Richard,
Sorry about the label I put on it. It's based on the traditional grammar of
years ago. All kinds of modifiers were called adverbs then. Now, I guess,
they
call them adverbials. Actually I have fully accepted the idea of building
more
classes for all these various kinds of words. In fact my grammar has them as
part of the determiner system. The morphology and syntax suggest at least
eight
different kinds of quantifiers and I have indeed described two kinds of
numbers:
1) those like "eleven" that are like a non-count noun in that they fail to
take
an article, and 2) those like "hundred" that are like a count noun. You see,
the labels like quantifier and determiner are for me larger constructions
(like
a noun within a noun phrase). The larger constructions tend to be functional
names. If I say "eleven is a large number," the quantifier aspect of the word
is fully semantic and its syntax is not typical. If I say "eleven score
miles"
the quantifier function is evident. But the (adverbial) noun that it modifies
(score) is in turn functioning as a quantifier. The plural noun (miles) that
is
being quantified is functioning as a measure. We are more comfortable in
saying
that this noun functions as an adverb, but its true function is as a measure
to
describe an extent answering how far. So we come back to the question often
implicitly asked in ATEG postings, "How can I distinguish between form and
function?" This is particularly accute with (traditional) adverbs, whose
functions (adverbial) are so variegated.
Bruce
>>> [log in to unmask] 2/3/2005 11:49:29 AM >>>
Bruce,
You describe "eleven" in "eleven miles" as an "adverbial noun ...
modifying miles." When cardinal numbers modify nouns, aren't they
quantifiers and hence determiners? For example:
many miles
several miles
few miles
eleven miles
Or are you calling all quantifiers "adverbials"?
Dick Veit
________________________
Richard Veit
Department of English, UNCW
Wilmington, NC 28403-5947
910-962-3324
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bruce D. Despain
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 10:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: what kind of phrase
Michael,
In my grammar I take it as a non-restrictive adverbial (of place)
modification to Laodicea. Without ellipsis the noun phrase would read:
"Laodicea, (which is) about eleven miles (far) away (from it)." This
makes
_from_ (relation) the head, with the adverb (direction) _away_ modifying
it,
which in turn has the adverb (distance) _far_ modifying it, which in
turn
has the adverbial noun (extent) _miles_ modifying it, and then the
adverbial
noun (number) _eleven_ modifying _miles_ (many varieties of adverbs!).
However, the idiom _away from_ seems to be moving in the direction of a
prepositional phrase modifying _away_. If you can't live with ellipsis,
then perhaps you will have to have some of these basic syntactic
functions
taken over by the parts that do appear. Maybe _miles_ would then take
over
as the head with _away_ modifying it, or prossibly better vice versa.
They
are both adverbial with very similar meaning, one being simply more
specific
than the other.
I hope this helps.
Bruce
----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Michael Medley (GLS)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 7:52 PM
Subject: what kind of phrase
> In the sentence:
>
> "Colosse has never been either rebuilt or excavated, unlike its
neighbor
> Laodicea, about eleven miles away."
>
> What kind of phrase is "about eleven miles away"? I realize it is
> performing an adverbial function, but what is the head word of the
phrase?
>
> Thanks in advance for your advice.
>
>
> R. Michael Medley, Director
> Intensive English Program
> Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
> [log in to unmask] (540) 432-4051
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
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>
>
>
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