A noun phrase is a syntactic unit that has a noun as its nucleus.
A noun phrase is a syntactic unit whose syntactic nucleus is a noun or noun . There are those who consider that the noun phrase can also have a pronoun as its nucleus, although others prefer to include this category within a set called a determining phrase .
The concept has a double aspect from an etymological point of view. Thus, we find the fact that the first part of it, syntagma , comes from Greek and specifically from the word syntagma which is the result of the union of three elements: the prefix syn- which is equivalent to "together" , the root taxis which means "order" and the suffix - ma which can be translated as "result of the action" .
The second part of the notion, nominal , has its etymological origin in Latin. More precisely, it comes from the word nominalis , which is formed from the sum of nomen , which is synonymous with "name" and the suffix - which is equivalent to "relative to" .
Before moving forward, it is also important to indicate that a phrase is defined as the syntactic structure composed of words and morphemes that are organized hierarchically around a syntactic nucleus (based on the word that gives the basic particularities of the phrase).
Characteristics of the noun phrase
As we said, the core of any noun phrase is the name . However, we must not overlook the fact that its structure is determined by the fact that it can also be accompanied by articles ( the , the , the ...), determiners or determining adjectives ( a , that , my ...) or qualifying adjectives ( red , wonderful , spectacular , ugly ...) or prepositional phrases ( of this woman , of her house ...).
In the same way, it is also possible that any noun phrase can be shown accompanied by an adjective subordinate clause or another noun phrase that will be presented in apposition. An example of this last case could be the following: "My friend's parents, Eva and Manuel."
The noun phrase is considered a syntactic structure of endocentric roots because its combination particularities are the same as those of the nucleus , while the other syntactic properties are conditioned by the singularities of this nucleus.
A noun phrase can fulfill different functions.
Its functions
In general, noun phrases designate some of the participants in verbal predicates or they are arguments conditioned by some preposition . This type of phrase can fulfill six functions when it does not have a link: subject, direct object, circumstantial complement , vocative , attribute or adjacent nominal in apposition.
With links, the noun phrase incorporates eight other functions: complement of the noun, adjective, adverb, direct, indirect, circumstantial, prepositional regime or agent complement .
«My father has a very bad headache», «Jorge is a wonderful tennis player», «The stadium bar is empty when there is a game», “Did you offer juice to your guest?”, «This holiday I went to bed after midnight», «Claudia lives near the beach» y «Wonderful events happen in this country» son algunas expresiones que incluyen un sintagma nominal.
And all this without forgetting that there are other types of phrases such as the adverbial, the prepositional, the verbal or the adjectival compared to the nominal.