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1. [A nearby house] was for sale.

2. [A house nearby] was for sale.

3. A house was [nearby], and it was for sale.

(7)

• a. All navigable rivers are being patrolled.

• a'. All rivers navigable are being patrolled.

• b. Every available penny was put into their project.

• b'. Every penny available was put into their project.

 

This, however, does not mean that we can simply make our eventual rule for the division of labor between prenominal and postnominal modifiers optional in the case of "simple" A's. As Bolinger (1967a) pointed out, when both word orders are possible (thus, excluding examples as in (3)), they differ in the meanings that they can express: postnominal modifiers can only express "ephemeral" properties, as in (7a'), which refers to those rivers that happen at the moment to allow navigation (thus, perhaps excluding some rivers that normally allow navigation but at present are blocked by ice, and including some rivers that normally do not accommodate ships but happen to be usable at the moment by ships because of an abnormally high water level), (fn 8) while prenominal modifiers can express not only ephemeral but also "permanent" properties, as in (7a), which can refer to the rivers that normally allow navigation.

 

Accordingly, simple A's that refer to permanent properties are restricted to prenominal positions:

 

(8)

• a. an even number

• b. a very tall man

• a'. * a number even <-- (ungrammatical)

• b'. * a man very tall <-- (ungrammatical)

(d) PPs

 

[14]

• i. . . .

• ii. the temperature [outside], the floor [below], the year [before]

• iii. . . .

 

A very great range of PPs can function as post-head modifier. Those in [i ] illustrate the most frequent pattern, with the preposition having an NP as complement. In the last example, with as, the oblique NP is interpreted predicatively: Jill was a journalist. We also find prepositions without complements, generally locative or temporal, as in [ii ]; and in [iii ] the prepositions have clauses as complement.

Realisation

 

Most location dependents have the form of a PP. A sample of prepositions (and prepositional idioms) heading such phrases is given in:

 

[16]

• i. abroad downhill downstairs here hereabouts home indoors nearby overseas there where

• ii. . . .

• iii. . . .

 

The items in [i ] occur without complements in the PP: He lives abroad; Nearby, some children were playing cricket.

1. [A nearby house] was for sale.

2. [A house nearby] was for sale.

3. A house was [nearby], and it was for sale.

(7)

• a. All navigable rivers are being patrolled.

• a'. All rivers navigable are being patrolled.

• b. Every available penny was put into their project.

• b'. Every penny available was put into their project.

This, however, does not mean that we can simply make our eventual rule for the division of labor between prenominal and postnominal modifiers optional in the case of "simple" A's. As Bolinger (1967a) pointed out, when both word orders are possible (thus, excluding examples as in (3)), they differ in the meanings that they can express: postnominal modifiers can only express "ephemeral" properties, as in (7a'), which refers to those rivers that happen at the moment to allow navigation (thus, perhaps excluding some rivers that normally allow navigation but at present are blocked by ice, and including some rivers that normally do not accommodate ships but happen to be usable at the moment by ships because of an abnormally high water level), (fn 8) while prenominal modifiers can express not only ephemeral but also "permanent" properties, as in (7a), which can refer to the rivers that normally allow navigation.

Accordingly, simple A's that refer to permanent properties are restricted to prenominal positions:

(8)

• a. an even number

• b. a very tall man

• a'. * a number even <-- (ungrammatical)

• b'. * a man very tall <-- (ungrammatical)

(d) PPs

[14]

• i. . . .

• ii. the temperature [outside], the floor [below], the year [before]

• iii. . . .

A very great range of PPs can function as post-head modifier. Those in [i ] illustrate the most frequent pattern, with the preposition having an NP as complement. In the last example, with as, the oblique NP is interpreted predicatively: Jill was a journalist. We also find prepositions without complements, generally locative or temporal, as in [ii ]; and in [iii ] the prepositions have clauses as complement.

Realisation

Most location dependents have the form of a PP. A sample of prepositions (and prepositional idioms) heading such phrases is given in:

[16]

• i. abroad downhill downstairs here hereabouts home indoors nearby overseas there where

• ii. . . .

• iii. . . .

The items in [i ] occur without complements in the PP: He lives abroad; Nearby, some children were playing cricket.

(ASIDE: For more info on this sort of topic, please see Araucaria's answer post.)

(ASIDE: For more info on this sort of topic, please see Araucaria's answer post.)

[ASIDE: Though, it seems that, in this discussion of these last three examples that were just given, it probably don't necessarily rule out the possibility of interpreting the word "nearby" as being an adverb in them.]

[ASIDE: Though, it seems that, in this discussion of these last three examples that were just given, it probably doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility of interpreting the word "nearby" as being an adverb in them.]