The Complex
Noun Phrase CHAPTER 10
1. Components of noun phrase
2. Restrictive and non-restrictive modification
3. Temporary and permanent modification
4. Postmodification
5. Premodification
6. Discontinuous modification
• 3 components:
premodification + head +
postmodification
- The head: dictating concord and
1. other kinds of congruence with the
rest of the sentence outside the NP
COMPONENTS - The premodification: comprising all
OF NOUN the items placed before the head
(notably adj and N)
PHRASE - The postmodification: comprising all
the items placed after the head
(notably prepositional phrases, non-
finite clauses, and relative clauses)
2. RESTRICTIVE AND NON-
RESTRICTIVE MODIFICATION
• Restrictive modification: The head can be linguistically
identified only through the modification that has been
supplied
• Non-restrictive modification: 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 not essential for
identifying the head
• Premodification: normally
permanent reference
3. TEMPORARY • Postmodification: normally
AND temporary reference
PERMANENT • Adjectives which cannot
MODIFICATION premodify have a notably
temporary reference
4. POSTMODIFICATION
a) Explicitness
b) Case in the relative pronoun
- Used to indicate the status of the relative pronoun in its
clause
- If the pronoun is in a genitive relation → ‘whose’ is used
- Relative pronoun can show the distinction between ‘who’
and ‘whom’ depending on its role (S, O or Prep.
complement)
c) Relative pronoun and adverbial
- Can be replaced by special adjunct forms for place (where),
time (when), cause (why)
- If ‘how’ is used, an antecedent N can’t be used
d) Restrictive relative clauses
- Choice of relative pronoun: general pronoun ‘that’ →
independent of the personal or non-personal character
of the antecedent and of the function of the pronoun in
the relative clause.
- Quantified heads: the head is made quantitatively
indefinite with the predeterminer ‘such’ → ‘as’ is used
instead of the relative pronoun ‘that’
e) Non-restrictive relative clauses
- Only ‘wh” items are used
f) Sentential relative clauses
- The antecedent is not a noun phrase but a whole
clause or sentence or sequence of sentences.
- ‘which’ is used in these clauses
g) Appositive clauses
h) Postmodification by non-finite clauses
• ‘ing’ participle clauses
• ‘ed’ participle clauses
• infinitive clauses
• non-restrictive postmodification (can be achieved with non-
finite clauses)
• appositive postmodification (common by means of infinitive
clauses)
i) Postmodification by prepositional phrases
• Relation to more explicit modifiers
• The of-genitive
• Restrictive vs non-restrictive
• Position and varied relationship
• Deverbal noun heads
j) Minor types of postmodification
• Adverbial modification
• The postposed adjective
• The postposed ‘mode’ qualifier
k) Multiple modification
- A head may have more than one
postmodification
- A modification may be applicable to more
than one head
- The head of a modifying phrase may itself
be modified
l) Ambiguity and constraints on multiple
modification
Types of premodifying
item:
- adj
5.
- participle
PREMODIFICATION - ‘s’ genitive
-N
- adverbial
- sentence
• Premodification by adjectives
• Premodification by participles
• Premodification by genitives
• Premodification by nouns
• Multiple premodification
- with single head
- with multiple head
- with modified modifier
- other complexities in
premodification
• Relative sequence of premodifier
- Denominal and nominal
- Classes of adj (see Figure
13 in 13.41)
