THE LOGICAL SEQUENCE OF MODIFYING ELEMENTS

We have treated the headword as the basic nucleus of meaning, to which other modifying words may be attached as added particles of meaning which further identify and sub-categorise the headword. The order in which the premodifying elements occur is relatively fixed. Modifiers can themselves serve as headwords for further submodification, thereby forming embedded groups within the main nominal group structure.

There is a logical order in which the various modifiers appear in relation to the headword, which we can describe in terms of the kind of modification which they make to it.  We can illustrate this principle with one more example in which the functions of these elements may be described individually as the structure of the nominal group is built up.

The nominal group we are concerned with here is "a salesman".  This consists of an indefinite article and a noun headword.  Its function is to place Bill in a given category - he is a member of the class of people identified by the term "salesman".  This is the basic function of the headword - it establishes a primary categorisation.

We can then ask: "What sort of salesman is Bill?" to which the answer might be:-

Now we have added a noun modifier to the left of the headword, which functions by further sub-categorising the headword "salesman". Thus the general class of people called "salesman" can be subclassified into "furniture salesman", "computer salesman" and so on. The noun modifier which comes to the immediate left of the headword thus functions in identifying this first sub-categorisation.

Now we have added a classifier which identifies the sort of cars which Bill sells - a further sub-categorisation from our original headword.

We now have introduced a gradable epithet into the structure, which also functions differently from the other modifiers in expressing an evaluative and attitudinal sub-categorisation (the interpersonal element), thus relating the total meaning of the group to the speaker more directly. For such a gradable classification we can ask: "How dishonest is Bill?" to which we might answer:-

As we work further to the left, proceeding away from the headword, so we come to the deictic slot. The deictic function is to relate the total representational structure of the nominal group to the speaker, in terms of situational or textual position, and its degree of specificity. Thus it might be that Bill is in fact known to the speaker or hearer in some way. This could then be indicated by means of the deictic as follows:-

It might even be that Bill is not the only one that we have heard of, and that there were others like him. In this case we could add a pre-deictic as follows (note the plural agreement of number which now is required between the deictic and headword):-

Thus we see that the logical basis of sub-categorisation lies in the steps which proceed towards the left starting from the headword, which begin with the most general classification and end in the most specific. The different types of meaning added by the various modifiers express a "what sort of", "what degree of", "what quantity of" etc type of information.

The additional types of submodification by means of the various intensifiers, adverbs etc, which we have discussed earlier, exist within this overall logical ordering.

The post-modifying slot in the nominal group, the qualifier, is almost always occupied by a rankshifted group, which is typically a prepositional group.

e.g.	Bill is one of those notoriously dishonest second-hand car salesmen from East London.

Note that qualifiers (postmodifiers) are modifiers of the headword just as are premodifiers, and often have a premodifying equivalent structure.

We could even have:-

Thus a classification in terms of provenance may for some purposes be considered to be more intrinsic than a classification in terms of denomination or style (such as "romantic"), depending upon the individual circumstances in each instance of use. As a general observation, however, adjectives which indicate provenance usually precede those which indicate denomination, unless there is a specific reason for reversing this sequence, as in example (a) above.

Another example of alternative ordering may be seen in the next example:-

e.g.	(c) his successful first novel
	(d) his first successful novel

Again we see that there is a contrast of meaning expressed here between examples (c) and (d). The implication in (c) is that he had only written one novel, and that this was successful. The primary classification is thus indicated by the ordinal numeral "first", and this is thus considered to be the more intrinsic property which the speaker is concerned to express - i.e. the fact that the novel belongs to the class of "first novels" is the point he is making. 

In (d), however, we have the more usual use of the ordinal numeral, which is to indicate the particularity of the headword rather than an intrinsic property attaching to it. It is here the quality of being "successful" which is considered to be the primary classification - i.e. the fact that the novel belongs to the sub-class of "successful novels" is the principal categorisation. 

The function of the ordinal numeral is simply to establish its position in relation to other novels which the author may have written either before or subsequently. The general implication of (d) then is that he had already written other novels which were not successful, this one being the first which was so.

Consider too the possible use of the colours "black" and "white" to signify race.

Here also the difference arises from which sub-class of children is considered for the purpose of the utterance to be primary. In (i) the primary sub-class is "middle-class child", as opposed say to "working-class child", and the message is primarily concerned with social class.

By contrast with this, the primary sub-class in example (ii) is "black child", as opposed to say "white child", and the message is thus primarily about race.

Other examples of variation may be cited where it is not so obvious that any contrast results from the selection of one alternative or the other.

In such cases it appears that it makes little difference which order is chosen, except that there is perhaps an impression that whichever modifier is placed immediately next to the headword is somehow felt as being the quality which is uppermost in the speaker's mind. (This is felt more strongly in spoken language since in each case the intonational stress (the tonic) would fall on the adjective which is to the immediate left of the headword).