Kent, The answers you get to your question will depend on the biases of the grammarians who answer it. I think most would agree that the participle in an absolute modifies the preceding noun and thus the noun + participle constitute the noun absolute. The differents in explanation seem to be in what is, and what is not, an absolute, and in how they functions. Most traditional grammarians noted that most absolutes function as adverbs. (Modern linguists now call them "sentence modifiers," but that raises another whole question.) Your question about why it is called an "absolute" is interesting, and I do not claim to have the answer, but it may be that the absolute is one type of "absolutely" reduced clause construction. When they function as adverbs, for example, they can be seen as reductions of subordinate clauses: When Jeff the party, everyone became bored. Jeff having left the party, everyone became bored. KISS grammar apparently differs from those of most of the modern linguists (and from most members of this list), and instead goes back to Curme who noted that absolutes can function as subjects, objects of prepositions, predicate nouns. Thus, for example, in Him being there made me sick. "Him being there" would be a noun absolute that functions as the subject. Some prescriptivists may claim that "him" should be "his," but they are wrong. If you are interested in more about Curme's explanations, see: http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/G11/IM_NounAbs_TN.htm There you will find more about the KISS explanation, and also scans of the relevant pages from Curme. Ed V. >I sent this question out to my colleagues on the English faculty here a >couple days ago. No one has responded yet, so I guess they don't know >either! It's probably a simple answer. Any help extended to this >simpleton will be appreciated. > >Kent > >* >Does an absolute phrase function adjectivally or adverbially? Since it >usually contains a participle, I suppose one would think of it as an >adjective... However, since it's modifying the whole sentence or clause, >couldn't it be seen to function in both senses? Is it the one kind of >phrase without an "absolutely" certain function? > >To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >and select "Join or leave the list" > >Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/