Phrases within Phrases |
PHRASES
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We will conclude this introduction to phrases by looking briefly at phrases within phrases. Consider the NP:
It consists of a Head children and a pre-Head string small. Now small is an adjective, so it is the Head of its own adjective phrase. We know this because it could be expanded to form a longer string:
Here, the adjective Head small has its own pre-Head string very:
So in small children, we have an AP small embedded with the NP small children. We represent this as follows:
All but the simplest phrases will contain smaller phrases within them. Here's another example:
Here, the Head is across, and the post-Head string is the road. Now we know that the road is itself an NP -- its Head is road, and it has a pre-Head string the. So we have an NP within the PP:
When you examine phrases, remember
to look out for other phrases within them.
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