Grammar in EAP
Premodification
Structure of nominal groups
A typical nominal group is structured in the following way:
determiner |
premodifier |
head |
postmodifier |
a |
complicated |
solution |
to the problem |
Nouns (which themselves can be nominalisations) can be premodified or postmodified (qualified):
premodifier + noun
adjective – the constitutional aspects
ed-participle – a balanced budget, from the confused events of 19-24 August, the emitted light
ing-participle – growing problem, one striking feature of the years 1929-31, existing structures
noun – market forces, cabinet appointments
A more complex description (Halliday, 1985, pp. 159-175) is:
Premodifier |
Head |
|||
Deictic |
Numerative |
Epithet |
Classifier |
Thing |
these |
three |
methods |
||
these |
three |
rather different |
environments |
|
these |
two |
old |
volume |
controls |
the |
two |
domestic |
products |
|
the |
complete |
reorganisation |
||
the |
keyboard |
designs |
||
the |
resistance |
Epithets can include – in order:
attitudinal adjectives – beautiful, ugly, marvellous
size – tall, long
age – young, old
shape – square, circular
colour – black, blue, green
Classifiers can include – in order:
origin – Persian, German
substance – leather, steel
purpose – medical, gardening
Can you find an academic equivalent of “a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife” (Forsyth, 2013, p. 39).
Deictics can also be possessive nouns (e.g. his, my, IBM’s) or quantifiers (e.g. some, each, every, both, all).
Examples
The exception is David Marquand’s splendid biography of Ramsay MacDonald.
Meanwhile, in 1942 another committee was working on Britain’s postwar civil aviation policy.