The English Binomial Noun Phrase: A Cognitive-Functional Approach (Studies in English Language)

Elnora ten Wolde

ISBN 10: 1108830951 / ISBN 13: 9781108830959

Published by Cambridge University Press 2023-05-31, 2023

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-GRD-9781108830959

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The English Binomial Noun Phrase: A Cognitive-Functional Approach (Studies in English Language)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press 2023-05-31
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108830951
• ISBN 13: 9781108830959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The binomial noun phrase, or of-binomial, is an important phenomenon in the English language. Defined as a noun phrase that contains two related nouns, linked by the preposition of, examples include a hell of a day and a beast of a storm. This pioneering book provides the first extensive study of the evaluative binominal noun phrases (EBNP) in English, exploring the syntactic rules that govern them, and the (functional) semantic and pragmatic links between the two nouns. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, corpus data, and two different theoretical approaches (Construction Grammar and Functional Discourse Grammar), it argues that the EBNP now functions as a stage in a grammaticalization path that begins with a prototypical N+PP construction, continues with the head-classifier, and ends with two new of-binominal constructions: the evaluative modifier and binominal intensifier. Comprehensive in its scope, it is essential reading for researchers in syntax, semantics, and English corpus linguistics.

About the Author

Elnora ten Wolde is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Graz. She has published on of-binominals, pre- and postmodification.