adjunct

a constituent not selected by a head.

adjunction

a type of movement where a new position is formed as a result of the movement creating an adjunction structure, like the (simplified) movement of the PP in the following tree structure representation where the S node is doubled:

adverb

a constituent with the feature composition [+N, +V, –F] used to modify a verb (as in everything went smoothly) or a sentence (as in Unfortunately, I did not pass the first exam). In this approach adverbs and adjectives belong to the same category, the difference between them being what they modify.

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.

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Basic English Syntax with Exercises

5.4 Adverbs, PPs and Clausal modifiers

To complete this chapter, we will briefly mention modification in the VP. Modifiers may generally be associated with adjuncts and so the modifiers of the VP can be assumed to be adjoined somewhere within the VP structure we have introduced above. There are restrictions however, which partly depend on general conditions and partly depend on the nature of the modifier itself. We will briefly look at each type of modifier in turn.

 

 

        5.4.1 Adverbs

        5.4.2 PP modifiers

        5.4.3 Clausal modifiers

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