Noun Phrase Premodifiers and Postmodifiers
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Premodifiers
- Adjectives
- Participials
- Nouns
Postmodifiers
- Relative clauses
- To-infinitive clauses
- Ing-clauses
- Ed-clauses
- Prepositional phrases
- Appositive NPs
- Adjective phrases
- Adverbs
Relative Clauses
- Restrictive RC: Identify the intended reference of the head noun.
- Non-restrictive RC: Add elaborating, descriptive information about a head noun that has already been identified or is assumed to be known.
Components of a Relative Clause
- Head noun: The noun modified by the relative clause.
- Relativizer: The word which introduces the relative clause.
- Gap: The location of the missing constituent in the relative clause.
Relativizers in Standard English
There are eight relativizers in standard English:
- Five relative pronouns: which, who, whom, whose, that.
- Three relative adverbs: where, when, why.
- Zero relativizer: Possible whenever the gap is not in the subject position.
Postmodification by Non-Finite Clauses
Participle Clauses
These always have subject gaps and can be paraphrased by relative clauses:
- ed-clauses
- ing-clauses
To-Clauses (Infinitive Clauses)
- Can have either subject or non-subject gaps.
- The subject is sometimes expressed in a for-phrase.
- The most common nouns taking these clauses have general meanings (e.g., thing, time, way).
- To-infinitive constructions with these nouns are especially common in conversation.
Prepositional Phrases (PPs)
- PPs are by far the most common type of postmodifier in all registers.
- They are more frequent in news and academic prose.
- Of-phrases account for more than half of all postmodifying PPs.
- Postmodifying PPs with with can often be rephrased as relative clauses with the main verb have.
- Some other postmodifying PPs can be rephrased as relative clauses with the copula be.
Appositive NPs
- These have equivalent status with the preceding (head) noun phrase.
- Usually non-restrictive in meaning. Exception: Nouns that refer to words, phrases, or expressions.
Multiple Postmodifiers
Multiple postmodifiers are common in academic prose.
Postmodifier Complex
A postmodifier complex is a combination of structures following a head noun. There are two types of structural relations:
- Multiple modification: A series of forms modifying a single head noun.
- Multiple embedding