Key words: noun phrases, generative grammar, phrase structure, hierarchical structure, constituency.
Summary
This article examines the hierarchical organization of English syntax within the framework of
generative grammar, with particular emphasis on noun phrases and phrasal structure. It analyzes
how lexical items are systematically combined into phrases and sentences, and investigates the
relationship between deep and surface structures, alongside the syntactic functions of
constituents. Drawing on data from both academic discourse and everyday usage, the study
employs structural diagnostic procedures—such as substitution, displacement, and
embedding—to reveal underlying syntactic regularities.
Special emphasis is placed on the internal configuration of the English noun phrase, including
the interaction between the head, modifiers, and specifiers, the distinction between obligatory
and optional elements, and their formal representation within constituent structure rules. The
analysis foregrounds the roles of determiners, adjectives, and prepositional phrases, while also
addressing the theoretical motivation for the intermediate category N-bar (N'). Integrating
foundational insights from Noam Chomsky with subsequent developments in generative
syntax, the article demonstrates how hierarchical structure accounts for distributional
constraints, interpretive distinctions, and variation in complexity across registers, thereby
elucidating the relationship between syntactic form and meaning.
Noun phrases (NPs) constitute a central domain of English syntax, functioning as primary
carriers of referential meaning. The discussion further considers their structural components,
syntactic roles, and the occurrence of discontinuous forms, extending to the interaction of heads,
determiners, modifiers, and complements, as well as the functional diversity of noun phrases
across written and spoken registers.
