3. Nouns and noun phrases Nouns are “naming words” because they name objects, places, beings etc. For example: dog, cat, Tartu, University of Tartu etc… The structure of the noun phrase → The noun phrase typically consists of the head which is usually a noun and other linguistic elements which determine or modify the head. (Determiners) (Premodifiers) HEADnoun (postmodifier) For example: I know the old man who is driving the red car. [The old man who is driving the red car.] is the noun phrase The [determiner] old[premodifier] man[Head] who is driving the red car [postmodifier].
the small girl (det + premodifier: adjective + head) the small girl in a black skirt (det + prem + head + postmodifier: prepositional phrase) the small girl wearing a black skirt (det + prem + head + postmodifier: non-finite clause) the small girl who is wearing a black skirt (det+prem+head + postmodifier: relative clause) her (head; the whole NP can be replaced by a pronoun) The structure of the NP: (determiners) (premodifiers) headNOUN (postmodifiers) Lexical subclasses: Based on grammatical and semantic reasons nouns can be seen as falling into different subclasses. I saw... 1 2 3 2+3 without det John *bottle furniture cake the *the John the bottle the furniture the cake a *a John a bottle *a furniture a cake
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