Estratura Básica - Class 5

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Aula 5: Tense and Aspect: Presente e Passado
In the end of lesson, the student should be able to:
 1. Distinguish noun phrases and noun clauses; 
 2. identify determiners and modifiers; 
 3. understand the structure of noun phrases. 
1. Paving the way 
1.1 Phrases and their characteristics
Before beginning our discussion of ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF the class in question, let’s go over some points in order to move forward with greater confidence and easily. Actually, it never WON’T HURT to review important aspects that allow us to grab the knowledge presented to us.
 
As we SAW in the beginning of our course, words can be organized into higher units known as phrases.
A phrase may consist of a single word or a group of words. The following examples are effective examples of the three major phrases:
 [The opposition] [demands] [more governmental investments in education].
Phrases can be identified by substitution – that is, by replacing one expression with another to see how it fits into the structure. In particular, a multi-word can often be replaced by a single word phrase without changing its meaning. (…) We can also identify phrases by movement tests. A phrase can be moved as a unit to a different position. When we place one set of brackets inside another, this means that one phrase is embedded (i.e. included) inside another. The possibility of embedding sometimes means that a given structure can be understood in two or more different ways. (BIBER, CONRAD and Leech, 2011, p. 38)
Let us put into practice what is said in the above quotation and check the reality of what was said. Let us come back to the given example above:
 
[The opposition] [demands] [more governmental investments in education].
Identifying phrases:
 
[It] [demands] [something]
Well, the substitution seems to confirm our previous conclusion – there are three phrases in the given example.
In summary:
Words make up phrases, which behave like units.
A phrase can consist of either one word or more.
Phrases can be identified by substitutions and movements tests. 
Differences in phrase structure show up in differences of meaning.
Phrases can be embedded (i. e. one phrase can be part of the structure of another phrase).
1.2 Syntactic role of phrases
Phrases change both in their internal structure and in their syntactic performances. It means that in larger structures phrases become part of a logical arrangement. They can function as objects and subjects, for example. The ability to recognize this functional feature typical of phrases can be crucial for the interpretation of linguistic situations. According to the function performed, phrases can be classified in different types.
For each class of lexical word, there is a major type phrase with an example of that class as the head (as we saw previously) which is the principal obligatory word. To move forwards, let us recall the procedure of word classification, taking into consideration the following factors – form/structure, syntactic role, and meaning.
 
Form / structure: it has to do specially with the word class of the head of the phrase in an analogous process of word class recognition.
Syntactic role: phrases can be described and classified according to their function it performs.
Meaning: The semantic nature of phrases is to specify and convey meaning. 
As we saw in the last class, when we deal with verb phrases we notice that its head is a verb (morphologically speaking), its syntactic role is to function as predicators and they semantically express the action that is being expressed within the communicative act.
In the figure we can verify what was said: the verb phrase is composed by the verb – ate – and a noun phrase that has its impact diminished since its presence is determined by the verb that demands complementation.
Said that, let’s move on.
1.3 Clauses and their characteristics
The clause is the key unit of syntax, capable of occurring independently (i. e. without being part of any other unit). It is useful to think of the clause as a unit that can stand alone as an expression of a “complete thought” – that is a complete description of an event or of an state of affairs. Hence, many spoken utterances consist of a single clause:
Have you got an exam on Monday? (CONV)
and the same is true for many written sentences:
She smiled sweetly. (FICT) (…). 
(BIBER, CONRAD and LEECH, 2011, p.47)
2. Noun frase
The meaning or definition of a Noun Phrase is as follows. A group of words used to form a basic name when it is:
 • impractical to employ a single noun word;
• when a single noun would have too broad a concept if used as a basic name. For example, 'machine' and 'board‘.
See the examples:
• The Vice President of the Textile Industries Association.
• The new vitamin packed high calcium low fat breakfast cereal.
• The crimson, ermine trimmed, velvet gown with gold trimmings was worn by Anne Boleyn at her coronation.
“A phrase with a noun as its head is a noun phrase. The head can appear in uncountable occasions preceded by determiners such as the, her, a and can be accompanied by modifiers.“
2.1 Determiners
Determiners are words that are used with nouns to clarify it. They can clarify:
 
• To define something or someone.
• To state the amount of things, people or other nouns.
• To state possessives.
• To state someone or something is (or is not) specific.
• To state how things or people are distributed.
• To state difference between nouns.
Determiners are a huge category and there are different types of them and their use is subject to the type of the noun to which it relates. Singular nouns always need determiners and they are optional when they are related to plural nouns. The same occurs when uncountable nouns occur. There are about different types of determiners in English: quantifiers, article, possessive, demonstratives, ordinals and numbers.
2.2 Modifiers
Modifiers are optional elements in phrase structure or clause structure. Its occurrence is not mandatory or essential in a phrase or clause. Actually it can be removed and still not cause any damage to the idea that is being transmitted. In English, adverbs and adjectives  function as modifiers, but they also have other functions. Moreover, other parts of speech (or even entire phrases or clauses) can function as modifiers.
See the following examples: 
• His desk was in [the faculty office]. (noun in noun phrase)
• I saw [the man whom we met yesterday]. (clause in noun phrase)
• She's [the woman with the hat]. (preposition phrase in noun phrase)
• We've already [gone twelve miles]. (noun phrase in verb phrase)
Modifiers can be placed in different ways in a phrase or clause and, according to its placement it is called pre-modifier, when placed before the head (the modified component). A post-modifier is a modifier placed after the head:
 Ancient times –> pre-modifier
Men in black suits -> post-modifier
However it is good to remember that although modifiers may precede nouns or come after them, their placement must BE carefully measured so it is connected to the intended noun. Otherwise, the misplacement of modifiers can cause unintentional and  unwanted changes in the general sense of the phrase or clause.
Some modifiers, especially simple modifiers — only, just, nearly, barely — have a bad habit of slipping into the wrong place in a sentence. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is called a "dangling modifier." Take a look:
hat Wolfgang Puck introduced a new latte line may not be surprising, but the container, which heats itself, is. By pressing a button on the bottom, water mixes with quicklime, producing a chemical reaction that heats the coffee."
(The New York Times, May 2005)
Princess Beatrice, who is starting a history degree at Goldsmiths College, London, later this year, was photographed running in the surf on the island of St Barts with her American boyfriend Dave Clark dressedin a blue bikini last month.
("Sarah, Duchess of York Defends Princess Beatrice's Weight Against ‘Rude’ Critics." May 13, 2008)
You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian composers, artists, and writers are buried daily, except on Thursdays. (in a guide to a Russian Orthodox monastery) 
Were you able to perceive the confusion created by the misplacements? Can water press any buttom? Think about it!
2.3 Noun clauses and noun phrases
Noun clause - The label noun clause refers to any kind of subordinate clause which can occupy the position of a noun or noun phrase. It can, for example, be the subject of a verb. It can also be the object of a verb.
 She has decided that she will find a good job. (Here the noun clause ‘that she will find a good job’ is the object of the verb decided.) 
That she has not yet arrived worries me. (Here the noun clause ‘that she has not yet arrived’ is the subject of the verb worries.)
Noun phrase - A noun phrase is a syntactic unit which can serve as subject, direct object or object of a preposition in a sentence. A noun phrase is constructed around a noun or a pronoun as its head. A noun phrase may be of any size. The simplest form consists of just one word.
 
Italian Renaissance painters left an incomparable legacy.
            NP = SUBJECT
Well, let’s make a break here and gain breath for the next class!
Noun phrases and its functions; 
genitive, Gerund and noun phrases; 
countable and uncountable nouns; 
simple and complex nouns and noun phrases. 
 
 
In this class, you were able to:
Distinguish noun phrases and noun clauses; 
identify determiners and modifiers; 
understand the structure of noun phrases.