adjective phrase (AP)

a phrase headed by an adjective. In the complement position we can find PPs and finite and non-finite CPs. DPs and exceptional clauses are excluded since adjectives are not Case assigners. APs are complements of DegPs.

complementiser phrase (CP)

a phrase headed by one of the three complementisers that, if or for (in structures like It is important [for Jim to pass this exam] where for is used not as a preposition but as a prepositional complementiser.) The complement of a CP is an IP, the specifier position is occupied by moved wh-elements or whether.

DegP

the functional projection on top of APs (similarly to DPs taking NP complements) hosting degree modifiers like the superlative and comparative morpheme.

determiner

the head of a Determiner Phrase, a closed class item taking an NP complement defining its definiteness. Feature composition: [+F, –N, +V]

determiner phrase (DP)

a phrase headed by a central determiner or the possessive ’s morpheme. The complement of a DP is an NP, the specifier the DP the possessive ending attaches to.

distribution

the set of positions that the grammar determines to be possible for a given category. Words that distribute in the same way will belong to the same categories, words that distribute differently will belong to different categories.

inflectional phrase (IP)

in traditional grammars the IP is a phrase headed by an inflectional element which can be a modal auxiliary (e.g. may, should, will), infinitival to or the bound morphemes expressing tense ( ed, s) the latter undergoing Affix Lowering to form a unit with the verb. In the present approach, however, it has been argued that the head position of the IP contains only the modal auxiliaries and the (in English) invisible agreement morpheme, information about Tense can be found in an independent vP hosting infinitival to, and the bound morphemes -ed and -s also appear here. The specifier position of an IP is occupied by the subject (see canonical subject position), the complement of an I is usually a VP or vP (but see small clauses for an exception). IPs are complements of CPs or ECM verbs.

noun phrase (NP)

a phrase headed by a noun. Noun heads can take PP or CP complements, DP complements are excluded since nouns are not Case assigners. The specifier position of an NP is occupied by what are generally called post-determiners. NPs are complements of DPs.

phrase

a group of words that can undergo syntactic operations (e.g. movement) as a unit.

preposition

a syntactic unit preceding its complement, the most often a DP defining a special syntactic and/or semantic relationship between the complement and another constituent: cat in the bag/grapes of wrath/tea without sugar/a reduction of taxes. Feature composition: [–F, –N, –V].

preposition phrase (PP)

a phrase headed by a preposition. It usually takes a DP complement but certain types of CPs can also appear in the complement position of PPs. PPs themselves can be complements of different constituents such as verbs, nouns and adjectives.

verb phrase (VP)

a phrase headed by a verb. It is in the VP together with the vp(s) that the basic argument structure of the clause is formed, thus, theta-role assignment takes place here. The specifier position of the VP is occupied by the constituent bearing the theme/patient theta role. In passive structures this constituent has to move from the specifier position of the verb to the specifier position of IP in order to get Case. A VP can have different types of complements such as a DP, CP, IP, PP.

word category

a set of expressions that share certain linguistic features, a grouping of words that cluster together, e.g. noun, verb. See also functional category, thematic category.

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Basic English Syntax with Exercises

2.1.6 Labels

Although we have been labelling phrases with the symbol P, not all phrases are equivalent to each other. This is best seen in terms of the distributions of phrases. Take, for example the two phrases in (16) the postwoman and the doctor. These look very similar, both consisting of a determiner followed by a noun. They also have the same distribution patterns, as shown by the fact that wherever we can put one of them we will also be able to put the other:

(32)a[the doctor] pestered [the postwoman]
bI saw [the doctor]/[the postwoman]
cthey hid from [the doctor]/[the postwoman]

As these phrases have the same distributions, we can assume that they are phrases of the same kind. However, not all phrases distribute in the same way. Consider the phrase on his birthday. This cannot go in the same places as those in (32):

(33)a*[on his birthday] pestered [the postwoman]
b*I saw [on his birthday]
c*they hid from [on his birthday]

Clearly this phrase must be different from the previous two. We will see in the next chapter that the identity of a phrase is determined by one of the words it contains. This word is known as the head of the phrase. It will be argued later on in this book that the head of phrases such as the postwoman is the determiner and the head of phrases such as on his birthday is the preposition. Thus, we distinguish between determiner phrases (DPs) and preposition phrases (PPs).

There are also other phrases associated with the verb (VPs), with adjectives (APs) and indeed with every kind of word category that we have discussed (noun phrases – NPs, inflectional phrases – IPs, CPs and degree adverb phrases – DegPs).

For now, the main point is that there are different kinds of phrases and these have different positions within the structure of the sentence and hence different distributions. We might therefore represent the sentence in (31) more fully as:

(34)

We will not develop this any further at this point, and we will see that certain aspects of this structure are in need of revision. But the arguments for these developments will be given in subsequent chapters.

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