Delahunty and Garvey
More complex NPs: single-word premodifier + head
Table 4 illustrates NPs whose heads (bolded) are modified by single-word
premodifiers (italicized). The part of speech of the premodifiers is given in the
left-hand column.
form of premodifier example
Article The wombats escaped.
Adjective Phrase Strong winds.
Demonstrative pronoun That vase is valuable.
Genitive NP Sheila’s serve is powerful.
Genitive pronoun Her serve is powerful.
Noun Metal plates shielded the instruments.
Indefinite pronoun/quantifier Some survivors remained.
Wh-word Which lobster do you want?
Numeral Seven boxes fell.
Ordinal Second thoughts assailed us.
Quantifier Several vats of beer.
Negative No accidents were reported.
table 4: single-word premodifiers
Exercise
In each sentence below, identify all the NPs; then identify the part of
speech of the head and of any premodifier(s) in each NP:
a. The evidence was unconvincing.
b. Party invitations are always welcome.
c. Many people have visited that exhibition.
d. Their intuitions make them remarkable therapists.
e. Dust mites cause serious allergies in some people.
The range of premodifiers of noun heads is large, including nearly all the
parts of speech. The items in Table 4 present the basic possibilities. The most
frequently used modifiers are the articles, which we briefly discussed in our
chapter on Minor Parts of Speech. Here we will elaborate on that discussion.
We noted that one major use of an article is to indicate whether the NP
in which it occurs is definite or not: if the NP is definite, then the speaker/
writer assumes that the hearer/reader can identify the referent of the NP; and
if the NP is indefinite, then the speaker/writer assumes that the hearer/reader