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Grounding and headedness in the noun phraseEdited by Jean-Christophe Verstraete
[Functions of Language 11:1] 2004
► pp. 7–42
Edited by Jean-Christophe Verstraete
[Functions of Language 11:1] 2004
► pp. 7–42
Are determiners heads?
The paper focuses on the relation between the determiner (D) and the common noun (N) in a noun phrase (NP). Four facts show that D depends on N: only N is relevant to whether NP can be used as an adjunct; possessive determiners are similar to clearly dependent possessives e.g. in Dutch and German; N decides whether or not D is obligatory; and in English only one D is possible per N. Three other facts show the converse, that N depends on D: in many languages D sometimes fuses with a preceding preposition (e.g. French de le = du; English for each = per); D decides whether or not N is obligatory; the ellipsis of N is a regular example of dependent ellipsis. Therefore D and N are mutually dependent, a relation which requires the structural flexibility offered by Word Grammar. This does not mean that NP has two heads, but rather that either D or N may be the head.
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