Understanding Phrases: Types, Heads, and Dependents

Posted on Feb 24, 2025 in Linguistics and Applied Languages

Phrase Definition: A grammatical unit typically consisting of a head word, which can be expanded by means of dependents, and typically functioning as a constituent within clauses. Example: [Students] [eat] [sandwiches] (Subject/Noun Phrase, Predicate/Verb Phrase, Subject/Noun Phrase). Expanded Example: [All the girl students] [should eat] [their peanut butter sandwiches]

Types of Phrases

  1. Based on Head Word Class: Noun Phrase (NP), Adjective Phrase (AdjP), Adverb Phrase (AdvP), Verb Phrase (VP), Quantifier Phrase (QP).
  2. Marked Noun Phrases: Prepositional Phrases (PPs) (e.g., in the room) & Genitive Phrases (GPs) (e.g., the boy’s room).
  3. Independence/Dependence: Main (independent) vs. subordinate (dependent); simplex vs. complex phrases.

Phrase Complexes

  1. Coordinate Phrases:
    • NP + NP: many students & a number of teachers
    • PP + PP: on the table & under the desk
    • AdvP + AdvP: he can live abroad or elsewhere
    • VP + VP: he washed & dressed the child
    • AdjP + AdjP: a handsome & rich husband
  2. Coordinate Phrasal Elements:
    • Modal auxiliary: the government can & must reduce public expenditure
    • Primary auxiliary: we are or at least were thinking of buying a new car
    • Main Verb: you should stay & rest
  3. Complex Phrases: Phrases within phrases or subordination with ‘embedding’:
    • NP: adjective as modifier: the very colourful painting
    • NP as modifier: passenger train regulations
  4. Complex Phrases: Clauses within phrases or subordination with ‘embedding’:
    • NP relative clause as modifier: thanks for (the car you sent me)
    • Adjective Phrase…
  5. Subordinate Phrases: Phrases depending on other phrases without embedding:
    • AdjP x AdjP: they are (quite brilliant) (though quite unreliable)
    • AdvP x AdvP: (slowly) (if rather painfully)
  6. Subordinate Phrasal Elements: Relator in PP: P x P the club members are (under), (though not much under)
  7. Extension of Phrases: Difficult cases: word: double + that amount just + under twenty five years old

Head of a Phrase

The four open word classes have phrases associated with them, and in turn, these phrases are classified according to the word functioning as the head.

Characteristics of the Head

  1. Obligatoriness: The head can be omitted by ellipsis if contextually recoverable: [All the students] [should work] [very hard]
  2. Semantic and Syntactic Controller:
    • Determines the type of the phrase (NP: his friends, a NOUN as head; AdvP: very fast, an ADVERB as head).
    • Determines the structure of the phrase: the lexical and grammatical properties of the head control dependents semantically & syntactically (e.g., silver (some, ∅ determiner) (expensive)).
    • Determines the ‘external’ properties of the phrase (distribution, position in clause structure).

Dependents in a Phrase

Dependents specify the meaning of the head grammatically or lexically.

Types of Dependents

  1. Grammatical Dependents: Grammatical modifications/meaning/categories. Realization: grammatical words and/or inflection (NP: Number, reference: definiteness, specifiness: a book, the book; VP: tense, phase, modality (may have been working); AP/AdvP: intensification, comparison (ugly/uglier/ugliest)).
  2. Lexical Dependents: Lexical specification of the head. Realization: lexical words, phrases, clauses: full lexical content, open classes (the tall girl standing in the corner who works at Macy’s).

Dependent Types

  1. Determiner (Nominal): Grammatical specification of the noun: reference, quantity, possessiveness. Example: NP: that handsome teacher of Maths that we met.
  2. (Pre)modifier, Complement, (Post)modifier/Qualifier: (Nominal, adjectival & adverbial): add descriptive information to the head. Sometimes restricts the head’s reference.
  3. Complement (Nominal & Adjectival), (Pre)modifier/Intensifier: Complete the specification of the head’s lexical content/modifier-qualifier: this specification should be satisfied/often lexico-grammatically determined: that-/non-finite clause; PPs introduced by dependent prepositions (mostly adjectives).
  4. Auxiliary (Mood, Phase, Aspect): Making tense, mood, phase, aspect, voice (+inflections): he has been working here.

Characteristics of Dependents

  • Typically optional: presence/absence controlled by the head.
  • Syntactically/semantically controlled by the head.