Thursday 18 October 2018

Difficulties In Identifying Circumstantial Elements: Prepositional Phrase As Nominal Group Qualifier

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 331):
Prepositional phrases also function in the structure of nominal groups, following the noun, like in the wall in the hole in the wall. In some varieties of English, especially the more elaborated registers of adult writing, this is the predominant function of prepositional phrases …
In general it is clear whether any given prepositional phrase is circumstance in the clause or Qualifier in the nominal group; where it is uncertain, there will often be some thematic variation that can be used to question the text.