introduction
development
Noun phrases
In grammar, a noun phrase (abbreviate NP) is a phrase whose head is a noun or a pronoun, optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers
Complex noun phrases consist of nominals and denominals as pre-modifiers, distinguishing them from basic noun phrases This article focuses specifically on the structure of complex noun phrases.
Complex noun phrases contain three components: pre-modification, head noun and post-modification
In a complex noun phrase, the head noun serves as the central element and core component, much like in a basic noun phrase This head noun can be either a count or mass noun, influencing concord and various forms of congruence with the surrounding sentence elements.
The only girl in this class is hardworking
All of the beautiful girls in my class are kind
Also, when the genitive is as pre-modification, the head noun can be omitted:
We met at the dentist’s last week
The second element of a complex noun phrase is pre-modification, which includes pre-modifiers that appear before the head noun Pre-modifiers can be classified into closed-system and open-class items Closed-system pre-modifiers form the structure of basic noun phrases and are optional in complex noun phrases In contrast, open-class pre-modifiers follow closed-system ones and precede the head noun.
All these determiner young beautiful adjective as pre-modifier girls head noun a Pre-modification by adjectives
Pre-modifying adjectives can be those denoting general description (‘beautiful’,
Adjectives such as 'intelligent', 'good', 'young', 'old', 'big', 'small', 'square', 'round', 'red', 'blue', 'silk', 'metal', and descriptors like 'silken' or 'cat-like' serve to enhance nouns by providing specific attributes They can indicate age, size, shape, color, material, and style, including references to provenance like 'British' or 'Parisian' These adjectives function as both attributes and complements, enriching the meaning of the nouns they modify.
Pre-modifying adjectives can serve to intensify or diminish the meaning of the nouns they describe For instance, terms like "real" (a real hero), "definite" (a definite loss), "complete" (a complete fool), and "close" (a close friend) illustrate this effect Typically, these adjectives function exclusively in an attributive capacity.
Restrictive adjectives are a specific type of pre-modifying adjective that limit the reference of a noun to a particular or exclusive meaning Examples include terms like "certain" in "a certain person," "exact" in "the exact answer," and "only" in "the only occasion."
‘very’ (the very man) Like intensifying adjectives, the restrictive ones are attributive only
Certain adjectives, such as 'faint', 'ill', 'well', 'able', and 'afraid', cannot be used to pre-modify a noun but can function predicatively Additionally, head nouns can be pre-modified by adjectives, particularly when these adjectives appear immediately after a determiner In this context, the adjectives can be modified similarly to their use in a predicative position.
His really quite unbelievably happy family
With indefinite determiners, some intensifiers such as ‘so’ are differently used
‘So’ is replaced by ‘such’, which precedes the determiner or else ‘so’ plus adjective would be placed before the determiner, e.g.:
So beautiful a girl b Pre-modification by particles
Complex noun phrases can be enhanced not only by pre-modifying adjectives but also by particles, which can be present or past participles, such as "an approaching man" or "the badly injured dog." Additionally, genitives can serve as a form of pre-modification, further enriching the description of the head nouns.
There is one further kind of pre-modifier that is called the genitive appearing in the pre-modification of the complex noun phrases
Genitives are typically formed by adding an 's' to the end of a noun, primarily indicating possession They are more frequently associated with animate nouns rather than inanimate ones.
The teacher of English’s salary
An hour and a half’s discussion
The same genitive phrase can convey different meanings based on context, as illustrated by the example of "the children's books." In a specifying genitive, emphasis is placed on "books," while in a classifying genitive, both "children's" and "books" receive equal stress This distinction is also evident in spoken language.
The children’s books were torn
The children’s books were fun to read
Those kinds of books: classifying genitive d Pre-modification by nouns
Nouns can serve as pre-modifiers to provide specific information about a head noun When used in this way, these nouns often form fixed expressions known as compound nouns.
A love story e Pre-modification by denominal adjectives
Another class of pre-modifiers is the type of denominal often meaning
‚consisting of‛, ‚involving‛, or ‚relating to‛ These items must come next
12 before the head and can be preceded by a wide range of pre-modifying items, e.g.:
Pre-modification can be categorized into closed-system and open-class types When complex noun phrases include various classes of pre-modifiers, they should be arranged in a specific order The correct sequence of pre-modifiers in a complex noun phrase is essential for clarity and coherence.
3’ 3’’ all the last ten good young tall Maths students the Lon- don social life all their nice new black Spa- nish
Chi- nese designs the six Interl- ocking rings half the other ten Fam- ous best- sold novels
1 Pre-determiner, 2 determiner, 3 post-determiner, 3’ ordinal, 3’’ cardinal/quantifier, 4 general, 5 age, 6 size/shape, 7 color, 8 participle, 9 provenance, 10 material, 11 purpose, 12 denominal, 13 head noun
Post-modification is a crucial element of complex noun phrases, consisting of all components that follow the head noun These post-modifiers can take various forms, including prepositional phrases, finite clauses (or relative clauses), nonfinite clauses, adjective phrases, noun phrases, and adverbial phrases One common type of post-modification is achieved through prepositional phrases.
The road to London The house beyond the church
A house on the top of the hill
Action in case of emergency
And those having participle forms as in problems concerning the environment
The commonest preposition in the noun phrase post-modification ‘of’ has a close correspondence to ‘have’ sentences:
The ship has a funnel. the funnel of the ship
The table has four legs. the four legs of the table
However, some are relatable to ‘be’ sentences:
London is a city the city of London
The news was the team’s victory the news of the team’s victory
Also, the ‘of’ phrase can be used to express the subject or object relation:
The bus arrived the arrival of the bus
Someone imprisoned the murderer the imprisonment of the murderer
14 b Post-modification by relative or finite clauses
A post-modifier is a type of relative or finite clause that can be either restrictive or non-restrictive Relative clauses often begin with pronouns such as ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’, and ‘that’ for personal references, or ‘which’, ‘that’, and ‘what’ for non-personal references Additionally, time-related clauses may start with ‘when’, while place-related ones can begin with ‘where’, often preceded by a preposition The term ‘why’ is used to indicate reason Restrictive relative clauses serve to define the head noun, whereas non-restrictive clauses provide supplementary information.
The woman who is standing outside is my neighbor restrictive
That is my neighbor, who is standing outside non-restrictive
Distinction between restrictive clause and non-restrictive one
In spoken language, restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers can be easily identified by their distinct intonation patterns Restrictive modifiers are characterized by a rising intonation, which emphasizes that segment of the sentence, while non-restrictive modifiers feature a falling intonation, indicating less emphasis on that portion.
In writing, the distinction is marked with commas A non-restrictive modifier, which has the falling intonation, is set off with commas The restrictive one is not
As the following two sentences show, commas or not can make a big difference in meaning
The students who attended class regularly will do well on their exams
The students, who attended class regularly, will do well on their exams
(English sentence analysis_ Marjolyn Verspoor, Kim Sauter)
Nominal elements
II.1 Definition of nominal elements
A nominal is a word which differs grammatically from a noun but functions as one(Crystal 1980).
The word ‚poor‛ is a nominal It functions as a noun; however, it does not pluralize
II.2 Semantic features of nominal elements
Nominal elements as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases have not only lexical meanings but also different semantic features
Nominal elements as pre-modifiers (called noun pre-modifiers) in complex noun phrases are often so closely associated with the head as to be regarded as
18 compounded with it In many cases, they appear to be in a reduced-explicitness relation with prepositional post-modifiers
The question of partition ~ The partition question
The door of the cupboard ~ The cupboard door
A village in Sussex ~ a Sussex village
But not all noun pre-modifiers have prepositional phrase analogues:
Bernard Miles was both actor and producer ~ The actor-producer
The table in the corner ~ The corner table
The girl with a red skirt ~ The red-skirt girl
The terms "corner" and "red-skirt" symbolize impermanence when associated with "table" and "girl." However, a significant limitation in transforming post-modifying phrases into pre-modifying nouns lies in the transient nature of the modification itself Consequently, this transformation is not applicable in certain contexts.
The girl in the corner ~ the corner girl (incorrect)
We must insist again that this is not a property of the lexical item (in this instance, corner) but of the semantic relation
The state budget allocation mechanism
II.3 Syntactic functions of nominal elements – nominals as pre-modifier in complex noun phrase
Next closet to the head is the noun premodifier, already exemplified with
‚London‛ and ‚city‛ in the foregoing examples
A noun modifier is when a noun functions like an adjective and modifies the meaning of the noun that follows it
Adjectives primarily serve two syntactic functions: attributive and predicative This article focuses specifically on the attributive function of adjectives within complex noun phrases, highlighting their role in modifying nouns.
Nominals are attributive when they pre-modify nouns, appear between the determiner and the head of the noun phrase:
(attributive only) The Soviet time
Denominal elements
III.1 Definition of denominal elements
Adjectives derived from nouns are called denominal elements (or denominal adjectives); therefore, denominals have functions like adjectives
The next essential component before the head is the denominal adjective, which typically conveys meanings such as 'consisting of', 'involving', or 'relating to' This adjective can be preceded by various pre-modifying elements.
London only pleasant t extravagan social life
(A university grammar of English_ Randolph Quirk)
III.2 Semantic features of denominal elements
Denominal elements exhibit semantic features akin to those of adjectives, sharing characteristics such as being stative Unlike adjectives, which can be dynamic, gradable, and inherent, denominals are distinctly non-gradable and non-inherent This highlights the unique semantic properties of denominal elements in comparison to traditional adjectives.
A stative adjective such as ‚political‛ cannot be used with the progressive aspect or with the imperative: not *the problem which seems being political or * ‚be political‛
Non-gradable adjective are these which cannot be pre-modified by intensifier and be comparative construction
Not * an very atomic scientist or a more atomic scientist
Non-inherent adjective are these which don’t describe directly characteristics, properties of things
~ A dress is designed to Paris style (Not *a dress is Parisian)
III.3 Syntactic functions of denominal elements – as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
Adjectives primarily serve two syntactic functions: attributive and predicative This article focuses specifically on the attributive role of adjectives within complex noun phrases, highlighting their function as descriptors rather than as part of a predicate.
Adjectives are attributive when they pre-modify nouns, appear between the determiner and the head of the noun phrase:
~ A student learning in medicine department
~ An expert specifying in informatics
A central adjective can describe a noun in various ways; for instance, "criminal law" can imply a law that appears criminal, making "criminal" both an attributive and predicative adjective In specific noun phrases, an attributive noun can serve as an alternative to a denominal adjective.
‚criminal detection/crime detection‛, or may be used exclusively, e.g.: ‚law school, not *legal school‛ cf the converse in ‚ medical school, not * medicine school‛
Chapter II: Analysis for nominal and denominal elements as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
I Nominal elements as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
I.1 Types of noun used as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
There are many different types of nouns As you know, you capitalize some nouns, such as "Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalize others, such as
Nouns can be categorized into various types, including proper nouns, common nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, compound nouns, and collective nouns It's important to understand that a single noun can fall into multiple categories, such as being both proper and common, or abstract and concrete.
Nouns can be classified as countable or uncountable Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms, allowing them to be counted, while uncountable nouns, such as abstract concepts and general names of substances like bread, cream, tea, and jam, are only used in the singular form Uncountable nouns do not take the indefinite articles "a" or "an."
A noun pre-modifier is when a noun functions like an adjective & modifiers the meaning of the noun that follows it
E.g1: Air disaster -> N1 expresses the location of N2
E.g2: Glass bottle -> N2 is composed of N1
E.g3: Airline office -> N2 is employed by N1
Types of pre-modification structures: a Pre-modifier + head: noun + noun
A steel cylinder A cylinder made of steel
A test tube A tube for making tests
A steam engine An engine which works by team b pre-modifier + pre-modifier + head / pre-modifier forming unit + head
A glass test tube A test tube made of glass
A honey bee colony A colony composed of honey bees
Adj + Noun + Noun Meanings a complex ion Mechanism An ion mechanism which is complex low density proteins Proteins with low density
Noun + Adj + Noun Meanings a London political problem A political problem in London Nitrogen hungry algae Algae which are nitrogen hungry
A proper noun refers to a specific name identifying a person, place, or thing, and includes names of days, months, historical documents, institutions, organizations, religions, their sacred texts, and followers Unlike common nouns, proper nouns always begin with a capital letter, highlighting their uniqueness.
In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted:
The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to build the fortifications in Halifax
Many people dread Monday mornings
Beltane is celebrated on the first of May
Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran
Last year, I had a Baptist, a Buddhist, and a Gardnerian Witch as roommates
Proper nouns can be used as pre-modifiers the head noun when we want to give more specific information about someone or something
Names have ‘unique’ reference, and do not share such characteristics of common nouns as article contrast But when the names have restrictive
25 modification to give a partitive meaning to the name, proper nouns take the definite article
Unique meaning Partitive meaning during Easter during the Easter of that year in England in the England of Queen Elizabeth in Denmark in the Denmark of today
Personal proper nouns as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases are usually in the form of ‚-s‛ genitive The meanings of the ‚-s‛ genitive are various For example: genitives Analogues
Mrs White’s passport Mrs White has a passport
Mr Nam’s release … release Mr Nam
The Bush’s day in Washington hotel
A day for the Bush in Washington hotel
Mary’s letter Mary wrote a letter
(b) Names of countries, counties, states, etc land
Hochiminh city ~ Hochiminh is a city
Hanoi ancient capital ~ Hanoi is an ancient capital
Phudong village ~ a village names Phudong
An institutional noun denotes a formal organization of persons generally joined together for a common purpose For examples: corporation, BBC, school, the United Nations, CIA, FBI…
Institutional nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrase:
The Le Quy Don high school area
Calendar nouns refer to a point or period of time For example: days, months, weeks, summers, next decade…
(c) Names of the months, of the seasons and the days of week:
A common noun is a noun that refers to a general object (an unspecific person, place, thing) A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun
Sometimes we will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following examples:
The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large and sudden increase in their rent
The meals in the Bouncing Bean Restaurant are less expensive than meals in ordinary restaurants
Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times
The Diary of Anne Frank is often a child’s first introduction to the history of the Holocaust
Common nouns are represented in the singular and plural form
Common nouns are represented by lower case letters
Examples of the usage of common nouns:
The red book is on the table
The black dog is in my yard
Common nouns require capitalization if they start the sentence or are part of a title; often divided into concrete or abstract
A concrete noun refers to a person, place, thing, or idea that can be perceived through the five senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, and smell Unlike abstract nouns, which denote concepts or ideas that cannot be physically sensed, concrete nouns represent tangible entities that we can experience directly.
Pizza is Godzilla’s favorite food
Pizza = concrete because you can see, hear, smell, feel [though you get your fingers greasy], and thankfully taste it
In-animate concrete nouns are concrete nouns that refer to lifeless things like material nouns, temporal nouns, geographical or institutional nouns and nouns of special interest to human activities
E.g: stone, book, house, school, London, today, game, strike, brain…
An in-animate noun is one of many pre-modification means in complex noun phrases The pre-modifier in compressed form can convey complex meanings For examples:
A very popular delicious Chinese food restaurant
~ A restaurant only serves Chinese foods that are very delicious and popular
~ A flight from Hanoi to Hochiminh ( denotes destination)
However, sometimes, the pre-modifiers in compressed form confuses the meaning:
We visited their country house
(Scientific English as a Foreign Language_ Nancy Burnham and Fred Hutson)
Writing "We visited their country house" is straightforward but can be ambiguous It is unclear whether the author means "We visited their house that is in the country" or "We visited their house, which is in the country." This ambiguity raises the question of whether the house is their only property or if they also own a city house, with the term "country" serving to differentiate between the two If this distinction is significant, it is advisable to avoid using the pre-modifier.
Non-personal concrete nouns can be collective, masculine higher animal, feminine higher animal, higher organism, and lower animal For examples: family, company, bull, cock, cow, hen, France, ant, frog…
Non-personal concrete nouns as pre-modifiers:
~ A cage for cow ( not for others) is large
~ The turnover increase of the company
~ A young bull elephant is hungry
Personal concrete nouns can be collective, masculine, feminine, dual and common
Collective nouns father uncle gentleman host emperor
… mother aunt lady hottess empress
… doctor chairman professor teacher person
… baby oldster adult orphan friend
… army club government parliament the United States
Personal concrete nouns as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases like in:
The poor children assistance fund
~ The assistance fund for the poor children
~ The salary of teacher is low
The oldster health care club
~ The club cares for health of the oldster
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything that can’t perceive through our five physical senses ( smell, touch, hear, see or taste), and is the opposite of a concrete noun
Abstract nouns usually represent feeling, ideas, concepts and qualities
Abstract nouns can be singular nouns and plural nouns
Abstract nouns can be countable or uncountable
For examples: love, friendship, romance, happiness, sleep…
Abstract nouns function like pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
~ Consequences of the environment degradation
A film of romantic love story
~ A film relates a story of romantic love
Collective nouns are nouns that refer to things or people as a unit
Examples: family, police, class, team, crew etc
Collective nouns can be used in both the singular form and the plural form
Rules for Using Collective Nouns:
Singular Collective Nouns Plural Collective Nouns
1 Singular collective nouns refer to one unit of people or things
1 Plural collective nouns refer to two or more units of people or things
2 Singular collective nouns are used like singular nouns
2 Plural collective nouns are used like plural nouns
-> the audience is acting as a whole
- i.e a single entity – so the singular form of the verb should be used
The audience were talking among themselves
-> the audience are as acting individuals, so the plural form of the verb should be used
There are three subclasses of personal collective nouns:
(b) Specific: army, class, club, committee, crew, crowed, family, flock, gang, government, group, herd, jury, majority, minority
(c) Generic: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the elite, the gentry, the intelligentsia, the laity, the proletariat, the public
(d) Unique: the Arab League, (the) Congress, the Kremlin, the Papacy, Parliament, the United Nations, the United States, the Vatican
Personal collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
The two children’s poor family situation
~ The family situation of two children is poor
~ The club for the sporting public
The ninth Vietnam National Assembly session
~ The ninth session of Vietnam National Assembly
Non-personal collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases Examples:
The geese flock food in the farm
~ The food for the geese flock in the farm
The same creature community living environment
~ The living environment of the creature community which are same
In-animate collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases Examples:
~ The supermarket only sell the office equipment
~The shop only sell the summer fashion
The family furniture providing service
~ The service only provide the family furniture
A compound noun consists of two or more words combined to create a single noun In English, these nouns are typically formed by pairing nouns with other nouns or adjectives, enhancing their meaning and specificity.
The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their own right, but if you join them together they form a new word – toothpaste
The word black is an adjective and board is a noun, but if you join them together they form a new word – blackboard
Compound nouns consist of two components, where the second part specifies the object or individual, such as "man," "friend," or "table." The first part describes the type or purpose of the object or person, using terms like "police," "boy," or "dining."
What type / what purpose What or who police man boy friend water tank dining table bed room
The two parts may be written in a number of ways:
2 as two words joined with a hyphen
There are no clear rules about this – so write the common compounds that you know well as one word, and the others as two words
Compound nouns can be formed using the following combination of words:
The two parts may be: Examples:
Noun + noun bedroom water tank motorcycle printer cartridge
Noun + verb rainfall haircut train-spotting
Noun + adverb hanger-on passer-by
Verb + noun washing machine driving license swimming pool
Verb + adverb lookout take-off drawback
Adjective + verb dry-cleaning public speaking
Adverb + verb output overthrow upturn input
Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different from the two separate words
Stress plays a crucial role in pronunciation, as it differentiates between compound nouns, such as "greenhouse," and adjective-noun combinations, like "green house." In compound nouns, the emphasis typically falls on the first syllable.
A `greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)
A green `house = house painted green ( adjective and noun)
A `bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
A blue `bird = any bird with blue feathers ( adjective and noun)
Many frequently used compound nouns originate from phrasal verbs, which consist of a verb combined with an adverb or vice versa Examples of these compound nouns include breakdown, outbreak, outcome, cutback, drive-in, drop-out, feedback, flyover, output, stand-in, set-back, and walkover.
Compounds form the plural in different ways, but (c) below is the most usual
Attorneys general, but more usually as (c) Notaries public
Mothers-in-law, but also as (c) informally Coats of mail
(b) Plural in both first and last element
(c) Plural in last element (normal)
Assistant directors Woman-haters Forget-me-nots Take-offs
Compound nouns function like pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
A danger willful murder death sentence
The America modern and heavy man-of war corporation
The nearly man-density development
I.2 Meaning differences between pre-modification and post-modification of complex noun phrases
Pre-modifiers and post-modifiers have a function of modifying the head in complex noun phrases, but they are different in semantic relation
I.2.1 Partitive meaning of post-modifiers
Post-modifiers may be added to a noun phrase to give extra information
Peter, who has recently moved to London, called last night
( English sentence analysis - Marjolyn Verspoor, Kim Sauter)
In the context of a shared understanding between the speaker and hearer regarding a specific individual named Peter, the role of the post-modifier is to provide additional, relevant information rather than to identify which Peter is being referred to This extra detail enhances the context but is unnecessary for identifying the head noun, as the individual is already known Such modifiers are classified as non-restrictive modifiers, particularly when the head noun is a proper name, like Fred.
In English grammar, non-restrictive clauses provide additional information without identifying a specific subject For example, when referring to a place like Germany or Budapest, or a general concept such as the Earth, tennis, or soccer, these clauses enhance the sentence by adding context rather than specifying which entity is being discussed.
Peter, who has recently moved, …
(by the way), he recently moved to London
I.2.2 Restrictive meaning of post-modifier
Post-modifiers may be added to a noun phrase to help identify the head noun Consider the following sentence:
My friend who has recently moved to London called last night
(English sentence analysis - Marjolyn Verspoor, Kim Sauter)
1.2.1.2 Non-personal concrete nouns
Non-personal concrete nouns can be collective, masculine higher animal, feminine higher animal, higher organism, and lower animal For examples: family, company, bull, cock, cow, hen, France, ant, frog…
Non-personal concrete nouns as pre-modifiers:
~ A cage for cow ( not for others) is large
~ The turnover increase of the company
~ A young bull elephant is hungry.
1.2.1.3 Personal concrete nouns
Personal concrete nouns can be collective, masculine, feminine, dual and common
Collective nouns father uncle gentleman host emperor
… mother aunt lady hottess empress
… doctor chairman professor teacher person
… baby oldster adult orphan friend
… army club government parliament the United States
Personal concrete nouns as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases like in:
The poor children assistance fund
~ The assistance fund for the poor children
~ The salary of teacher is low
The oldster health care club
~ The club cares for health of the oldster
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything that can’t perceive through our five physical senses ( smell, touch, hear, see or taste), and is the opposite of a concrete noun
Abstract nouns usually represent feeling, ideas, concepts and qualities
Abstract nouns can be singular nouns and plural nouns
Abstract nouns can be countable or uncountable
For examples: love, friendship, romance, happiness, sleep…
Abstract nouns function like pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
~ Consequences of the environment degradation
A film of romantic love story
~ A film relates a story of romantic love
Collective nouns are nouns that refer to things or people as a unit
Examples: family, police, class, team, crew etc
Collective nouns can be used in both the singular form and the plural form
Rules for Using Collective Nouns:
Singular Collective Nouns Plural Collective Nouns
1 Singular collective nouns refer to one unit of people or things
1 Plural collective nouns refer to two or more units of people or things
2 Singular collective nouns are used like singular nouns
2 Plural collective nouns are used like plural nouns
-> the audience is acting as a whole
- i.e a single entity – so the singular form of the verb should be used
The audience were talking among themselves
-> the audience are as acting individuals, so the plural form of the verb should be used
There are three subclasses of personal collective nouns:
(b) Specific: army, class, club, committee, crew, crowed, family, flock, gang, government, group, herd, jury, majority, minority
(c) Generic: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the elite, the gentry, the intelligentsia, the laity, the proletariat, the public
(d) Unique: the Arab League, (the) Congress, the Kremlin, the Papacy, Parliament, the United Nations, the United States, the Vatican
Personal collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
The two children’s poor family situation
~ The family situation of two children is poor
~ The club for the sporting public
The ninth Vietnam National Assembly session
~ The ninth session of Vietnam National Assembly
Non-personal collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases Examples:
The geese flock food in the farm
~ The food for the geese flock in the farm
The same creature community living environment
~ The living environment of the creature community which are same
In-animate collective nouns function as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases Examples:
~ The supermarket only sell the office equipment
~The shop only sell the summer fashion
The family furniture providing service
~ The service only provide the family furniture
A compound noun consists of two or more words combined to create a single noun In English, these nouns are typically formed by pairing nouns with other nouns or adjectives, enhancing their meaning and specificity.
The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their own right, but if you join them together they form a new word – toothpaste
The word black is an adjective and board is a noun, but if you join them together they form a new word – blackboard
Compound nouns consist of two components: the first part describes the type or purpose of the object or person, while the second part identifies the specific object or person, such as "man," "friend," or "table." For example, in the compound noun "police officer," "police" indicates the role, and "officer" specifies the individual.
What type / what purpose What or who police man boy friend water tank dining table bed room
The two parts may be written in a number of ways:
2 as two words joined with a hyphen
There are no clear rules about this – so write the common compounds that you know well as one word, and the others as two words
Compound nouns can be formed using the following combination of words:
The two parts may be: Examples:
Noun + noun bedroom water tank motorcycle printer cartridge
Noun + verb rainfall haircut train-spotting
Noun + adverb hanger-on passer-by
Verb + noun washing machine driving license swimming pool
Verb + adverb lookout take-off drawback
Adjective + verb dry-cleaning public speaking
Adverb + verb output overthrow upturn input
Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different from the two separate words
Stress plays a crucial role in pronunciation, as it differentiates between compound nouns, such as "greenhouse," and adjective-noun combinations, like "green house." In compound nouns, the primary stress typically falls on the first syllable, highlighting the importance of proper stress placement in effective communication.
A `greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)
A green `house = house painted green ( adjective and noun)
A `bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
A blue `bird = any bird with blue feathers ( adjective and noun)
Many frequently used compound nouns originate from phrasal verbs, which consist of a verb combined with an adverb or vice versa Examples of such compound nouns include breakdown, outbreak, outcome, cutback, drive-in, drop-out, feedback, flyover, output, stand-in, setback, and walkover.
Compounds form the plural in different ways, but (c) below is the most usual
Attorneys general, but more usually as (c) Notaries public
Mothers-in-law, but also as (c) informally Coats of mail
(b) Plural in both first and last element
(c) Plural in last element (normal)
Assistant directors Woman-haters Forget-me-nots Take-offs
Compound nouns function like pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
A danger willful murder death sentence
The America modern and heavy man-of war corporation
The nearly man-density development
I.2 Meaning differences between pre-modification and post-modification of complex noun phrases
Pre-modifiers and post-modifiers have a function of modifying the head in complex noun phrases, but they are different in semantic relation
I.2.1 Partitive meaning of post-modifiers
Post-modifiers may be added to a noun phrase to give extra information
Peter, who has recently moved to London, called last night
( English sentence analysis - Marjolyn Verspoor, Kim Sauter)
In communication, when both the speaker and listener are familiar with the same individual, such as Peter, the role of the post-modifier shifts from identification to providing additional context This extra information, while often pertinent, is not essential for recognizing the subject of the noun phrase, as the individual in question is already known Such modifiers are classified as non-restrictive modifiers, particularly evident when the head noun is a proper name, like Fred.
In writing, non-restrictive clauses provide additional information without specifying which item is being referred to, such as in examples like "Germany" or "Budapest," as well as broader concepts like "the earth," "tennis," or "soccer." These clauses enhance the sentence by adding context while not limiting the subject.
Peter, who has recently moved, …
(by the way), he recently moved to London
I.2.2 Restrictive meaning of post-modifier
Post-modifiers may be added to a noun phrase to help identify the head noun Consider the following sentence:
My friend who has recently moved to London called last night
(English sentence analysis - Marjolyn Verspoor, Kim Sauter)
The phrase "my friend" can be ambiguous when the speaker has multiple friends, but the clause "who has recently moved to London" clarifies which friend is being referred to This post-modifier effectively specifies and narrows down the reference of the noun phrase.
Therefore, it is called a restrictive or specifying modifier The following figure illustrates how the clause ‘restricts’ or ‘specifies’
My friend who has recently moved
The one who has recently moved
I.2.3 Unique meaning of pre-modifiers
Most of noun pre-modifiers have unique reference which refer to the only of its kind, have no like, equal
-> Hochiminh is a name of the only city in Vietnam
-> Vietnam is a name of the country which the other countries in the world have no names like that
II Denominal elements as pre-modifier in complex noun phrases
II.1 Types of derivational noun as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrase II.1.1 Noun derivation?
In linguistics, derivation is the process of creating new words by adding affixes, such as forming "happiness" and "unhappy" from "happy," or "determination" from "determine." This differs from inflection, which modifies a word to express different grammatical forms, as seen in "determine," "determines," "determining," and "determined."
A derivational suffix usually applies to words of one syntactic category and changes them into words of another syntactic category For example, the
English derivational suffix ‚-ly‛ changes adjectives into adverbs (slow -> slowly)
And noun-adjective derivation is case of the derivational suffixes ‚-al‛, ‚-an‛ and ‚-ic‛ that changes nouns into adjectives, such as:
Adjectives derived from nouns are called denominal elements (or denominal adjectives); therefore, denominals have functions like adjectives
Denominals pre-modify nouns, appear between the determiner and the head of the noun phrase :
Determiner Denominal element Head noun
A political medical professional leader student dressmaker
Nouns deriving into denominal adjectives are majorly abstract nouns (denote concepts, technical terms)
Abstract nouns -> Denominal adjectives politic medicine profession lexicon spirit institution industry mathematics biology economy atom diorite
-> political medical professional lexical spiritual institutional industrial mathematical biological economic atomic dioritic
Denominal adjectives derived from abstract nouns function as pre- modifiers in complex noun phrases Examples:
~ A scientist specializing in atomic science
~ A school for students of medicine
II.1.3 In-animate concrete nouns
Some in-animate concrete nouns derive into denominal adjectives
In-animate concrete nouns -> Denominal adjectives region continent globe
In-animate concrete nouns have functions of pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
~ An economy strategy is popular all over the world
~ The climate is limited in a given region
Some personal concrete nouns derive into denominal adjectives
Personal concrete nouns -> Denominal adjectives president pater person
Personal concrete nouns have functions of pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
Many geographical proper nouns derive into denominal adjectives
Geographical proper nouns -> Denominal adjectives
And geographical proper nouns have functions of pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases:
~ A lady who comes from Russia
~ The big wood from Germany
~ A dress is designed to Paris style
These denominals adjectives often denote provenance or style
II.2 Analysis for denominal elements as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrase
Denominal adjectives relate to participants of an event which are recategorised as characterizing properties Participants play a specific ‚role‛ in our interpretation of recategorised properties
->The president makes a decision and thus plays the role of an ‚agent‛ in the event
-> The president plays the role of the ‚recipient‛ of information
-> The president plays the role of the ‚theme‛ of an election
-> The president plays the role of the ‚ goal‛ of his candidature
(Scientific English as a Foreign Language_ Nancy Burnham and Fred Hutson)
Denominal adjectives have a distinctly categorizing-fan loai function For example, denominal adjectives are used to distinguish different kinds of
‚advice‛, such as legal advice, medical advice, and financial advice
Adjective-noun phrases serve the same purpose as noun-noun compounds, like health advice and consumer advice The choice between these structures is influenced by convention and the availability of suitable denominal adjectives For example, we use terms like regional climate, continental climate, and global climate, but we say "word climate" instead of "worldly climate," as "worldly" contrasts with "spiritual."
Denominal adjectives play an essential function: they subcategories a thing and are therefore placed closet to the noun For example:
The only reliable economic expert
The first intelligent diplomatic solution
(Cognitive English grammar_ Günter Radden, René Dirven)
Chapter III: common mistakes in using nominals and denominals as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
I Common mistakes made by Vietnamese learners in using nominals and denominals as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
Complex noun phrases often feature lengthy and intricate pre-modification, which can lead to confusion regarding the positioning of pre-modifiers Chapter II outlines the specific order of these pre-modifiers within such phrases This article aims to review and analyze the sequence of pre-modification while also providing the relative order of different types of adjectives.
In English, we typically prefer the phrase "a small round table" over "a round small table" and "the lovely little black Japanese box" instead of "the Japanese lack little lovely box." This demonstrates that evaluative or subjective adjectives usually come before more objective or measurable ones Additionally, size tends to precede shape, and when discussing size, height is often mentioned before girth.
In complex noun phrases, 'general' adjectives are typically preceded by semantically weak modifiers such as 'nice,' non-predicable terms like 'mere,' as well as quantifiers, numerals, determiners, and other closed-system items The correct order of these pre-modifiers is essential for clarity and coherence.
1 Pre-determiner, 2 determiner, 3 post-determiner, 3’ ordinal, 3’’ cardinal/quantifier, 4 general, 5 age, 6 size/shape, 7 color, 8 participle, 9 provenance, 10 material, 11 purpose, 12 denominal, 13 head noun
The determiner first ordinal intelligent general diplomatic denominal solution head noun
Pre- determiner the determiner last ordinal ten cardinal good general tall shape maths purpose student head noun
Pre- determiner the determiner other ordinal ten cardinal famous general best-sold participle novels head noun
London nominal social denominal life head noun
Denominal adjectives such as "social" and "diplomatic" play a crucial role in subcategorizing nouns, positioning them closest to the noun they modify In contrast, adjectives like "intelligent," "famous," and "extravagant" serve a more descriptive purpose, appearing further from the head noun Additionally, post determiners like "first," "last," "other," and "ten" work alongside determiners to ground the referent, typically accompanying the article "the."
The order of purely characterizing adjectives is influenced by the iconic principle of proximity, where more relevant and stable properties are positioned closer to the head noun For instance, since skin color is a permanent trait, it precedes less stable attributes, as seen in the phrase "stupid white man." Conversely, evaluative adjectives, which are more variable, are placed further from the head noun, exemplified by phrases like "a pretty young girl" or "superb white beaches."
Notes: when two nouns pre-modify, one which corresponds to the head as object to verb will follow one relating to material or agency:
A cardboard ergent det carton container
My gas cigarette lighter ~ my gas cigarette lighter
Not * my cigarette gas lighter
(A university grammar of English_ Randolph Quirk) Mis-order the elements
Incase of mis-order the elements, phrases will be wrong of word structure and their meanings will change
The determiner extravagant general social denominal
London provenance life head noun
In complex noun phrases, the term 'provenance' must be positioned directly before 'denominal.' It is important to note that this phrase cannot be transformed into a complex noun phrase with a post-modifier Consequently, the correct structure is 'the extravagant London social life,' which can also be expressed as 'the social life in London is extravagant.'
The word placed closest to the head noun plays the most important and essential function Because it subcategorizes a thing and have permanence
Common mistakes made by Vietnamese learners in using
I Common mistakes made by Vietnamese learners in using nominals and denominals as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases
Pre-modification in complex noun phrases can be intricate and often leads to confusion regarding the placement of pre-modifiers Chapter II addresses the arrangement of these pre-modifiers within complex noun phrases This article will examine and analyze the sequence of pre-modification while also providing the relative order of different types of adjectives.
In English, we typically prefer the phrase "a small round table" over "a round small table," and "the lovely little black Japanese box" instead of "the Japanese lack little lovely box." This pattern shows that evaluative or subjective adjectives usually come before those that are more objective or measurable Additionally, when describing size, height tends to precede girth, and size generally comes before shape in our descriptions.
In complex noun phrases, 'general' adjectives are typically preceded by semantically weak modifiers such as "nice," non-predicable terms like "mere," quantifiers, numerals, determiners, and other closed-system items The correct sequence of these pre-modifiers is essential for coherent expression.
1 Pre-determiner, 2 determiner, 3 post-determiner, 3’ ordinal, 3’’ cardinal/quantifier, 4 general, 5 age, 6 size/shape, 7 color, 8 participle, 9 provenance, 10 material, 11 purpose, 12 denominal, 13 head noun
The determiner first ordinal intelligent general diplomatic denominal solution head noun
Pre- determiner the determiner last ordinal ten cardinal good general tall shape maths purpose student head noun
Pre- determiner the determiner other ordinal ten cardinal famous general best-sold participle novels head noun
London nominal social denominal life head noun
Denominal adjectives such as "social" and "diplomatic" play a crucial role in specifying a noun, as they are positioned closest to it In contrast, adjectives like "intelligent," "famous," and "extravagant" serve a more descriptive function and are placed further from the head noun Additionally, post determiners like "first," "last," "other," and "ten" work with determiners to ground the referent, typically accompanying the article "the."
The order of purely characterizing adjectives is influenced by the iconic principle of proximity, where more stable and relevant properties are positioned closer to the head noun For instance, since skin color is a permanent trait, the phrase "stupid white man" reflects this natural order In contrast, evaluative attributes are more variable, leading to a placement further from the head noun, as seen in expressions like "a pretty young girl" or "superb white beaches."
Notes: when two nouns pre-modify, one which corresponds to the head as object to verb will follow one relating to material or agency:
A cardboard ergent det carton container
My gas cigarette lighter ~ my gas cigarette lighter
Not * my cigarette gas lighter
(A university grammar of English_ Randolph Quirk) Mis-order the elements
Incase of mis-order the elements, phrases will be wrong of word structure and their meanings will change
The determiner extravagant general social denominal
London provenance life head noun
In complex noun phrases, the term 'provenance' should be positioned immediately before 'denominal.' This structure cannot be converted into a complex noun phrase using post-modifiers Consequently, the appropriate phrasing is "the extravagant London social life," which can also be expressed as "the social life in London is extravagant."
The word placed closest to the head noun plays the most important and essential function Because it subcategorizes a thing and have permanence
Using the phrase "white stupid man" alters its meaning, suggesting that stupidity is an inherent trait of all men, while implying that skin color can vary, which is an unreasonable assertion.
When plural nouns serve as pre-modifiers, they typically shift to singular form, transforming phrases like "the leg of the trousers" into "the trouser leg" and "the lens of the binoculars" into "the binocular lens." However, this transformation is not always consistent; for instance, "the race of arms" becomes "the arms race," where "arm" remains plural This phenomenon is particularly evident in noun pre-modification that hasn't solidified into a fixed phrase or compound, as seen in "the committee on promotions" changing to "the promotions committee."
Using incorrect plural forms can lead to grammatical errors, particularly in complex noun phrases where nominal adjectives modify the head noun For example, the phrase "the labs technician" is incorrect because "lab" functions as an adjective describing "technician," which cannot be pluralized Adjectives, by nature, do not take on plural forms, so it is essential to use "the lab technician" instead.
However, in some cases plural form is compulsory:
Example 2: Sports program on TV
In example 1, ‚arm‛ with meaning of ‘instruments or weapons of offense or defense’ is always in plural form ‚arms‛ In this phrase, nominal element
‚arms‛ modify the head noun ‚race‛
The term "sports" refers to a collective representation of various games, including football, badminton, skiing, and swimming Additionally, a "sports program on TV" encompasses a television show that analyzes, comments on, and synthesizes multiple competitions and games.
Long noun sequences that combine pre-modifiers with head nouns convey complex meanings in a concise manner, but they can also lead to confusion Therefore, technical writers must exercise caution when using such structures to ensure clarity.
50 of using too many pre-modifiers with a noun, because it could introduce confusion as to exactly what is being pre-modified Consider the following phrase: ‚… a chrome-plated nut wrench…‛
Is this referring to a wrench for use with chrome-plated nuts, or a chrome-plated wrench for using with indeterminate types of nuts?
In general, pre-modifiers can be replaced with post-modifying clauses introduced by ‘of’ or ‘for’ Rewording this last example above, we get:
‚…a wrench for chrome-plated nuts…”
‚…a chrome-plated wrench for nuts…‛
When stating, "We visited their country house," the phrase can be ambiguous, leaving unclear whether it refers to their house located in the countryside or simply a house they own in a rural area This uncertainty arises from not knowing if the house mentioned is their only residence or if they also possess a city house, with "country" serving as a distinguishing modifier To clarify this distinction, it is advisable to avoid using the pre-modifier.
Using nominal elements with the meaning of “permanence”
Anther trouble arises when considering the permanence of the noun in question
When rewriting sentences, consider the permanence of the noun being modified For example, "The book is on the table in the corner" can be effectively condensed to "The book is on the corner table," as the table is a fixed object In contrast, "The girl in the corner has the book" cannot be transformed into "The corner girl has the book," since the girl is not permanently associated with the corner This distinction highlights the importance of using nouns as pre-modifiers only when their modification reflects a lasting characteristic.
The instrument in the lab doesn’t work
~ The lab instrument doesn’t work
The technician in the lab doesn’t work
~ The lab technician doesn’t work (A technician is supposed to be in the lab and thus has some permanence.)
The professor in the lab doesn’t work
Professors typically do not spend significant time in the lab, leading to a lack of permanence in their presence In this context, "in the lab" refers to the professor's current location rather than their usual working environment.
The windows in the corner are cracked
~ The corner windows are cracked
The windows in the corners are cracked
The corner windows are cracked; it is essential to acknowledge that the windows in various corners of the building are indeed damaged.
Interaction between dislocation and defects are very interesting
~ Dislocation-defect interaction are very interesting
(Scientific English as a Foreign Language_ Nancy Burnham and Fred Hutson)
Some suggestions to overcome the difficulties
To avoid mistakes of word order, it is very important and necessary to be master of:
Firstly, the pre-modification sequence in complex noun phrases (which is mentioned above)
The determiner complicated general recent age
Thailand provenance political denominal situation head noun
Secondly, permanent and impermanent meanings The permanent words are placed to their head nouns nearer than the impermanent ones the determiner lab impermanent electronic permanent equipment head noun
Thirdly, with more than one nominal element, if one which corresponds to the head as object to verb will follow one relating to material or agency
~ furnish to the tax office
Nominal elements as pre-modifiers in complex noun phrases are in plural form in cases of:
(1) With noun pre-modification that is not hardening into a fixed phrase or compound:
The appointments and promotions committee
~ The committee dealing with appointments and promotions
(2) Nominals only have lexical meanings when they are in plural form:
The other cases are in singular form:
(A university grammar of English_ Randolph Quirk)
A complicated and long pre-modification sequence will lead to misunderstanding of meaning In such cases, it is best to use the post-modifier instead of the pre-modifier
We visited their house that is in the country
We visited their country house
And don’t use nouns as pre-modifiers if the modification hasn’t some permanence
The professor in the lab doesn’t work
Not: ~ The lab professor doesn’t work
The study of complex noun phrases is a rich and engaging area of English grammar This paper focuses on the role of nominal and denominal elements as pre-modifiers within these phrases It is structured into three chapters: the theoretical background, an analysis of nominal and denominal pre-modifiers, and common usage errors Chapter one provides a comprehensive overview of complex noun phrases, including definitions, classifications, structures, semantic features, and functions of pre-modifiers The researcher highlights the various types of noun and denominal adjectives used as pre-modifiers and explores the differences in meaning between pre-modification and post-modification, emphasizing their appropriate usage Chapter two addresses common mistakes in using nominals and denominals as pre-modifiers and offers effective solutions based on the analysis conducted.
Complex noun phrases are the most challenging type of noun phrases, comprising pre-modification, a head noun, and post-modification Pre-modification includes both closed-system and open-class items, arranged in a specific order Within open-class items, nominals and denominals are distinct subclasses that are explored in detail in chapter two Post-modification can take various forms, including finite and non-finite clauses, apposition, adjective phrases, adverbial phrases, and prepositional phrases This research provides numerous practical examples to assist learners in mastering complex noun phrases, particularly focusing on nominals and denominals.
This research paper aims to offer English learners comprehensive insights into pre-modifiers, focusing specifically on nominals and denominals, to facilitate their understanding of complex noun phrases in the English language.
Due to constraints in time, knowledge, and experience, this paper may not address all relevant issues, and errors may be present I hope that any overlooked topics will be explored in future research, and I welcome constructive feedback and suggestions from my teachers and peers.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors, Mrs Trần Thị Ngọc Liên and Mrs Mai Thúy Phương, for their invaluable support throughout my studies I also want to thank my teachers, friends, and family members for their encouragement and motivation in helping me complete this graduation paper.