OTHER MODIFYING WORDS

INTRINSIC ATTRIBUTES We have considered nominal group structure mainly in terms of sequence. Thus we have seen that deictics come before numerals and general quantifiers, and these in turn come before adjectives. Of the latter, we have already seen too that qualitative epithets come before classifiers and noun modifiers.
e.g.	* Devonshire stale cream
	* sterilised stale cream

Classifiers too usually precede noun modifiers.
e.g.	a broken work table
	my lost credit card
	a numbered bank account

What happens if there are two classifiers in the same nominal group?
e.g. a broken dining table

Clearly the above sequence could not be altered:-
*e.g. a dining broken table**

We can account for this by the principle that *the more permanent or intrinsic the attribute* then the closer it will be placed in juxtaposition to the headword. Thus in this case, the table remains a dining table whether or not it is broken. Potentially it could be repaired, thus the attribute of being "broken" is not intrinsic to the table. Sometimes a classifier may be more intrinsic to the headword than a noun modifier, in which case in accordance with the same principle the noun modifier will precede it and it is the classifier that will be juxtaposed to the headword.
e.g.	It's a community economic policy.
	The London social life.

In such cases the classifier has a "consists of" or "concerned with" meaning which transcends that of the noun modifier in terms of its being a more fundamental defining characteristic. This sort of classifier is also known as a DENOMINAL adjective. Usually, however, it is the noun modifier which carries this most intrinsic defining attribute. As well as the denominal classifiers, we can identify two other main classes of classifier. There are the participles, which refer to a process which the headword has either undergone or is undergoing, and there are those PROVENANCE classifiers which indicate the origin, historical character, or style of the headword. The latter are often spelt with a capital letter, since they tend to be formed from proper nouns. When both occur in the same group, the participles tend to come before the provenance classifiers.
e.g.	handwritten Japanese characters
	decaying Victorian building
	carved Melanesian statues

EXERCISE (1) Rewrite the following jumbled examples of nominal groups in their most natural order, and label the structures "d", "o", "e", "n", "h" accordingly (where "o" = quantifier, "e" = epithet, and "n" = noun modifier). Note that you may have more than one item in the "e" and "n" slots. Where this is the case, is there a preferred sequence for these words? If so, what conclusion can you draw from this? Alternatively, if there is some variation possible, can you account for this? Can you identify any rankshifted structures? Are there any items which do not seem to fit the descriptions which we have given so far? (1) animal books those nice story two
(2) middle-class any bright child white
(3) leather good my brown old usual boots
(4) beautiful a old-fashioned rug oriental thick
(5) house comfortable town this four bedroom big
(6) pastries delicious traditional her home-baked
(7) international typical trade boring the conference
(8) plastic large rubbish those bags ordinary black
(9) country little thatched a pretty cottage
(10) nuclear American two those specialists technology well-known
(11) American high magnetic built speed powered new hovercraft a
(12) electronic special a Japanese new system designed integrated

(2) We saw above that participle classifiers come in front of provenance classifiers in the nominal group. They also exist in a relationship with certain verb patterns which occur in relative clauses as follows:-

e.g.	handwritten Japanese characters =	Japanese characters which have been handwritten

	crumbling Victorian building =	a Victorian building which is crumbling

Compose some similar examples of such defining relative clauses which might serve as transformational exercises for suitable students to learn how participles may be used in this way as modifiers in the nominal group. Your examples should be chosen and presented in such a way as to show clearly the relationship between the participles in the relative clause verbal groups and the modifying function of participle classifiers in the nominal groups. Here are some typical participles which fit this paradigm:- used, worn, broken, crashed, painted, varnished, restored, cleaned, redecorated, carved, exported, imported, lost, stolen, converted, damaged, dyed, stained, fitted, redesigned, fading, melting, growing, increasing, diminishing, developing, expanding, sinking, departing, remaining, approaching, forthcoming


** SUGGESTED READING. Young DJ, "Introducing English Grammar", Chapter 4, pages 54 - 70. Quirk & Greenbaum, "A University Grammar of English", sections 13.27 - 13.39 pages 395 - 402. Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik, "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language", 17.94 - 17.112, pages 1321 - 1337.