Scott:
 
A number of linguistic theories define a phrase as (roughly) "a word and any additional words that go with it" -- a single word can indeed be a phrase in those theories. I'm not saying your stance on phrases is "wrong" (definitional issues can rarely be resolved on the basis of empiricism or even logic; try telling a speaker of British English that biscuits should never be crunchy), but you'll find people disagreeing with your conclusion because they don't share one of your premises. 
 
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University

________________________________

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Scott
Sent: Tue 6/10/2008 5:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Nouns & compound possessive phrases; wass ATEG Digest - 7 Jun 2008 to 9 Jun 2008 (#2008-128)



I think that some of us are forgetting that every English word or phrase can
be used as the subject of a sentence.  Subjects of sentences are pronouns
nouns, or nominal phrases (including noun clauses).  Best is not a pronoun
[a closed class that can lose members but that has not gained any since
'it.'];
one word does not make a phrase; therefore 'best' is a noun in "The best is
yet to be, the last of life for which the first is made."

I sense awkwardness in writing "This is my father's and my address."
I would say "This address is mine and my father's," even though we are
taught to put third person before second and second before first.
Actually, I had more problems in the verb usage and sequence of tenses in
the question.  For me, writing correct English is an email requires far
more attention than in a letter and I am far less likely to catch my
errors--a good reason for always printing out my emails at work before
sending them.

Scott

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