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Do we need the category of postdeterminer in the NP? 1
Author(s) -
Van de Velde Freek
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
transactions of the philological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-968X
pISSN - 0079-1636
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-968x.2009.01224.x
Subject(s) - adjective , determiner , indeterminacy (philosophy) , syntax , linguistics , transition (genetics) , point (geometry) , position (finance) , philosophy , history , computer science , mathematics , epistemology , noun , economics , biochemistry , chemistry , geometry , finance , gene
The structural make‐up of the English NP is a matter of long‐standing debate. In this paper, a closer look is taken at a notably intricate part of it, viz. the determiner, and more specifically where it fuzzily borders on the adjective. It will be argued that any attempt to resolve the indeterminacy issues associated with this boundary needs to take the diachrony of NP syntax as a vantage point. More specifically, it will be claimed that what are often conveniently but somewhat misleadingly called postdeterminers are in fact elements undergoing a diachronic transition from adjective slotfiller to determiner slotfiller. The postdeterminer slot is hence not a stable position.