Complements in other phrase types, adjuncts in phrases, Complements and Adjuncts Compared, Specifier
Complements also occur in all of the other phrase types. We exemplify each type in the following table:
Phrase Type
|
Head
|
Typical Complements
|
Examples
|
Noun Phrase (NP)
|
noun
|
PP
clause
|
respect for human rights
the realisation that nothing has changed
|
Verb Phrase (VP)
|
verb
|
NP
clause
PP
|
David plays the piano
They realised that nothing has changed
She looked at the moon
|
Adjective Phrase (AP)
|
adjective
|
clause
PP
|
easy to read
fond of biscuits
|
Adverb Phrase (AdvP)
|
adverb
|
PP
|
luckily for me
|
Prepositional Phrase (PP)
|
preposition
|
NP
PP
|
in the room
from behind the wall
|
Adverb phrases are very limited in the Complements they can take. In fact, they generally occur without any Complement.
Noun phrases which take Complements generally have an abstract noun as their Head, and they often have a verbal counterpart:
the pursuit of happiness
|
~we pursue happiness
|
their belief in ghosts
|
~they believe in ghosts
|
the realisation that nothing has changed
|
~they realise that nothing has changed
|
The term "Complement" is not simply another word for the "post-Head string" -- post-Head strings are not always Complements. This is because the post-Head string is not always required to complete the meaning of the Head. Consider:
[NP My sister, who will be twenty next week,] has got a new job.
Here the relative clause who will be twenty next week is certainly a post-Head string, but it is not a Complement. Notice that it contributes additional but optional information about the Head sister. In this example, the post-Head string is an ADJUNCT. Like the other Adjuncts we looked at earlier, it contributes additional, optional information.
Adjuncts can occur in all the phrase types, and they may occur both before and after the Head. The following table shows examples of each type:
Phrase Type
|
Head
|
Typical Adjuncts
|
Examples
|
Noun Phrase (NP)
|
noun
|
PP
AP
clause
|
the books on the shelf
the old lady
cocoa, which is made from cacao beans
|
Verb Phrase (VP)
|
verb
|
AdvP
PP
|
she rapidly lost interest
he stood on the patio
|
Adjective Phrase (AP)
|
adjective
|
AdvP
|
it was terribly difficult
|
Prepositional Phrase (PP)
|
preposition
|
AdvP
|
completely out of control
|
Complements differ from Adjuncts in two important respects:
1. Complements immediately follow the Head
In most phrases, the Complement must immediately follow the Head:
David [VP plays [Complement the piano] [Adjunct beautifully ]]
In contrast, the reverse order is not possible:
*David [VP plays [Adjunct beautifully] [Complement the piano]]
Similarly:
fond [Complement of biscuits] [Adjunct with coffee]
~*fond [Adjunct with coffee] [Complement of biscuits]
Complements, then, bear a much closer relationship to the Head than Adjuncts do.
2. Adjuncts are "stackable"
In theory at least, we can "stack" an indefinite number of Adjuncts, one after another, within a phrase. For example, consider the NP:
|
Adjunct
|
Adjunct
|
Adjunct
|
Adjunct
|
the book
|
on the shelf
|
by Dickens
|
with the red cover
|
that you gave me...
|
In contrast with this, phrases are limited in the number of Complements that they can take. In fact, they usually have only one Complement. Ditransitive verb phrases are an exception to this. Recall that they take two Complements:
We [VP gave [Complement James] [Complement a present]]
Adjuncts can appear before the Head of a phrase, as well as after the Head. For example, in the following NP, the Adjunct sudden is part of what we have been calling the pre-Head string:
?
|
Adjunct
|
Head
|
Complement
|
the
|
sudden
|
realisation
|
that nothing has changed
|
In this section we will look at the function of the remaining part of the pre-Head string. In this example, what is the function of the in the phrase as a whole?
We refer to this part of the phrase as the SPECIFIER of the phrase. Again, Specifiers may occur in all the major phrase types, and we exemplify them in the following table:
Phrase Type
|
Head
|
Typical Specifiers
|
Examples
|
Noun Phrase (NP)
|
noun
|
Determiners
|
the vehicle
an objection
some people
|
Verb Phrase (VP)
|
verb
|
`negative' elements
|
not arrive
never plays the piano
|
Adjective Phrase (AP)
|
adjective
|
AdvP
|
quite remarkable
very fond of animals
|
Prepositional Phrase (PP)
|
preposition
|
AdvP
|
just across the street
|
An important point about Specifiers is that they relate to the Head + Complement sequence, and not to the Head alone. For example, in the AP very fond of animals , the Specifier very relates to fond of animals, not just to fond:
Amy is very fond of animals
Q. Amy is very what?
A. *Fond
A. Fond of animals
In functional terms, then, the three-part structure of a phrase can be summarised as:
(Specifier) -- [Head -- (Complement)]
|