Subordinate word-groups

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 930.

Classifications of word-groups

Word-groups can be classified on the basis of several principles:

a) According to the type of syntagmatic relations:

· coordinate (you and me),

· subordinate (to see a house, a nice dress),

· predicative (him coming, for him to come),

b) According to the structure:

· simple (all elements are obligatory),

· expanded (to read and translate the text – expanded elements are equal in rank),

· extended (a word takes a dependent element and this dependent element becomes the head for another word: a beautiful flower – a very beautiful flower).

While the relations between elements in a coordinate word-group are those of independence, subordinate word-groups are based on the relations of dependence between the constituents. This presupposes the existence of a governing element which is called the headand the dependent element which is called the adjunct (in noun-phrases) or the complement (in verb-phrases).

According to the nature of their heads, subordinate word-groups fall into

· noun-phrases (NP) – a cup of tea,

· verb-phrases (VP) – to run fast, to see a house,

· adjective phrases (AP) – good for you,

· adverbial phrases (DP) – so quickly,

· pronoun phrases (IP) – something strange, nothing to do.

The formation of the subordinate word-group depends on the valency of its constituents. Valencyis a potential ability of words to combine. Actual realization of valency in speech is called combinability.