X-bar Theorynoun, we conclude that it is an NP. In (32c) however, the phrase following the
determiner contains only an adjective and is ungrammatical. This clearly has a
different distribution to the other two phrases, indicating that the adjective in (32a) is
not the head of this phrase.
It is also possible to conclude that the adjective is not a complement of the head
noun as it does not follow the noun and as we have seen, in English, all complements
follow their heads.
The other possibility is that the adjective functions as a specifier within the NP and
as specifiers precede their heads, this seems more likely. Yet there are properties of the
adjective that make it an unlikely specifier. As we saw, specifiers of thematic heads
tend to be arguments of those heads. The adjective is obviously not an argument of the
noun as it does not bear a thematic role assigned by the noun. Furthermore, specifiers
are limited to a single occurrence and there cannot be more than one of them:
(33) a the letter arrived
b the postman arrived
c *the letter the postman arrived
However, there can be more than one adjectival modifier of a noun:
(34) a popular smart student
b big evil vicious dog
c solitary disastrous unforgivable serious mistake
Thus, the adjectival modifier is an adjunct of the noun. We will argue in a later
chapter that adjectival modifiers follow the specifier of the NP and hence adjectival
phrases are attached in a position between the specifier and the head. As we see in the
following, this puts them as adjuncts to the N':
(35) NP
spec N'
AP N'
smart N
student
The part of the structure containing the AP is recursive with an N' as the mother
and an N' as one of the daughters. This means that there is room for more APs, as
demonstrated by (36):