Grammatical structure of "A and B" noun phrases

Question

In English grammar, two noun phrases can be linked by coordinator "and", for example, cats and dogs. In this case, is "cats and dogs" considered one noun phrase? If so, what is the head of this phrase?

Wilpeter · Accepted Answer

(It is raining) cats and dogs.  The expression or idiom means simply that it is raining very heavily.  The origin is unknown.

BillJ · Answer

AnonymousIn English grammar, two noun phrases can be linked by coordinator "and", for example, cats and dogs. In this case, is "cats and dogs" considered one noun phrase? If so, what is the head of this phrase?

No, it's not one noun phrase, but a coordination of two noun phrases of equal status.

There is no head: coordinations like this are said to be ‘headless’. Each coordinate is of equal status in the whole, so they can’t be distinguished as ‘head’ vs ‘dependent’.

Take this example: “My favourite pets are cats and dogs”.

In a basic tree diagram, “cats and dogs” would be labelled ‘Predicative Complement’ - Coordination.

At the next level down, “cats” would be labelled Coordinate 1 - NP, and “and dogs" would be labelled Coordinate 2 - NP.

The coordinator “and” is not one of the coordinates; it forms a constituent with the coordinate following it.

BillJ

Grammatical structure of "A and B" noun phrases

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