding clause, not any single word. - Eg. Mary came home late, which made her mother angry.

3. The appositive clause as postmodifier

Features:
+ Similarities and differences between the relative clause and the appositve clause: Similarities: (i) Capable of introduction by "that"; (ii) distinguishing between restrictive and non-restrictive; Differences: (i)The particle "that" is not an element in the clause structure; (ii) The head of the noun phrase must be a factive abstract noun. + Plural heads are rare with appositive postmodification and are regarded as unacceptable. + As with apposition generally, the apposed units can be linked with "be" (where the copula typically has nuclear prominence). Eg. The belief that no one is infallible is well - grounded - The belief IS that no one is infallible.

4. Nonfinite clauses as postmodifier

a.Types of clauses: Head + Non-finite clause

V-ing V-ed To - V b. V-ing participle clause: + V-ing nonfinite clauses can be interpreted, according to context, as equivalent to one of more explicit versions, typically relative clauses. Eg. The man writing the obituary is mv friend will write will be writing writes The man who is writing the orbituary is my friend. wrote was writing

+ Not all V-ing forms in non-finite postmodifiers correspond to progressive forms in relative clauses. Stative verbs, which cannot have the progressive in the finite verb phrase, can appear in participial form. Eg. We is talking to a girl resembling Jane ("Who resembles Jane", not * "who is resembling Jane"). c. V-ed2 participial clauses: + The V-ed2 participial clause corresponds to a passive clause construction . + The V-ed2 participle concerned is as firmly linked with the passive voice as that in the V- ing construction is linked with the active. Hence, with intrasitive verbs, there is no "V-ed" postmodifier corresponding exactly to a relative clause.

d.To V clauses: + The to-V nonfinite clause could, in a suitable context,

have precisely the same meaning as the relative clause. But, the subject of an infinitive clause need not be the antecedent. It may be separately introduced by the for device or it may be entirely covert. Eg. The man for John to consult is Wilson I The man to consult is Wilson. + Voice and mood are variable, the latter covertly: Eg. The time to arrive... (= The time at which you should arrive). The case to be investigated... - (that will or is to be investigated).

5.

Prepositional phrases as postmodifier

+ A prepositional phrase is by far the commonest type of postmodification in English: It is three or four times more frequent than either finite or non-finite clausal postmodification. + The full range of prepositions is involved in postmodification including the complex prepositions. Eg: Passengers on board the ship; Action in case of fire. + Relationships conveyed by the of - genitive in postmodification: appositive, possessive,... + Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive: Prepositional phrases may be non-appositive or appositive, and in either function, they can be restrictive or nonrestrictive.

Eg. - This book on grammar (non-appositive, restrictive). - This book, on grammar, (no-appositive, non-restrictive). - This issue of student grants (appositive, restrictive). - This issue, of student grants, (appositive, nonrestrictive). + Non restrictive function would be rare and unnatural, plainly suggesting an afterthought. + Position and varied relationship: When separated by commas, prepositional phrases may be interpreted either as A or Postmodifier,... + Deverbal noun heads: A deverbal head will not permit premodifying adverbs. Eg. The violent quarrel overpay. * The violently quarrel overpay (unacceptable).

6. Minor types of postmodification (i) Adverbial postmodification. Eg. The road back was dense with traffic. (ii) Postposed adjective. Eg. Something strange happened last night. (iii) Postposed "mode" qualifier. Eg. Lobster Newburg is difficult to prepare. 7. Multiple postmodification (i) A head may have more than one postmodification; Eg. The man there in the corner. (ii) A modification may be applicable to more than one head; Eg. Clever boys and girls (iii) The head of a modifying phrase may itself be modified; Eg. Those extremely clever boys and girls.

8. Ambiguity and constraints on multiple modification

+ Frequently, careful ordering of constituents in a NP is essential to communicate all (and only) one's intention. Eg. The man in black talking to the girl... The man talking to the girl in black... These two phrases are different in meaning. + One of the chief reasons for preferring the of - genitive to the -s genitive is to avoid discontinuity. Eg. The ears of the man in the deckchair The man's ears in the deckchair. + A special type of multiple modification that requires careful ordering occurs when the premodifying clause becomes itself embedded in a clause. Eg. / will read the poem (which) Tom hopes (that) John will write for you. In this example, the relative pronoun "which" is object in the underlined relative clause. When, however, a relative pronoun is subject, the conjunction "that" must be omitted. Eg. I will read the poem (which) Tom hopes will be written for you. * hopes that will (unacceptable)

III. PREMODIFICATION IN THE COMPLEX NP.

1.

Types of premodifying items Premodifiers

Closed-system items + Open-class items

adjective participle -s genitive noun adverbial sentence

2. Premodification by adjectives + A premodifying adjective, especially when it is the first

item after the determiner, can itself be premodified in the same way as it can in predicative position: His really quite unbelievably delightful cottage + With indefinite determiners, "so" would be replaced by "such": A cottage which is so beautiful = Such a beautiful cottage or else "so" plus adjective would be placed before the determiner: so beautiful a cottage

3. Premodification by participles
a. V-ing participle: + Gradability is available. Eg. He has a very interesting mind. + The indefinite article favours the habitual or permanent, the definite article the specific or temporary. Eg. ? The approaching train is from Liverpool. He was frightened by an approaching train. ? The barking dog is my neighbour's I was wakened by a barking dog. + The definite article may be used generically and hence evoke the same generality and permanence as the indefinite. Eg. The beginning student should be given every encouragement.

b. V-ed2 participle:
+ Ved2 participle can be active or passive. The active is rarely used in premodification. Eg. The immigrant who has arrived. *The arrived immigrant (unacceptable) The newly - arrived immigrant. Our recently - departed friend + Most V-ed2 participles are of the agential type and naturally only a few will admit the permanent reference that will permit premodifying use. Eg. The wanted man was last seen in Cambridge. (The man goes on being wanted by the police) *The found purse was returned to its owner (unacceptable) (The purse was found at a particular moment) + Modifiers in" -ed" may be directly denominal and not participles at all. Eg. a wooded hillside; the vaulted roof; a fluted pillar,... Constraints are detectable (perhaps dictated merely by semantic redundancy): Eg. * a powered engine; * a haired girl; * a legged man,... (unacceptable). The following are possible: a diesel - powered engine; a red haired giel; a long leg man,...

4. Premodification by genitives Ambiguity is available with this type od premodification. Eg. These nasty women's clothing" may be interpreted as "The clothing of these nasty women" and not "The nasty clothing of these women" which would require "The nasty women's clothing". An intermiediate modifier will be interpretated as referring to the head: 'This nasty women's clothing". 5. Premodification by nouns + Noun premodifiers are often so closely related with the head as to be regarded as compounded with it. In many cases, they appear to in a reduced-explicitness relation with prepositional postmodifiers. Eg. The question of partition = The partition question. The door of the cupboard = The cupboard door. + Two important features in noun premodifications: (i) Plural nouns usually become singular; (ii) According to the relationsjip between the two nouns, the accent will fall on the premodifier or the head. Eg. "An iron rod" but "a war story.

6.Multiple premodification
+ With single head; eg. active and clever boys + With multiple head; eg. clever boys and gin's + With modified modifier; eg. We like those extremely beautiful handbags.

7.Relative sequence of premodifiers

Det. + general + size + shape + age + colour + particple + noun + denominal + head Eg. The beautiful lame oval brand-new brown leather handbag belongs to Mary. They are discussing London social life.