IN WWW.BBC.CO.UK (UK VERSION) AND
WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM NEWS ARTICLES
ISSUED IN OCTOBER 2007
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
TEGUH SATRIA PRAMANA JAYA Student Number: 044214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
IN WWW.BBC.CO.UK (UK VERSION) AND
WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM NEWS ARTICLES
ISSUED IN OCTOBER 2007
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
TEGUH SATRIA PRAMANA JAYA Student Number: 044214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2008
LAW OF ATTRACTION
Desire. Get a strong enthusiasm for that which you want in your life, a real longing for something which is not there now.
Decision. Know definitely what it is that you want, what it is that you want to do or have, and be willing to pay in spiritual values.
Ask. [When sure and enthusiastic] ask for it in simple, concise language.
Believe. Believe in the accomplishment with strong faith, consciously and subconsciously.
Work. Work at it. . . a few minutes daily, seeing yourself in the finished picture. Never outline details, but rather see yourself enjoying the particular thing . . . Eventually, you will see a time where it will just appear, as a gift or such, or you may see an opportunity to get what you we're asking for.
Feel gratitude. Always remember to say, "Thank you, God [or the universe]," and begin to feel the gratitude in your heart. The most powerful prayer we can ever make is those three words, provided we really feel it. Feel as though you already have what you wanted.
Feel expectancy. Train yourself to live in a state of happy expectancy... Find a way it will appear in your life, and keep believing in that. May it be that someone gives it to you, or you find an initiation to get it.
Mildred Mann (1904 -1971)
This thesis is dedicated to
My lovely father and mother
My dearest sisters Angel and Anggi
Firstly, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the Jesus Christ and
Mother Maria for the blessing, protection, and wonderful time in Jogjakarta. I had never
thought that I could go through this three and a half years without Him and Mother
Maria.
I am indebted a gratitude to Dr. Francis Borgias Alip, MPd.,M.A. as my advisor
for his time, advice, understanding and patience in guiding me during the writing of my
undergraduate thesis. I would like to say “thank you” to Adventina Putranti, S.S.,
M.Hum., my co-advisor for the time to read this thesis and help me make some revisions
on it.
Next, I thank my lovely father and mother, who have given me a chance to have
my study in Sadhar, and my dearest sisters who always encourage and support me in
finishing my study.
Beside, I address my gratitude to all my friends I have in Jogjakarta. I thank them
for the happy and sad time that we have together.
The last but not least, my thanks go to all outstanding people who I have met in
Jogjakarta. I have learned many significant values from all of them.
Teguh Satria Pramana Jaya
C. The Function of the elements... 51
C.1. A Complement... 52
C.2. An Attribute... 58
C.3. An Adjunct... 62
C.4. A Specifier... 66
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION... 69
BIBLIOGRAPHY... 71
APPENDECIS ... 75
Appendix 1... 75
Appendix 2... 99
Appendix 3... 107
TEGUH SATRIA PRAMANA JAYA . A Study of Adjective Phrase in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com News Articles Issued In October 2007. Yogyakarta: Departement of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,2008.
An adjective phrase, which has the same distribution and function as an adjective, plays an important role in the construction of simple or complex sentences. An adjective phrase is a phrase which has an adjective as its head. It may consist of a single adjective or complete elements like in the Phrase-bar theory. It needs other phrases when it occurs in complex form. The phrases have their functions in the structure of an adjective phrase. This thesis will study the position, the elements and the elements' functions of the adjective phrases that have been identified in both www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued in October 2007. They are chosen because they are mostly accessed by people when looking for the crucial news every day.
Thus, this study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the adjective phrase and to observe its position. The second objective is to find out and to analyze the elements that occur in the adjective phrases. The last objective is to categorize the phrases and the clauses as the elements of the adjective phrases based on their function.
In order to achieve three objectives, a descriptive study of language is applied. It describes the adjective phrases that are used by the news articles in the two websites. The analysis of this study is based on corpus and data that are collected regarding three characteristics of the descriptive linguistic; objective, empirical and exact.
From the analysis, it can be concluded that 533 adjective phrases or 74,70% are found in attributive, 127 or 18,81% in predicative and only 15 or 2,22% postpositive position. Most of the adjective phrases are constructed in bare form 508 or 75,25%. The rests are in a complex form 167 or 24,74%. In the complex form, the adjective phrase occurs with phrases and clauses and the percentage of each occurrence is as follows: the intensifier phrase is 78 or about 11,55%, the prepositional phrase is 29 or 4,29%, the adverb phrase is 15 or 2,22%, the verb phrase is 12 or 1,77%, the noun phrase is 4 or 0,59% and the clause is 7 or 1,03% . The phrases or clauses have certain functions in the structure of the adjective phrase. They may fill namely: complement, attribute, adjunct and specifier. A prepositional phrase, verb phrase, noun phrase and clause can function as a complement of an adjective phrase when they are selected by the head to complete the head's meaning. The next element of the head is an attribute. The elements of the adjective phrase that can occur as the attributes are an intensifier phrase, adverb phrase and noun phrase. The other element is an adjunct. A verb phrase, prepositional phrase and clause can function as the adjunct if they only give additional information to the head of the adjective phrases. The last function of the elements is a specifier; articles the and demonstrative pronoun that and this. The adjective phrases in most cases do not have a specifier and the consequence is that the specifier position is rarely filled.
TEGUH SATRIA PRAMANA JAYA . A Study of Adjective Phrase in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com News Articles Issued In October 2007. Yogyakarta: Departement of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,2008.
Frase kata sifat yang memiliki distribusi dan fungsi yang sama dengan kata sifat memainkan peranan penting dalam pembentukkan kalimat sederhana maupun kompleks. Frase kata sifat adalah sebuah frase yang mempunyai kata sifat sebagai induknya. Frase kata sifat dapat berupa sebuah kata sifat saja atau dengan komponen-komponen yang lebih lengkap seperti yang terurai di teori frase-Bar. Pembentukan frase kata sifat yang lengkap membutuhkan frase-frase lain. Frase-frase tersebut memiliki fungsi tersendiri dalam struktur sebuah frase kata sifat. Skripsi ini mempelajari posisi, komponen-komponen serta fungsi komponen-komponen dari frase kata sifat yang digunakan di dalam artikel berita pada bulan Oktober di www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com. Kedua situs tersebut dipilihkan karena kedua situs tersebut banyak diakses oleh orang-orang ketika mereka menginginkan berita yang sangat penting setiap hari.
Studi ini memiliki tiga tujuan. Tujuan pertama adalah mengidentifikasi frase kata sifat dan mempelajari posisinya. Tujuan kedua adalah menemukan dan menganalisis frase-frase maupun klausa yang menjadi bagian dari frase kata sifat. Tujuan terakhir adalah mengelompokkan frase-frase dan klausa-klausa tersebut berdasarkan fungsinya dalam struktur frase kata sifat.
Pembelajaran bahasa secara deskriptif diterapkan guna mencapai ketiga tujuan tersebut. Pembelajaran ini akan menggambarkan penggunaan frase kata sifat oleh penulis-penulis kolum berita di kedua situs tersebut. Analysis studi ini didasarkan pada korpus dan data yang sesuai dengan ketiga ciri penelitian deskriktif yaitu objektif, empiris dan pasti.
Dari hasil analisis dapat disimpulkan bahwa 533 frase kata sifat atau 78,96% ditemukan pada posisi attributif, 127 atau 18,81% pada posisi predikatif dan hanya 15 atau 2,22% pada posisi pospositif. 508 frase kata sifat atau 75,25% terbentuk tanpa element. Sisanya 167 atau 24,74% memiliki bentuk yang kompleks. Dalam pembentukannya yang komplek, frase kata sifat membutuhkan frase-frase atau klausa-klausa lain. Persentase frase-frase maupun klausa-klausa-klausa-klausa tersebut adalah sebagai berikut: frase intensifier 11,55% atau 78, frase kata depan 4,29% atau 29, frase kata keterangan 2,22% atau 15, frase kata kerja 1,77% atau 12. frase kata benda 0,59% atau 4 dan klausa 1,03% atau 7. Frase-frase dan klausa-klausa tersebut memiliki fungsi tertentu dalam struktur frase kata sifat: pelengkap, atribut, adjunct dan specifier. Frase kata depan, frase kata kerja, frase kata benda dan klausa berfungsi sebagai pelengkap dari frase kata sifat ketika frase-frase tersebut diperlukan oleh kata sifat untuk melengkapi arti dari kata sifat tersebut. Elemen berikut dari kata sifat adalah atribut. Elemen-elemen yang dapat mnjadi atribut dalam frase kata sifat adalah frase intensifier, frase kata keterangan dan frase kata benda. Elemen lain adalah adjunct. Frase kata kerja, frase kata depan dan klausa berfungsi sebagai adjunct jika frase-frase tersebut hanya memberikan tambahan informasi pada kata sifat dari frase kata sifat. Fungsi terakhir dari elemen tersebut adalah
dipenuhi dalam frase kata sifat yang ditemukan dalam artikel-artikel berita tersebut adalah specifier.
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Language according to Wardaugh (1977: 3) is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols
used for communication. The system meant by Wardaugh is that language is a system
with several levels, namely phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Phonology
deals with the way sounds used in individual languages. Morphology studies the structure
of words. Syntax concerns with the structure of phrases and sentences, and semantics
with the study of meaning.
In their book An introduction to Language, Fromkin and Rodman (1993: 73)
states:
Knowing a language includes the ability to put words together to form phrases and sentences that express our thoughts. That part of grammar that represents a speaker's knowledge of the structure of phrases and sentences is called syntax. The meaning of a sentence depends to a great extent on the meaning of the words which it is composed. But the structure of the sentence also contributes to meaning.
Syntax is a rule of putting words in specific structure to form phrases and
sentences. The texts either simple or complex will be followed fully when having a
thorough knowledge about syntax by analyzing the structure of the elements in sentences.
Furthermore, the clear understanding of syntax will be helpful in producing a good article
or text by smartly combining the elements of the sentences. To build up the good and
correct sentences, phrases play important roles. An adjective phrase is one of the phrases
that is usually used.
An adjective phrase is a phrase which has an adjective as its head. It may consist
of a single adjective or complete elements like in the X-bar theory. It needs other phrases
like a noun phrase, verb phrase, adverb phrase and prepositional phrase when it occurs in
complex form. It has the same distribution and function as an adjective (Asher, 1994:
5150).
In their book A Student's Grammar of the English Language, Greenbaum and
Quirk classify the syntactic functions of the adjectives into seven. First function is
attributive and predicative. The adjectives are attributive when they premodify the head
of a noun phrase, e.g. a small garden. They are predicative when they function as subject
complement or object complement, e.g. He seems careless (Cs); I find him careless (Co).
The second function is postpositive. The adjectives can immediately follow the noun or
pronoun they modify, e.g. something useful. The third is the adjectives with
complementation. The adjectives with complementation normally will require
postposition, e.g. I know an actor suitable for the part. The fourth is the adjectives as
heads of noun phrases. The adjectives can function as heads of noun phrases, which can
be subject of the sentence, complement, object, and prepositional complement, e.g. The
innocent are often deceived by the unscrupulous; She admires the mystical. The fifth is
verbless clauses. The adjectives can function as the sole realization of a verbless clause,
e.g. The man, quietly assertive, spoke to the assembled workers. The sixth function is
contingent verbless clauses. One type of verbless clause, which is often introduced by a
subordinator, expresses the circumstance or condition under which what is said in the
argument because of the his inability to speak correctly. The last function is exclamatory
adjective clauses. The adjectives can be exclamation, with or without an initial
wh-element, e.g. Excellent! ; How wonderful!
Based on the syntactic function of the adjectives, it is clear that the adjective
phrase, which has the same distribution and function as an adjective (Asher, 1994: 5150),
also plays an important role in the construction of simple or complex sentences. That is
why, the writer choose “adjective phrase” as the study. In this thesis, the syntactic
contribution of the adjective phrase in sentences will not be the concern since it has
become the study of other writers. As consequence, this study will focus on the adjective
phrase itself; the elements and the elements' functions of the adjective phrase.
The aims of this study are to find, to analyze, and to discuss the position of the
adjective phrases, the elements and the elements' functions of the adjective phrases that
have been used in both www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com
articles issued on October 2007.
In this study, the writer will use the adjective phrases in www.bbc.co.uk (UK
version) and www.washingtonpost.com articles as the source of the data. BBC (British
Broadcasting Corporation) is the first and biggest broadcasting organization in the United
Kingdom. The scientific origins of broadcasting are over 100 years old. Washington Post
Company is the international news and communications company. The Washington Post
is one of the most respected daily newspapers in the United States. It means that both
websites will serve crucial news in the world every day. They also cover current and
well. That is why www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com are used as
a source in this research.
B. PROBLEM FORMULATION
1. Where are the adjective phrases in sentence structures in www.bbc.co.uk (UK
version) and www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued on October 2007
located?
2. What are the elements of the adjective phrases in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version)
and www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued on October 2007?
3. What are the functions of the elements?
C. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the adjective
phrases in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com news articles
issued on October 2007 and to observe their position which can be in attributive,
predicative or postpositive position. The second objective is to find out and to analyze the
elements that occur in the adjective phrases in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and
www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued on October 2007. They can be an adverb
phrase, noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, adjective phrase, intensifier
phrase and clauses. The third objective is to categorize the phrases and the clauses as the
elements of the adjective phrases based on their function. The elements can function as a
D. BENEFIT OF THE STUDY
Theoretically, it is expected that the findings will give more contribution to the
study of phrases especially the adjective phrase. This study is helpful for readers to enrich
their knowledge about the adjective phrase like where the adjective phrase can be located
in sentences, what can be the elements of the adjective phrase and how the function of the
elements in the adjective phrase is. Particularly this study is useful for the readers who
want to compare the adjective phrases in the BBC and Washington Post on-line news
articles issued on October 2007. Moreover, it is essential that the readers can produce the
adjective phrase, whether it is in a simple or complex form.
E. DEFINATION OF TERMS
Some terms are basically used in this thesis: adjective, phrase, and adjective
phrase.
According to Asher, an adjective is a major word class, containing words that
describes properties or qualities (1994: 28)
There are three positions of adjectives: attributives, predicative and postpositive
(Quirk et al, 1985: 418). The adjectives are attributive when it modifies its noun directly
(Bhat, 1994: 98). The adjectives used in predicative position function as subject
complement after linking verb like be, seem, look, feel and object complement after verbs
like consider, believe, find (Leech,1979: 193). The postpositive adjectives are adjectives
that immediately follow the noun or pronoun they modify (Quirk et al, 1985: 1293).
An adjective phrase is a phrase with an adjective as head, as in (He was) very
THEORETICAL REVIEW
Chapter II will cover three parts; review of related studies, review of related
theories and theoretical framework. The first part is the review of another study that also
concerns about adjective phrase. Another study is needed to show the position of this
current study. The second part is the review of theories that are used to accomplish the
thesis. The theory of the adjective position is important since it will be helpful in the
identification of the adjective phrase. Next, the review of the adjective phrase will
include more explanation about the occurrence of the adjective phrase with its element,
either in a minimal or complex form. The theory of the adjective phrase structure will be
a significance part in the review since it shows how the adjective phrase is structured by
using an X-Bar theory. Then, the review will also include the theories of other phrases
and clause since they are the elements of the adjective phrase. The last part is the
theoretical framework. It shows how the theories and another study are related to the
study of this thesis.
A. Review of Related Studies
This review will discuss the findings of two researches that have relation with this
study. The findings are the result of Sanata Dharma University student's thesis researches.
First, a thesis entitled An Analysis on the Structure and the Use of Adjective
Phrases in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome by Patricia Dewanti Nur Prastiwi, 1999, tries to
analyze the elements and the use of adjective phrases in Edith Wharton's novel entitled
Enthan Frome. From her research, the writer concludes that adjunct is the most frequently
used element since it has four categories of adjective phrase adjunct. Although adjunct is
the most frequently used element, there are a great number of adverb phrases which have
a function as an adjective phrase attributes. She also states that the adjective phrases give
a specific meaning to the sentences. The elimination of adjective phrases may differ the
meaning of the sentences.
Furthermore, the adjective phrases in Ethan Frome have three types of adjective
phrase elements. The first type is a complement. A complement is always attached to the
right of the head. There are 82 complements appear in the novel. An adjective phrase may
take some phrasal categories as its complement, namely a prepositional phrase,
to-infinitive verb phrase, and clause. There are 38 prepositional phrases, 30 to-to-infinitive
verb phrases, and 14 clauses occur in the novel as the adjective phrase complements. The
second type of adjective phrase elements is an attribute. There are 90 attributes of
adjective phrases occur in the novel. The adjective phrases take an intensifier phrase and
an adverb phrase as its attribute. There are 22 intensifier phrases and 68 adverb phrases in
the novel as the adjective phrase attributes. The third type of adjective phrase element is
an adjunct. There are 94 in the novel. There are 42 prepositional phrases, 33 clauses, 12
adverb phrases, and 7 to-infinitive verb phrases functioning as the adjective phrase
adjuncts. Adjective phrases have three functions in sentences. The first function of
adjective phrases is the attribute of noun phrases. There are 1119 adjectives functioning
complement. There are 293 adjective phrases functioning as the subject complement. The
third function of adjective phrases is as the object complement. There are 79 adjective
phrases functioning as the object complement.
Second, another thesis titled A study on English Adjective Phrases in the Fashion
and Style Articles on New York Times Published in December 2002 and January 2003 by
Holan Nauli Christine Siahaan, 2003, analyzes the occurrence of the adjective phrase in
sentence and its elements on New York Times Published in December 2002 and January
2003. From her research, the writer concludes that an adjective phrase occurs in a
projection with other elements as pre-modifiers and post-modifiers, and it functions as
attributive or predicative in the sentence.
In addition, a pre-modifier can be an attribute and a specifier element. The
attributes are the intensifier elements such as so, very, too, still, etc, adverbs, and the
comparison. However, the specifiers are determiners that or this that function as the
condition of the head. While a post-modifier element can be adjuncts and complements.
Adjuncts are the optional elements because they only give circumstantial information to
the head adjectives. An adjunct can be a preposition phrase, verb phrase (to-infinitive), or
clause from. The only adverb taking the position of adjunct is enough. The comparison
adjectives can function as the adjunct in the adjective phrase structures as they are giving
the additional information to the head adjective by comparing. In additional, these
comparison more or less can not leave their attribute elements. Meanwhile, the
complement is an obligatory element in adjective phrases structures. In some cases, the
Moreover, for its presence in sentences, an adjective phrase has two functions:
attributive and predicative. As attributive, the adjective phrase heads have a minimal
form, without complement element. As predicative, the adjective phrases function as
subject complements or object complements.
This current study is similar to the thesis done by Prastiwi and Nauli. First, this
study is also about the adjective phrase. Second, the discussion of this study also includes
the analysis about the elements of the adjective phrases and their functions. However, this
current study is different from the previous studies. First, this current study will have
discussion about the position of the adjective phrase in the sentences. Second, this study
uses the different source as the data of the analysis. This study takes the adjective phrases
from the on-line news articles in www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and
www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued on October 2007. The previous studies
discuss deeper the use of the adjective phrases in Ethan Frome and New York Times.
Prastiwi only took the adjective phrases from Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and Nauli
used New York Times as the data of her study.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Position of Adjectives
According to Quirk et al, there are three positions of adjectives: attributives,
predicative and postpositive (1985: 418). An adjective phrase has the same distribution
and function as an adjective (Asher, 1994: 5150). As a result, the adjective phrase is also
a. In the Attributive Position
The adjectives are attributive when it modifies its noun directly and names an
attribute of the noun (Emlyn, 1950: 81). They are placed between the determiners and the
head of NP it modifies, for example: the old lady and a small hostel. The adjectives can
modify the head of an NP and also becomes the head of an NP. When they modify the
head noun, the emphasis is on denoting a property associated with the meaning of the
head, whereas they are used as the head of NP they emphasize on denoting a property or
its possessor as an entity by itself (Bhat, 1994: 98).
There are three types of adjectives that are used as the head of NP (Quirk,
1990:138). The first type adjectives refer to certain fairly well-established classes of
persons, for example:
(1) The very lazy are punished by the teacher.
(2) The government will have to supply jobs for our unemployed.
(3) The rules are fair for both the poor and the rich.
The adjectives the very lazy, our unemployed, or both poor and rich have plural and
generic reference. The use of the definite article shows the generic reference.
The second type is adjectives that refer to nationalities. Sometimes they are used
to refer some part of the nation, for example teams or troops.
(4) The English will met The French in final UEFA.
(5) The agricultural Turkish
The third type is adjectives that have abstract references.
(7) The very hottest (news) is that they divorce.
(8) The worst is never expected to arrive
According Bhat, the attributive adjectives can not be followed by complement
(1994; 61)
b. In the Predicative Position
The adjectives used in predicative position function as subject complement after
linking verb like be, seem, look, feel and object complement after verbs like consider,
believe, find (Leech,1979: 193). Predicative adjectives functioning as subject complement
can follow NP, finite clause, and non-finite clause (Quirk et al, 1985: 417).
(9) Many of the students are clever.
(10) That you love her is obvious.
(11) Reading the classics novels are enjoyable.
Predicative adjectives that function as object complements can follow a direct
object and clause, for example: (12) I believe her happy.
(13) She considers what he did foolish.
They express the result of the process denoted by the verbs, for example:
(14) They pushed the door close (=the door can be closed)
As the predicative adjectives, they will change from a dependent element to an
independent element. The sign of independent that the predicative adjectives have is their
c. In the Postpositive Position
The postpositive adjectives are adjectives that can immediately follow the noun or
pronoun they modify. They are divided into three types. First, the postpositive adjectives
required by the head of an NP include indefinite pronouns ending in -body, -one, and
-thing and adverbs wh-forms, for example:
(15) everything metal
(16) nothing extraordinary
(17) we're not going anywhere very exciting.
Second, the postpositive adjectives that are required by complementation of
adjectives include adjective phrases having a prepositional phrase or to-infinitive verb
phrase as complement, for example:
(18) I know an actor suitable for the part.
(19) The boys easiest to teach were in my class.
The first and second types of the postpositive adjectives are always regarded the reduced
relative clause.
Third, the postpositive adjectives that are required by particular noun-adjectives
combinations such as The President elect and blood royal (Quirk et al, 1985: 1293).
2. The Elements of the Adjective Phrases
Like the other types of phrases, an adjective phrase may also have five phrase
elements. They are a head, complement, attribute, adjunct and specifier. They have
certain function in their occurrences within the adjective phrase that is explained in the
a. A complement is an element which a head needs to complete its meaning. According
to Leech and Svartvik, a complement plays a significant role in a grammatical
construction to complete the meaning of the head. The absence of a complement in
certain phrase may cause an ill-formed construction (1979: 220). An adjective may need
or not need a complement. The adjectives angry and different need a complement.
(20) Mr Smith is angry with some students.
(21) Mary is very different from her sister.
The complement of angry is the prepositional phrase with some students, and the
complement of different is the prepositional phrase from her sister. The heads need the
complements semantically. With some students is needed to show the direction of Mr
Smith's anger, and from her sister is needed to show who Mary is very different from.
The complement is not present explicitly in a sentence when it may be understood
from context or probably not important for the message exchange.
(22) Mr Robinson was very angry in the meeting
(23) The new manager is very ambitious.
The complements of angry and ambitious are not stated since the speaker of the sentences
only want to give the fact that Mr. Robinson was very angry and the manager is
ambitious.
A complement can not be separated from the head because of their close
relationship. The proposing of the complements results in the ungrammaticality of the
sentences.
(25) *From her sister, Mary is very different.
An adjective may take several phrase categories as its complement. The first
category of adjective complement is prepositional phrase.
(26) good at mathematics
(27) responsible for the refreshment
Good takes at mathematics and responsible takes for the refreshment as their
complement.
There are three tests to identify a prepositional phrase as the complement of an
adjective (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 23). First, the noun phrase, which functions as the
complement of preposition, can be replaced with what or who to form a question.
(28) Mary is responsible for the refreshment. ⇒ What is Mary responsible
for?
(29) Tina is angry with Mark. ⇒ Who is Tina angry with?
The refreshment is replaced by what and Mark is replaced by who form a question.
Second, the noun phrase, which functions as the complement of preposition, can
occur as the focus in a cleft sentence.
(30) It is the refreshment that Mary is responsible for.
(31) It is Mark that Tina is angry with.
The refreshment and Mark become the focuses of (30) and (31) respectively.
Third, the noun phrase, which functions as the complement of preposition, can
occur in a pseudo-cleft sentence.
(33) Who Tina is angry with is Mark.
The refreshment and Mark become the focuses of (32) and (33) respectively.
The second category of adjective complement is a to-infinitive verb phrase.
(34) Mary is eager to study abroad.
(35) The children are ready to swim.
To study abroad and to swim are complements of the adjectives eager and ready. Those
three tests that are used to identify a prepositional phrase as the complement of an
adjective are also applicable for a to-infinitive verb phrase. First, a to-infinitive adjective
complement can be identified using a what question.
(36) What is Mary eager to do?
(37) What are the children ready to do?
To study abroad and to swim are the answers of questions (36) and (37).
Second, a to-infinitive adjective complement is the focus in a cleft sentence.
(38) It is to study abroad that Mary is eager.
(39) It is to swim that the children are ready.
To study abroad and to swim are the focus of the cleft sentences.
Third, a to-infinitive adjective complement is the focus in a pseudo-cleft
sentence.
(40) What Mary is eager is to study abroad.
(41) What the children are ready is to swim.
To study abroad and to swim are the focus of the pseudo-cleft sentences.
clause. The adjectives like sure, certain, and doubtful take a whether clause as their
complement.
(42) Rita is still doubtful whether she will join the club or not.
(43) The kids are afraid that their parents leave them.
Whether she join the club or not is the complement of doubtful and that their parents
leave them is the complement of afraid. A clause adjective complement also can be
identified using those three tests. First, a clause adjective complement is an answer to a
what question.
(44) What is Rita doubtful of?
(45) What are the kids afraid of?
Whether she join the club or not and that their parents leave them are the answer of
questions (44) and (45) respectively.
Second, a clause adjective complement is the focus in a cleft sentence.
(46) It is whether she join the club or not that Rita is still doubtful.
(47) It is that their parents leave them that the kids are afraid.
Whether she join the club or not and that their parents leave them are the focus of the
cleft sentences.
Third, a clause adjective complement is the focus in a pseudo-cleft sentence.
(48) What Rita is still doubtful is whether she join the club or not.
(49) What the kids are afraid is that their parents leave them.
Whether she join the club or not and that their parents leave them are the focus of the
The last category of adjective complement is a noun phrase. A noun phrase
adjective complement can be identified using a paraphrase; the noun phrase is changed
into the prepositional phrase.
(50) context-free ⇒ free from the context
(51) gender-sensitive ⇒ sensitive to gender
Free in (50) takes context as its complement, and sensitive on (51) takes gender as its
complement.
Not all adjectives needs a complement. The adjectives long, wide and expensive
do not need any complement.
(52) very long
(53) fairly expensive
b. An attribute is an element that shows the characteristics of the head. There are four types of phrases that can be attributes (Dwijatmoko, 2002:27). The first phrase is an
intensifier phrase. The intensifiers are very, quite, rather, fairly, and too.
(54) The book is very easy.
(55) The dress is quite expensive.
Very and quite are the attributes of adjectives easy and expensive.
The second one is an adverb phrase.
(56) The workers are physically tired.
(57) The girls are emotionally mature.
Physically and emotionally are the attributes of adjectives tired and mature.
(58) Bobby is two years old.
(59) His explanation is crystal clear.
The noun phrases two years and crystal are the attributes of the adjectives old and clear.
The last category of an adjective attribute is an adjective phrase.
(60) Her dress is light blue.
(61) The hair of the woman is reddish brown.
Light and reddish are the attributes of blue and brown.
An adjective attribute is identified by using how or in what aspect question.
(62) How easy is the book?
(63) How tired are the workers?
(64) How old is Bobby?
(65) How blue is her dress?
(66) In what aspect is the book easy?
(67)In what aspect are the workers tired?
(68) In what aspect is Bobby old?
(69) In what aspect is her dress blue?
c. An adjunct in an adjective phrase makes the condition or state or gives circumstantial information on the state or condition. An adjective may take several categories as its
adjunct (Dwijatmoko, 2002:29). The first category of an adjective adjunct is a
prepositional phrase.
(70) This film is only good at the beginning.
(71) Rudy was very lazy in the first semester.
At the beginning and In the first semester are the adjuncts of adjectives good and lazy. At
the beginning shows the part of the film which is good. In the first semester shows the
time when Rudy was very lazy. A prepositional phrase as an adjective adjunct can be
(72) In what part is the film good?
(73) When was he lazy?
The prepositional phrase of the adjective adjunct is different from a prepositional phrase
that functions as adjective complement since the noun phrase in the prepositional phrase
can not be separated from the preposition.
(73) *What is the film good at?
(74) *It is the beginning that the film is good at.
(75) *What the film is good at is the beginning.
The second category of the adjective adjunct is a to-infinitive verb phrase. The
to-infinitive adjective adjunct can be identified using three tests. First, the sentence can
be paraphrased with the to-infinitive adjective adjunct as the subject of the sentence.
(76) The novel is easy to understand.
(77) To understand the novel is easy.
Second, the sentence can be paraphrased into a cleft sentence in which the to-infinitive
verb phrase becomes the focus of the cleft sentence and the noun phrase which becomes
the subject of the sentence becomes the complement of the verb phrase.
(78) It is to understand the novel that is easy.
Third, the sentence can be paraphrased into a pseudo-cleft sentence with the to-infinitive
verb phrase as the focus.
(79) What is easy is to understand the novel.
The third category of the adjective adjunct is a clause.
That you came is the adjunct of the adjective good. A that clause adjunct only
occurs with the introductory it.
(81) I am glad that you come on time.
That you come on time is not adjunct of glad but it is the complement of glad.
d. Specifier
In most cases an adjective phrase does not have a specifier.
(82) A very comfortable hotel
Very comfortable in (82) is an adjective phrase. It has an attribute, very, and the head
comfortable but it does not have a specifier. An adjective phrase may have that or this as
the specifier of the adjective phrase (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 32).
(83) I just move from Venus hotel. That hotel is not this comfortable.
This is the specifier of comfortable and this comfortable means 'as comfortable as the
hotel I stay now'.
3. Adjective Phrase Structure
Adjective phrase may occur in a simple or complex construction. The simple or
minimal construction consists of determiner and the adjective for example:
(84) this comfortable
This is a specifier while comfortable is the head of the adjective phrase. The below tree
(85). AP
DP A'
A
this comfortable
The structure of this adjective phrase is based on X-Bar Theory. The X-bar theory is the
theory for the formation of phrases, and has a universal value. It applies to all types of
phrases in all human languages. In the X-bar theory, any element of a syntactic unit
which is not the head is a phrase (Dwijatmoko,2002: 5).
The X-Bar theory shows how the adjective phrase is constructed based on the
function of each element.
(86) really good at the beginning
The adverb phrase really is an attribute, and the prepositional phrase at the beginning is
an adjunct. The adjective phrase does not have a complement so the lowest A' goes down
to A. The below tree diagram describes how the structure of the adjective phrase is:
(87) AP
A'
A' PP
AdvP A'
at the beginning
really A
(88) angry with some students
The prepositional phrase with some students is the complement of angry and is, therefore,
a sister of A. The below tree diagram will describe how the structure of the adjective
phrase is:
(89) AP
A'
A PP
angry with some students
(90) that easy to solve
That is a specifier, and to solve is an adjunct. The head take does not take a complement.
The below tree diagram will describe the structure of the adjective phrase based on each
element function:
(91) AP
DP A'
A' VP
A
that easy to solve
The adjective good takes a specifier, a complement, an attribute, and an adjunct. That is
the specifier, in sports is the complement, really is the attribute,and in his youth is the
adjunct. The next tree diagram will describe the structure of the adjective phrase based on
each element function:
(93) AP
DP A'
A' PP
AdvP A'
A PP
that really good in sports in his youth
The elements of the adjective phrase: that, really, good, in sports, in his youth are phrases
eventhough they have no branch because all elements in X-bar theory are phrases, except
the head. The specifier that is a daughter of the maximal projection (AP) and a sister of
the A'. The prepositional phrase, in his youth, as an adjunct is both a daughter and a sister
of the A'. The intensifier phrase, really, as an attribute is both a sister and daughter of A'.
The closest element to the head, a complement in sports, is a daughter of A' and sister of
A, the head good.
4. Other Phrases and Clause
The other phrases beside an adjective phrase are a noun phrase, verb phrase,
their names from the head of the phrases, a verb, adjective and adverb. A prepositional
phrase is different from those fourth because it has no head word only a preposition. As
result, it must occur within two elements.
A noun phrase is a phrase which occurs with a noun as the head (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 10). The noun phrases occur before the head of the adjective. The occurrence in
the adjective phrase as the complement, completes the meaning of the adjective;
context-free, gender-sensitive and its occurrence as the attribute, shows the characteristics of the
adjective; five feet tall, ten meters deep.
A verb phrase is a phrase which occurs with a verb as the head (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 37). According to Dwijatmoko, English verbs are usually classified into three
classes: full, linking and auxiliary. Full verbs, like go, eat, plan, decide, and arrive,
comprise the largest number of verbs. Linking verbs form a small set of verbs, like be,
become, feel, seem and taste. Auxiliary verbs are further classified into modal auxiliary
verbs like can, may, must and will, aspectual auxiliary verbs be and have, auxiliary verb
of voice be and auxiliary verb of status do/ does/ did (2002: 37). The verb phrase that
occur on the adjective phrase is a to-infinitive verb phrase. The to-infinitive verb phrase
occurs after the adjective. Its function can be both an adjunct and a complement. The
to-infinitive verb phrase as the adjunct gives the circumstantial information on the state
or condition; The novel is easy to understand, The dress is expensive to buy.
Meanwhile, the to-infinitive verb phrase as the complement completes the meaning of
the adjective; eager to study abroad, ready to swim.
phrase can be classified into three classes: simple adverb, compound adverb, derivational
adverb. Simple adverbs are like just, only, well, back, and under. Compound adverbs are
like somehow, and somewhere. Derivational adverbs are like oddly, interestingly, and
clockwise (Quirk & Greenbaum, 1990: 147). The occurrence of the adverb phrase in the
adjective phrase is before the adjective and functions as an attribute. It shows the
characteristics of the adjective, for example: physically tired and emotionally mature.
Afterwards, an Intensifier phrase occurs before the adjective, for example: the
book is very easy and the dress is quite expensive.
A prepositional phrase is constructed by one preposition and a noun phrase (Jackson, 1982: 80). In the adjective phrase, it occurs after the adjective and it can
function a complement or adjunct. The examples of its function as the complement are
“very different from her sister” and “angry with some students”. The two prepositional
phrase completes the meaning of the adjectives. The examples of its function as the
adjunct are “lazy in the first semester” and “sick for two days”. The two prepositional
phrase gives the circumstantial information on the state or condition.
According to Leech and Svartvik, a clause is the principal structures of which
sentences are composed. A sentence may consist of one or more than one clause (1979:
211). The clause occurs after the adjective and it can function as a complement or adjunct. As complement, it completes the meaning of the adjective, for example: he is still doubtful whether she will join the club or not; The kids are afraid that their parents
leave them. Meanwhile, a clause functioning as an adjunct gives circumstantial
C. Theoretical Framework
The ability to put words together to form phrases and sentences that express our
thought is a part of basic requirements to master a language. The part of grammar that
represents the speaker's knowledge of the structure of phrases and sentences both in
writing and speaking is called syntax (Fromkin and Rodman, 1993:73). In the role of
syntax, an adjective phrase plays a very important role in forming a phrase, clause, or
sentence as it can be found in attributive, predicative or postpositive position with
minimal form or complex form.
1. The theory of the adjectives' position
This theory states that there are three positions of adjectives: attributive e.g. the
agricultural development, predicative e.g. I believe her happy, and postpositive e.g.
everything metal. This theory is used to answer the first question of problem formulation
since it discusses three possible positions where the adjective can be found in a sentence
by explaining further about the syntactic environment and function of each position. By
mastering the theory of the adjectives' position, it will be helpful to identify adjective
phrase in a sentence and also differentiate one adjective phrase's position from others.
2. The theory of adjective phrase's elements
An adjective may occur in a bare form, minimal form or complex form. When an
adjective phrase occurs in the bare form, it is only the head, adjective e.g. the crazy man.
In the minimal form the head adjective occurs with specifier e.g. that young. However,
when it occurs in complex form, it has other phrases or clause as its elements that give a
phrase, intensifier phrase, prepositional phrase. This theory will be used to solve the
second question of the problem formulation since it discusses the phrases or clauses that
may occur with the adjective to form the adjective phrase, with more explanation about
their possible role or effect in each occurrence. This theory is useful to determine whether
the phrases occur around the adjective are the elements of the adjective phrase or not and
to identify the role or specific effect that the phrases might contribute to the adjective.
3. The theory of X-Bar
This theory will be used to answer the third question of the problem formulation
since the X-Bar demonstrates how the adjective phrase is constructed based on the
function of each element. By mastering this theory, it will be easier to identify the
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of Study
The object of the study in the thesis is adjective phrases that appear in
www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com news articles issued in
October 2007. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the first and biggest
broadcasting organization in the United Kingdom. The scientific origins of broadcasting
are over 100 years old. In other hand, Washington Post Company is the international
news and communications company. The Washington Post is one of the most respected
daily newspapers in the United States. It means that both websites are mostly accessed by
people when they are looking for the crucial news every day. The writer chose the news
articles issued in October 2007 because the writer had made a plan to collect the articles
on that time. That was why www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com
news articles issued in October 2007 were considered as a source in this research.
B. Method of Study
According to Lyons, a descriptive study of a language is an effort to describe the
linguistic pattern used by authors or speakers either in written or spoken language (1995:
42). The linguist must provide a scientific explanation while conducting the study.
Another linguist, Dinneen (1967: 4-5), announces that the linguistics as scientific study
has three characteristics. The first characteristics is objective. It means that the proofs and
the evidence of the analysis must be served to reach a certain conclusion. The second is
empirical. It means that the evidence that has been found will be proven. The last is exact.
The relation of each element in language will be explained accurately.
C. Research Procedure
The thesis study will conduct two steps: data collection and data analysis.
1. Data Collection
The initial step was to choose the usage of the news articles from www.bbc.co.uk
(UK version) and www.washingtonpost.com as the source of the data. The writer
downloaded the news articles issued in October 2007 from the two websites. The writer
browsed on Internet four times a week to get all the main news of the week and each time
the writer got 8 articles: 4 articles from www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) and 4 from
www.washingtonpost.com. The four news articles were the top news of each field:
politics, health, education, and entertainment. The writer picked out those fields because
they appeared in both websites. As result, the population was 128 articles. The writer
would do a quota random sampling because the whole population would result in the big
number of data. A quota random sampling is a random sampling that is done to get a
certain quantity of data. A random sampling is a sampling in which each member for the
entire population has an equal chance of being included, and that no numbers of the
population may be systematically excluded (Sprinthall et al, 1991:28). The writer only
took 25% of the 128 articles, 32 articles as the samples, by having a lottery to get four
the way to have the random sampling. The writer renamed the articles of each field and
each website into number 1-16. Next, the writer made a numbering 1-16 on sixteen small
piece of papers and then took 4 papers by lottery. The numbers that came out in the
lottery determined the articles that would be used as the samples. The writer read the
articles and identified the adjective phrases as the data. Next, the writer retyped the
sentences that contained adjective phrases and made them in italic. There were 675
adjective phrases that became the object of the analysis in this thesis.
2. Data Analysis
Based on the order of the questions stated in problem formulation, some steps
were applied to analyze the data in the thesis. The first question was the position of the
adjective phrase. By using the theory of adjectives' position as reference, the writer
categorized the adjective phrases into attributive, predicative or postpositive. The result
was summed up and put in a table constructed in such a way that it could help the writer
analyzing the data effectively. The second question was the elements of the adjective
phrases. By applying the theory of adjective phrases' elements, the grouping of the
adjective phrase based on the occurrence with other phrases; noun phrase, prepositional
phrase, verb phrase, adverb phrase, intensifier phrase, or even another adjective phrase
and with clauses; that clause and whether-clause. The result was also summed up and put
in a table constructed in such a way that it could help the writer analyzing the data
effectively. The third question was the functions of the adjective phrases' elements. By
head, complement, attribute, adjunct and specifier. As a result, the function of each
element in the adjective phrase would be revealed. Finally, the last step was to draw a
conclusion.
The analysis which characteristics were objective, empirical and exact was done
based on descriptive linguistics as the scientific study. In order to reach a conclusion, the
ANALYSIS
Chapter IV will answer the questions in problem formulation in chapter I. The
first question is about the adjective phrases' position in sentences in
www.washingtonpost.com and www.bbc.co.uk (UK version) news articles issued on
October 2007. The second question is about the elements of the adjective phrases. The
third is about the function of those elements in the adjective phrases' structure. The
adjective phrases that are identified from the news articles are observed further by
applying the theories presented in chapter II.
This chapter is consist of three parts. The first part talks about the position of
adjective phrases. The second discusses the elements of adjective phrase. The third is
about their function in adjective phrases' structure. Each part uses some sentences or
phrases containing the adjective phrases in www.washingtonpost.com and www.bbc.co.uk
(UK version) news articles issued on October 2007.
A. The Position of Adjective Phrases
According to Quirk et al, there are three positions of adjectives: attributives,
predicative and postpositive (1985: 418). The distribution of the adjective phrases in the
news articles is that the adjective phrases are commonly found in the attributive and
predicative positions. The below table gives more illustration about the distribution.
Table 1
Position of Adjective
Phrases
Occurrence
Washingtonpost.com Bbc.co.uk (UK ver)
Percentage
Attributive 298 235 78,96%
Predicative 66 61 18,81%
Postpositive 8 7 2,22%
The table shows that the adjective phrases identified from the news articles in
those websites are commonly found in the attributive position, about 533 adjective
phrases or 78,96%. The number of the adjective phrases in the predicative position is
about 127 adjective phrases or 18,81% and only 15 adjective phrases or 2,22% in the
postpositive position.
The further analysis of each position of the adjective phrases will be shown in the
next part.
1. Attributive Position
An adjective phrase in the attributive position has two functions: as a modifier in
an NP or the head of an NP (Bhat,1994: 98). As the modifier of an NP, the adjective
phrase specifies and gives more information about the head like in (1) and (2).
(1) a private conversation (App 1, was A.II, 9)
(2) a stark choice (App 1, bbc A.IV, 9)
In (1) the adjective private that becomes an attribute of the head noun conversation gives
the detailed information about the conversation by giving the information about the type.
It is not the usual conversation but the extraordinary one with the private type as its
The choice is not common one but it is the stark one. However, as the head of a noun
phrase the adjective phrases might denote to categories of people, nationalities, or
abstract references. In the news article there is only one adjective phrase that functions as
the head of a noun phrase. Here is the example:
(3) The elderly or anybody who has any kind of really kind of life-threatening
illness will end up being euthanized by wait lists. (post.com, 22 October 2007)
The elderly in (3) denotes a category of people as the definite article the has generic
reference and elderly refers to a group of people.
The heads of attributive adjective phrases can be premodified by the adverb
phrases like biblically and unusually in (4) and (5), the intensifier phrases like very and
every in (6) and (7), and noun phrases like antibiotic in (8). However, the adjective
phrases can not be postmodified like the adjectives phrases in predicative and
postpositive position.
(4) a "Biblically responsible" alternative (App 1, was A.I, 13)
(5) unusually serious pneumonia ( App 1, was B.II, 24 )
(6) a very big deal (App 1, was B.II, 26)
(7) every local authority (App 1, bbc B.I, 11)
(8) an antibiotic-resistant strain (App 1, was B.II, 30)
The heads of attributive adjective phrases can also be constructed in the comparison form
as follows:
(9) bigger government (App 1, was A.I, 20)
(11) more political diversity (App 1, was A.I, 8)
(12) the most blatant breaches (App 1, bbc A.III, 17)
bigger in (9) and lowest in (10) are inflected with -er and -est to construct a comparative
and superlative form while more political in (11) and most blatant in (12) are premodified
by more and most to form the comparative and superlative one.
2. Predicative Position
In the predicative position, an adjective has two functions: the subject and object
complements like in the following sentences:
(13) There is a growing recognition that "what happens in early life is really
important for what happens decades later,"... (App 1, was B.I, 18)
(14) She said: "Early diagnosis is essential if we are ever to develop treatments
that can change the course or halt the progression of dementia rather than just
treat the symptoms."(App 1, bbc B.II, 22).
(15) Drinking at levels which are hazardous to health is rife in ...(App 1, bbc B.I,
24)
(16) In fact, the estimate makes MRSA much more common than flesh-eating
strep infections, bacterial pneumonia and meningitis combined, Bancroft noted.
(App 1, was B.II, 42)
(17) those patients and parents who find the use of bath emollients both soothing
and extremely beneficial (App 1, bbc B.III, 11)
As a subject complement, the predicative adjective phrases can follow a finite-clause as
in early life then a NP like in (14) in which essential if we are ever to develop treatments
... follows early diagnosis, next a non-finite clause as in (15) in which hazardous to
health follows drinking at levels. As an object complement like in (16) and (17), the
predicative adjective phrases follows direct objects, MRSA and the use of bath
emollients. Much more common than flesh-eating strep infections in (16) and both
soothing and extremely beneficial in (17) express the result of the process denoted by the
verb make and find so that they are similar with MRSA is much more common than
flesh-eating strep infections and the use of bath emollients is both soothing and
extremely beneficial.
The predicative adjective phrases can be premodified by the adverb phrase like
strikingly in (18) and intensifier phrase like very in (19) and so (20). In addition, the
adjective phrases can be postmodified by prepositional phrase like between the two
groups in (18), to-infinitive verb phrase like to get policies across in (19), and
that-clause like (that) it could even seize assets from people...in (20).
(18) Levels of a number of proteins were strikingly different between the two
groups. (App 1, bbc B.II, 20)
(19) Sir Menzies said he resigned because the media's obsession with his age
made it very hard to get policies across. (App 1, bbc A.II, 9)
(20) Its powers were so extensive (that) it could even seize assets from people who
had not been convicted of any crime. (App 1, bbc A.I, 14)
In comparison form, the predicative adjective phrases can be postmodified by than+a
prepositional phrase like in Western Europe... in (22).
(20) "This indicates these life-threatening MRSA infections are much more
common than we had thought," Fridkin said. (App 1, was B.II, 42)
(21) Some faculty are more skilled at it than others. (App 1, was D.II, 40)
(22) Abortion rates were lowest in Western Europe at 12 pregnancy terminations
per 1,000 women but highest in Eastern Europe at 44 abortions per 1,000 women.
(App 1, bbc B.IV, 21)
3. Postpositive Position
The postpositive adjective phrases are the adjective phrases that immediately
follows the noun or pronoun they modify. In the news articles, there are only two types of
the postpositive adjective phrases. The first type is a single adjective that comes after an
indefinite pronoun ending -thing like something unorthodox in (23). The second type is
required by complementation of adjectives with a prepositional phrase or to-infinitive
verb phrase as complement like close to him in (24). Those postpositive adjectives are
always regarded the reduced relative clauses. Therefore, they can be changed into the
relative clauses like in (23a) and (24a).
(23) But to prepare for the session, Prof. Linda Wetzel did something unorthodox.
(App 1, was D.II, 44)
(23)a. Prof. Linda Wetzel did something that was unorthodox.
(24) ...sources close to him have told the BBC (App 1, bbc A.II, 11)
(24)a. sources who is close to him have told the BBC
less in (25) or the adverb phrase like best in (26), and it can be postmodified by
to-infinitive verb phrase like to be healthy and educated in (25) and to lead in (26) or by the
prepositional phrase like with the production of certain blood cells (27).
(25) and her other children less likely to be healthy and educated. (App 1, bbc
B.IV, 26)
(26) the person "best qualified to lead" (App 1, bbc A.II, 10)
(27). ...there is something wrong with the production of certain blood cells,...
(App 1, bbc B.II, 25)
B. The Elements of Adjective Phrase
Many adjective phrases identified in those news articles occur in a bare form with
only the head without any modifiers, e.g. national archivists, a secure sanctuary, their
financial support, and a regular basis. Beside, the adjective phrases also appear in a
minimal form with the determiners only, e.g. that young. For forming a complex
adjective phrases, the adjectives will take various phrases in their occurrence like an
intensifier phrase: very common, an adverb phrase: unusually serious, a prepositional
phrase: clear to everybody, a verb phrase: unable to pay for themselves, a noun phrase:
antibiotic-resistant, and a clause: surprised that he has not appeared before me.
The adjective phrases that mostly occur in www.washingtonpost.com and
www.bbc.co.uk news articles issued on October 2007 are in a bare form. The number of
its occurrence is 511 or about 74,70%. The second frequent one is the occurrence of the
frequent one is the occurrence with a prepositional phrase. The number as presented in
table is 29 or 4,29%.
Table 2
No. Adjective Phrases Occurrences
post.com bbc.co.uk
Total
(post+bbc)
Percentage
1. Bare adjective phrase 276 232 508 75,25%
2. Minimal Adjective Phrase 1 0 1 0,14%
3. APs with IntP 44 34 78 11,55%
4. APs with IntP + VP 1 6 7 1,03%
5. APs with IntP + Clause 1 1 2 0,29%
6. APs with IntP + PP 4 2 6 0,88%
7. APs with NP 4 0 4 0,59%
8. APs with AdvP 10 5 15 2,22%
9. APs with AdvP + VP 0 1 1 0,14%
10. APs with AdvP + PP 3 1 4 0,59%
11. APs with AdvP + Clause 0 1 1 0,14%
12. APs with PP 18 11 29 4,29%
13. APs with VP 7 5 12 1,77%
14. APs with Clause 3 4 7 1,03%
Total 372 303 675 99,9%
From the table 2, the most frequent occurrence is a bare adjective phrase. They
occur only the head, adjectives like the followings:
(28) pink (App 1, was A.I, 17)
(29) significant (App 1, was B.I, 2)
(30) neurological (App 1, was B.III, 15)
significant, and neurological without any modifiers. The structure of the bare
adjective phrase can be represented in the following diagram (38):
(31) the diagram
AP
A'
A
pink
The second frequent type of the adjective phrase from table 2 is the occurrence of
an intensifier phrase as its element. Its occurrence is 78 in those news articles. It occurs as the pre-modifier in the adjective phrase. Here are the examples:
(32) very strenuous (App 2, bbc A.II, 3)
(33) extremely beneficial (App 2, bbc B.III, 11)
(34) most notorious (App 2, bbc D.I, 10)
(35) more behavioral (App 2, bbc B.III, 19)
In (32). the head of the adjective phrase takes the intensifier phrase very as the
pre-modifier. In (33) the intensifier phrase extremely which comes before the head of the
adjective phrase beneficial functions as its pre-modifier. According to Jackendoff, most,
more, less, and as are called degrees of words (1981: 157-165). Therefore, most in (34) is
considered as the pre-modifier of the head adjective notorious and more in (35) is also
regarded as the pre-modifier of the head adjective behavioral. Most of the intensifier
phrases occur in the adjective phrases are most and more. The structure of the adjective
