Can an adjective be a head?

Can an adjective be a head?

The only grammatical form that can function as the adjective phrase head in the English language is the adjective. Adjective phrase heads are words that function as the heads of adjective phrases. An adjective phrase consists of an adjective plus any modifiers and complements.

What can be head in a noun phrase?

In English grammar, a head is the key word that determines the nature of a phrase (in contrast to any modifiers or determiners). For example, in a noun phrase, the head is a noun or pronoun (“a tiny sandwich”).

Is head a noun or an adjective?

head (noun) head (verb) headed (adjective) head–hunting (noun)

Is an adjective the same as noun phrase?

The basic difference between noun phrase and adjective phrase is that a noun phrase acts as a noun while an adjective phase acts as an adjective. Furthermore, a noun phrase can occur anywhere in a sentence as a subject, object or complement while an adjective phrase only occurs before or after a noun.

What is adjective phrase head?

An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase the head of which is an adjective, almost any grammar or syntax textbook or dictionary of linguistics terminology defines the adjective phrase in a similar way, e.g. Kesner Bland (1996:499), Crystal (1996:9), Greenbaum (1996:288ff.), Haegeman and Guéron (1999:70f.) …

What is a head adjective?

head. adjective. Definition of head (Entry 2 of 3) 1 : of, relating to, or intended for the upper or anterior division of the animal body that contains the brain, the chief sense organs, and the mouth : of, relating to, or intended for the head (see head entry 1 sense 1) head injuries.

Which type of noun is head?

Words which are part of the phrase and which come after the head are called the post-head. In a noun phrase, the head is a noun, and there may be pre-head and post-head items, also called premodifiers and postmodifiers. In a verb phrase, the head is a verb.

How heads and determiners could be identify in a noun phrase?

In a noun phrase, dependent words before the head are either determiners (e.g. the, my, some) or premodifiers (e.g. adjectives). Dependent words after the head are either complements or postmodifiers.

Is head a noun?

The head is the most important word in a phrase. In a noun phrase, the head is a noun, and there may be pre-head and post-head items, also called premodifiers and postmodifiers.

Is head common noun?

The main common noun are: Body parts and organ nouns: head, arm, hand, foot, chest etc.

Can an adjective be a noun phrase?

An adjective phrase is a phrase that consists of an adjective that functions as the head of the phrase plus any modifiers or complements. Examples of adjectives and adjective phrases as noun phrase modifiers include the following: My wonderful husband bought me pink tulips and red roses. Order me some hot coffee.

Can an adjective phrase be part of a noun phrase?

The use of adjective phrases to modify nouns or noun phrases is very common in sentences. They are often placed before the noun or pronoun they describe. The very small kitten jumped at the big dog. The sweat-covered man trudged his way home.

What are adjective phrases heads?

Adjective phrase heads are words that function as the heads of adjective phrases. An adjective phrase consists of an adjective plus any modifiers and complements. Only one grammatical form can perform the function of adjective phrase head in the English language.

What is an adjective phrase?

As evident from the above examples, the adjective is the header or the main component of an adjective phrase. Similar to an adjective, an adjective phrase can occur either before a noun or after a noun. Thus, an adjective can act either as an attributive adjective or a predicative adjective.

Which grammatical form performs the grammatical function of adjective phrase head?

The only grammatical form that performs the grammatical function of adjective phrase head is the adjective. Traditional grammars define adjectives as words that describe or modify nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns. For example, the following italicized adjectives function as adjective phrase heads:

What is the main word in a noun phrase?

The main word (head) in a noun phrase is a noun or a pronoun. Modifiers in a noun phrase can occur before or after the noun. The modifiers that come before the noun are articles, possessive pronouns, possessive nouns, adjectives, and/or participles.