➢ The noun phrase

- a phrase in which, the head is typically a noun or a pronoun

- may minimally consist of a noun cats as in: [NP Cats] make wonderful pets, preceded
or not by a determiner
- or a pronoun they as in: [NP They] make wonderful pets.
- there are cases where the head of a noun phrase is an adjective, especially when
the structure definite article + adjective occurs: [NP The young] and [NPthe
restless]. Other examples: the poor, the blind, the sick etc.
➢ The structure of a noun phrase: the head of a noun phrase may be accompanied by
other words or phrases, which provide information about it
EX: All indoor cats of different breeds.
- a determiner: all
- a premodifier: indoor
- the head: cats
- postmodifier: of different breeds
[NP [det All] [AdjP indoor] cats [ PpP of different breeds]

NOUN PHRASE
determiner(s) + premodifier(s) + head + postmodifier(s)

➢ Noun headed NP structure:

determiner premodifiers head (noun) postmodifiers

industrially advanced countries

a small wooden box that he owned

a market system that has no

imperfections

the new training college for teachers

patterns of industrial
development in the
US

➢ Pronoun headed Noun phrase (usually do not include a determiner or

premodifiers, but they may have postmodifiers:
I

she

anyone who is willing to

listen

those who take the trouble

to register

the big one in town

Some of adjectives do not modify a noun and are themselves heads for noun phrases
EX: (superlatives)
The best is yet to come.
The latest is that our team is winning.
expressions: From the sublime to the ridiculous.
Out of the ordinary.
We have much in common.
I am leaving for good.
I will tell you in private.
The situation went from bad to worse.

➢ Determiners/ determinatives are function words that come before the head and
before all the other dependents in a noun phrase and determine or specify “how the
reference of a noun phrase is to be understood. For example, this determines the
reference of table in this table: it tells us which or what table is intended.

➢ Determiners can be divided into three classes:

1. predeterminers: all, both, half, as in [det all] cats, [det both] breeds.
2. central determiners: a(n), the, those, as in [det a] breed, [det those] cats.
3. postdeterminers, other, two, first, as in [det two] cats, [det other] breeds
➢ Premodifiers are modifiers placed before the head. They are normally realised by
adjectives (indoor cats), participial premodifiers (broken heart, breaking news) but
can sometimes be realized by nouns (church roof) or other types of phrases: ( a
prepositional phrase that premodifies a noun ):

It probably fell out of the sky after an [PpP in-flight] explosion

- The postmodifiers incorporate all the elements placed after the head and typically
consist of prepositional phrases (cats [PpP of different breeds]), relative clauses (cats
[that-Cl that stay indoors]) and non-finite clauses (cats [ing-Cl staying on the sofa]).
Appositive clauses can also be embedded in noun phrases quite often, as in [NP the fact
[app-Cl that she was his worst nightmare]].
- Clausal postmodifiers can be finite (relative clauses) or non-finite (to-clauses, ing-
clauses, and ed-clauses).
- Occasionally adverbs can also be premodifiers or postmodifiers in noun phrases:
a. adverb as premodifier: the nearby guards

b. adverb as postmodifier: a block behind

- Appositive clauses embedded in a noun phrase are introduced by the conjunction that:
the fact that he caressed the two cats staying on the sofa
- Consequently, that can be omitted in the appositive clause (that he caressed the two
cats staying on the sofa) but not in the relative clause (x cats stay indoors x)

➢ Coordination
 Noun phrases can be linked together with the conjunctions and or or, as in the
white cats and their owner.

One-word modifiers, especially adjectives and nouns, are typically placed

before the head

- a white cat,
- a white Siamese cat,
- their white Siamese cat, while multi-word modifiers generally occur
after the head
- the cat of the man,
- the cat that the man loves,
- the cat of the man that she loves best.
Virtually every student [AdjP normally resident in England or Wales], [AdjP with specified
minimum qualifications], [relative-Cl who is admitted to a full-time degree, [PpP at a university
[PpP in the UK]]] is entitled to a grant [PpP from his/ her Local Education Authority], [relative-Cl
which is intended to cover his/ her tuition fees and maintenance [PpP for the duration [PpP of
the course] [relative-Cl and which also includes an element [PpP towards his/her vacation
maintenance.]]
➢ This arrangement is in agreement with general principles for the ordering of elements
within the clause. The principal syntactic means are:
- word order
- the passive
- existential there dislocation
- clefting
➢ Syntactic functions of noun phrases:
noun phrases can have various syntactic functions both in the clause and at phrase
level:
1. In the clause:
a. subject: His friends were preparing a surprise party.
b. direct object: His friends were preparing a surprise party.
c. indirect object: His friends were preparing a surprise party for him.
d. subject complement: That was a special surprise party.
e. object complement: They called him party boy.
f. adverbial: They'll have the party next week.

2. In the phrase:
a. complement of preposition in PpP: a surprise party of his own
b. premodifier of a noun or NP: a surprise party of his own
c. apposition to another NP : the surprise party, their gift for him
d. premodifier in AdjP: the two weeks old baby
e. premodifier in AdjP: one month earlier tahn expected