Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis
It is generally accepted that the order of elements within the English noun phrase is relatively fixed, and that, in the prefield, determiners (primary and secondary) precede modifiers. This article is concerned with a group of noun phrases exhibiting non-canonical word order, namely those cases in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Open Linguistics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2022-0207 |
| _version_ | 1797947712514031616 |
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| author | Keizer Evelien |
| author_facet | Keizer Evelien |
| author_sort | Keizer Evelien |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is generally accepted that the order of elements within the English noun phrase is relatively fixed, and that, in the prefield, determiners (primary and secondary) precede modifiers. This article is concerned with a group of noun phrases exhibiting non-canonical word order, namely those cases in which a modifier precedes a numeral, such as a fabulous two years, a staggering 30 singles, that short fourteen months, and the largest two markets. Using corpus data from the British National Corpus, it is shown that such noun phrases are far more heterogeneous (in terms of the kind of noun, the scope and type of the modifier, the form and number of the determiner, and subject-verb agreement) than assumed in previous studies. It is argued that the variation observed in the data can only be accounted for if different subtypes of such NPs are distinguished, each characterized by its own combination of functional and formal properties. Finally, it is demonstrated how Functional Discourse Grammar, with its function-to-form approach and its different levels and layers of representation, is particularly well-suited to capture the main features of the construction as a whole, as well as the more specific semantic and syntactic properties of each of the subtypes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:32:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d8794fe9d0ff4c9eae64f113150786fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2300-9969 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:32:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Linguistics |
| spelling | doaj.art-d8794fe9d0ff4c9eae64f113150786fc2023-01-19T13:20:31ZengDe GruyterOpen Linguistics2300-99692022-11-018154557210.1515/opli-2022-0207Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysisKeizer Evelien0University of Vienna, English and American Studies, 1090, Vienna, AustriaIt is generally accepted that the order of elements within the English noun phrase is relatively fixed, and that, in the prefield, determiners (primary and secondary) precede modifiers. This article is concerned with a group of noun phrases exhibiting non-canonical word order, namely those cases in which a modifier precedes a numeral, such as a fabulous two years, a staggering 30 singles, that short fourteen months, and the largest two markets. Using corpus data from the British National Corpus, it is shown that such noun phrases are far more heterogeneous (in terms of the kind of noun, the scope and type of the modifier, the form and number of the determiner, and subject-verb agreement) than assumed in previous studies. It is argued that the variation observed in the data can only be accounted for if different subtypes of such NPs are distinguished, each characterized by its own combination of functional and formal properties. Finally, it is demonstrated how Functional Discourse Grammar, with its function-to-form approach and its different levels and layers of representation, is particularly well-suited to capture the main features of the construction as a whole, as well as the more specific semantic and syntactic properties of each of the subtypes.https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2022-0207english noun phrasesword ordermodificationnumeralsfunctional discourse grammar |
| spellingShingle | Keizer Evelien Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis Open Linguistics english noun phrases word order modification numerals functional discourse grammar |
| title | Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis |
| title_full | Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis |
| title_fullStr | Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis |
| title_short | Modifier-numeral word order in the English NP: An FDG analysis |
| title_sort | modifier numeral word order in the english np an fdg analysis |
| topic | english noun phrases word order modification numerals functional discourse grammar |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2022-0207 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT keizerevelien modifiernumeralwordorderintheenglishnpanfdganalysis |