phrase

Question

Am I right in thinking that words that synactically linked somehow form a phrase.
He was dead, which suprised me.
Is this statement correct factually:
'dead, which' in the above sentence is a group of words, but not a phrase, because syntactically they are not related?

Is it true that all clauses and sentences are phrases?

He opened my suitcase.
Is it also a phrase?
If so, how can I decide without relying on my subjective common sense, but on an objective rule, what the head is, that is, what phrase it is: noun, adjectival, verb, etc.?
I think the head is suitcase, but why?
I just feel it but I do not know it.
thanks

Inchoateknowledge · Accepted Answer

I mean this:
Look at the diagram.
that lovely old pub by the bridge over the river
'by the' is not a phrase because there is no direct connection between them

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

anybody?

CalifJim · Answer

Nobody wants to touch this one! It's too hard!

I just feel it but I do not know it.

Same with everyone else, I'm afraid. Many of these things are based on pure intuition.

What you call a phrase is usually called a constituent in transformational grammar. I think a whole sentence may also be called a constituent, but only in a rather vacuous way.

And certainly word groups like "dead, which" are not constituents.

Another factor which makes such discussions difficult is that the terminology from traditional grammar and the terminology from transformational grammar, more used in linguistics, is not always exactly the same. In transformational grammar, a single word can be a phrase, for example. This is not the meaning of 'phrase' in traditional grammar.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Traditionally you are supposed to be able to replace a phrase with a single word. This method can be useful.

He opened my suitcase.
He opened it.

"my suitcase" is a noun phrase, with the noun "suitcase" as the head.

that lovely old pub by the bridge over the river
that lovely old pub there

"by the bridge over the river"is an preposition phrase with the preposition "by" as its head.

So "by the" is not a phrase because you cannot replace it with one word.

Anonymous · Answer

Hello Alienvoord

Thanks

"Traditionally you are supposed to be able to replace a phrase with a single word"

He opened my suitcase. This is not a phrase then. And therefore, not all sentences are phrases. Quite the opposite, sentences are not phrases. ( I can not imagine how I could replace a noun and a verb with one word)

And how can I identify the head?
"that lovely old pub by the bridge over the river"
Can I simply replace it with the word: that?
That refers to the bridge, so bridge is the head, therefore we have a noun phrase.

in love with the dj
where? Can I say?
'in'. So it is a PP.
I think I get it now.
Thanks again

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

Hello Alienvoord

Thanks
"Traditionally you are supposed to be able to replace a phrase with a single word. This method can be useful." Very
So it means a sentence is not a phrase (can you substitute a verb and a noun with one word -- I cannot)

'that lovely old pub by the bridge over the river'
I can replace it with that.
That refers to the bridge, so bridge is the head and this is a NP.
I seeeeee
Thanks

in love with the dj
where? in -- PP.

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

As is a conjunction and is followed by a verb phrase:

They get up early every morning, as I do.
I do is a verb phrase.
why?

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

CalifJimNobody wants to touch this one! It's too hard!
I just feel it but I do not know it.
Same with everyone else, I'm afraid. Many of these things are based on pure intuition.

What you call a phrase is usually called a constituent in transformational grammar. I think a whole sentence may also be called a constituent, but only in a rather vacuous way.

And certainly word groups like "dead, which" are not constituents.

Another factor which makes such discussions difficult is that the terminology from traditional grammar and the terminology from transformational grammar, more used in linguistics, is not always exactly the same. In transformational grammar, a single word can be a phrase, for example. This is not the meaning of 'phrase' in traditional grammar.

CJ

Hello CJ

Sorry, your post I have just realized. Which grammar should I keep to do you think? traditional or transformational?
This distinction is killing me.
I have come across a sentence analysys in my grammar book.
"They get up early every morning, as I do."
'I do', they say, is a verb phrase.
Why?

Maple · Answer

InchoateknowledgeIs it true that all clauses and sentences are phrases?
He opened my suitcase.
Is it also a phrase?

All sentences (CP, InflP), "phrases" (NP, VP, AP, PP, AdvP), are phrases at different levels, which is the presupposition of the analysis system which you have followed for a while.

A term:

C (or Cs): Complementizers: Words which introduce the sentence complement are termed complementizers.

Complementizers are very useful when the transformations occur.

This is my clumsy try: (Please correct me if it's wrong

)

Inchoateknowledge · Answer

Hi

what is C, CP and InflP

phrase

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