Bruce,
   I wonder about the confusion that might be caused by 3b) below: "A 
noun phrase referring to a time period may be called an "adverbial 
phrase."" My own tendency would be to say that it is a noun phrase 
functioning adverbially within this context. It is also possible for the 
same phrase (though it refers to a time period) to act in a different 
role. "Last summer was hot." (Last summer as subject). "I hated last 
summer." (Last summer as direct object complement of "hated".) I don't 
think a noun like "summer" is an adverbial noun outside of context.
   He left  home. He went home. The first is transitive, the second 
intransitive. The verb has an influence on the functional role.
   We also have adverb phrases, like "so quickly" or "too often." I 
would call them "adverb phrases" because an adverb functions as head.
   To me, a "phrase" would refer to the internal structure of the word 
group. Function (like adverbial) would be somewhat independent of that.

Craig

Bruce Despain wrote:
> Janet,
>  
> I think that explaining "last summer" in your sentence needs to point 
> out a number of relationships.
>  
> 1) It is a phrase, in that it consists of more than a single word.  
> 1a) The (operational) limiting adjective "last" modifies the noun 
> "summer" designating a seasonal part of a year.  
> 1b) "Summer" is one of those nouns that refers to a time period.
> 2) The phrase functions in the predicate as temporal modification. 
> 2a) Temporal modification may be carried out by single words, which 
> are then called "adverbs."
> 2b) Temporal modification carried out by phrases are called "adverbial 
> phrases."
> 3) A noun that refers to a time period may often be used in the 
> predicate by itself as temporal modification.
> 3a) Such nouns are often called adverbial nouns.
> 3b) A noun phrase referring to a time period may be called an 
> "adverbial phrase."
>  
> The adverbial phrase in this case "last summer" is modifying the whole 
> subject-predicate combination "Reports of flying saucers were 
> frequent."  Such phrases have been called "adverbial adjuncts" in the 
> sense that they are not licensed by the verb phrase, as many adverbial 
> phrases are.  Such phrases are more freely attached to the sentence, 
> much like sentence adverbs (never, sometimes, always, immediately, 
> etc.) regularly are. 
>  
> Bruce
>
> >>> "Castilleja, Janet" <[log in to unmask]> 02/20/08 4:27 PM >>>
>
> How do you guys handle this kind of a sentence:
>
>  
>
> Reports of flying saucers were frequent last summer.
>
>  
>
> Do you call ‘last summer’ a noun phrase functioning as an adverb or do 
> you just call it an adverb phrase?
>
>  
>
> Janet Castilleja
>
> Heritage University
>
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