ABSTRACT
Module 45: Expressing our experience of people and things 401
45.1 Classes of entities 401 45.2 Overview: The structure of the nominal group 403 45.3 The head element 1: common nouns 405 45.4 Regular and irregular plurals 405 45.5 Countability: Count and non-count nouns 405
45.5.1 Grammatical features of countability 406 45.5.2 Selected classes of non-count nouns 407 45.5.3 Countability markers of non-count referents 409
45.6 The head element 2: proper nouns 410 45.7 The head element 3: pronouns 411
45.7.1 Personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns 411 45.7.2 The pronouns this and that 414 45.7.3 The discourse function of pronouns 415 45.7.4 Substitute one/ones 416
Module 46: Referring to people and things as definite, indefinite, generic 417
46.1 Definite and indefinite reference 417 46.2 Indefinite reference: specific and non-specific 418 46.3 Indefinite proper nouns 419 46.4 Definite reference 419 46.5 Discourse functions of definite and indefinite nominal groups 420 46.6 Generic reference 421
Module 47: Selecting and particularising the referent: the determiner 423
47.1 The determiner function 423 47.2 Demonstrative and possessive determinatives 424
47.2.1 Functions of the ’s phrase 425 47.2.2 Possessives as nominal group heads 426
47.3 Wh-determinatives: which, whose, what 426 47.4 Quantifiers 427
47.4.2 Distributors: all, both, either, neither, each, every 429
47.5 The semi-determinatives: such, what, certain, same, (an)other, former, latter 431 47.6 Summary of determinative features 432 47.7 Ordering of determinatives 434
Module 48: Describing and classifying the referent: the pre-modifier 435
48.1 The pre-modifier functions: epithet and classifier 436 48.2 Adjectives as epithet: descriptive and attitudinal uses 437 48.3 Ordering of multiple epithets 439 48.4 Functions and properties of the classifier 440 48.5 Adjectives, participles and nouns as classifiers 440 48.6 Words functioning as both epithet and classifier 442 48.7 Multiple classifiers 443 48.8 Mixed pre-modifiers and their ordering 444
Module 49: Identifying and elaborating the referent: the post-modifier 446
49.1 Communicative functions of the post-modifier elements 447 49.2 Restrictive and non-restrictive realisations of the post-modifier 447 49.3 Finite relative clauses as post-modifiers 449
49.3.1 The relativisers 449 49.3.2 Features of the restrictive relative clause 450 49.3.3 Features of the non-restrictive relative clause 451
49.4 Non-finite relative clauses as post-modifiers 452 49.5 Other types of unit as post-modifiers 452
49.5.1 Prepositional phrases 452 49.5.2 Adjectival groups 453 49.5.3 Adverbial groups 454 49.5.4 Appositive nominal groups 455
49.6 Mixed realisations of the post-modifier 455
Module 50: Noun complement clauses 457 50.1 Features of the that-complement clause 457 50.2 To-infinitive complement clauses 459 50.3 of + -ing complement clauses 459 50.4 Wh-complement clauses 459 50.5 Prepositional complements of nouns 460 50.6 Functions of the nominal group 460 50.7 Nominalisation 461
Further reading 462 Exercises 462
45.1 CLASSES OF ENTITIES
Nominal Groups refer semantically to those aspects of our experience that we perceive as entities. The term ‘entity’ refers here not only to concrete entities such as persons, objects, places, institutions and other ‘collectives’, but also to the names of actions (swimming, laughter), abstractions (thought, experience), qualities (beauty, speed), emotions (anger, excitement) and phenomena (thunder, success), among others. Prototypical entities are those which are concrete, with well-defined outlines and relatively stable in time (‘person’, rather than ‘weather’). The following description of the sale of the painting known as L’Absinthe includes a number of nominal groups, which represent several classes of entities. (The article appeared under the ironic title ‘Fairy Liquid’ in The Times Weekend Review).
