An analysis of word order distribution in English noun phrases /
This study was carried out to investigate the word order distribution of English Noun Phrases (NPs). The data for the analysis has been culled from two types of literature i.e. 20 non-literary texts (Newsweek’s articles) and 10 short stories (selected from Pickering’s compilation of fiction). This s...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Gombak, Selangor :
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia,
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://studentrepo.iium.edu.my/handle/123456789/6707 |
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| Summary: | This study was carried out to investigate the word order distribution of English Noun
Phrases (NPs). The data for the analysis has been culled from two types of literature
i.e. 20 non-literary texts (Newsweek’s articles) and 10 short stories (selected from
Pickering’s compilation of fiction). This study shows that there are different ways of
thinking about how language works and what we do with it. This research places
attention on the functional explanations that can be developed to explain actual
language and as it is predicated upon the frameworks proposed by Saussure’s notion
of structural linguistics and Reid’s meaning-based approach. The main concern of the
study is to clarify how noun phrases are internally structured and help to define some
of the functions of this important grammatical feature especially its constituent order.
The data gathered on NPs are examined to see if they comply with the patterns of NPs
which have been proposed by other traditional linguists. The results of this study
revealed that both literary and non-literary writings share similar word order
distribution of simple noun phrases (i.e. ‘determiner + modifier + head noun’) with
some slight differences pertaining to the positions of the modifiers in both texts. The
findings also reveal that the position of the modifiers (descriptor, classifier,
quantifier, possessor and demonstrator) are not fixed in both texts; rather they can
occur anywhere based on the intended message that the speaker wants to deliver to his
or her speaker. In terms of the functions, the ‘determiner’ signals the identity of the
noun, ‘descriptor’ describes the noun, while ‘classifier’ gives categorization to the
noun. On the other hand, ‘possessor’ shows the ownership, and ‘quantifier’ depicts the
quantity of the noun. Overall, it can be concluded that noun phrases can be learnt as a
system as this study which uses the functional way of analyzing the language provides
a way (system) to examine the noun phrases (NPs). |
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| Item Description: | Abstract in English and Arabic. "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching English as a Second Language)."--On t.p. |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 151 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-132). |