Advances in Role and Reference Grammar

(^20) ROBERT D. VAN VALIN, JR.
dependent can be omitted, with the result being a grammatical phrase
of the same type, e.g. yul "in it". The structure of this example is given in
Figure 9.
NP structure is treated very differently in RRG from X-bar-based
theories. One of the fundamental tenets of X-bar theory is that all phrases
should have basically the same structure, regardless of the category of the
head. In particular, it is assumed that Ss and NPs are parallel in structure
(Chomsky 1970, Jackendoff 1977). While there are some manifest similari­
ties between clauses and complex derived nomináis, for example, RRG
does not posit the kind of exacting parallels assumed by X-bar theory. The
primary correspondence between NPs and clauses in RRG is that both have
a layered structure and in both there are operators modifying the layers. In
the layered structure of the NP [LSNP], there is a nominal nucleus, a core
consisting of the nucleus and the arguments of a complex derived nominal,
e.g. the construction of the bridge by the Mafia-controlled company, and a
periphery composed of various kinds of modifiers, e.g. locative adposi-
tional phrases as in the tower in New York.^11 The projection grammar rep­
resentation of the LSNP of two English NPs is given in Figure 10. The ini­
tial the is not attached to anything in the constituent projection, and that