Head-hunting: on the trail of the nominal Janus

Abstract

Introduction This chapter poses the question: ‘What is the head of modified nominal structures such as good students, these students or many students}’ The answer I shall give here is one inspired by classical mythology: namely, that like the ancient Roman god Janus, such structures are double-headed. The theoretical framework used here will be that of Government-Binding theory; the specific descriptive claim being made is that modified nominals incorporate multiple phrasal projections (with each modifier heading a separate projection), and that each phrasal ‘layer’ of the structure comprises both an immediate head (the modifier) and an ultimate head (the modified N): thus, for example, the immediate head of the expression ‘good students’ is the Adjective good, but its ultimate head is the Noun students. The analysis will proceed in a bottom-up fashion: accordingly, I start by looking at the innermost NP ‘core’ of nominals. The internal structure of Noun Phrases Consider the internal structure of nominals such as the following: (1) a. ministry of defence instructions to all employees b. government criticism of the press c. Labour Party policy on defence d. military police involvement in torture of prisoners e. university management allegations of a concerted student campaign of disruption f. European Community demands for monetary union g. student assessment of lectures h. Department of the Environment plans for a new motorway The overall string in such examples is traditionally considered to have the categorial status of a Noun Phrase: its head in each case is clearly the capitalized Noun, since the number properties of the capitalized Noun determine the number properties of the overall nominal, so that, for example, a nominal such as Ministry of Defence instructions …

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