X-Bar Practice

Practice: Applying X-bar to Lexical Categories
Introduction to Linguistics: Syntax
Dr. Mohammad Alhailawani
1 The X-bar Schema
2 Noun Phrases
• Nouns can co-occur with the following elements:
1. Determiners: determiners are specifiers that occur to the left of the noun. So,
determiners are always daughters of NP sisters of N’. Examples: the, a, this,
that, these, those, my, his, her, three, two etc.
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2. Adjectives: adjectives modify nouns and can only occur to the left of nouns.
Adjectives are adjuncts. So, they are always daughters of N’ sisters of N’.
Examples: a big dog, a white dog etc.
3. Adverbs modifying adjectives (not nouns): adverbs such as very can modify
adjectives. Adverbs are adjuncts. When an adverb modifies an adjective, it is
always daughter of A’ sister of A’. Examples: a very long movie, an extremely
annoying movie.
4. Prepositions: prepositions can modify nouns. All prepositions except for the
preposition of are adjuncts. So, when prepositions modify a noun, they are
always daughters of N’ sisters of N’. The preposition of is always a complement.
So, the preposition of is always daughter of N’ sister of N (the head). Examples:
the book on the shelf, The book of chemistry.
3 Practice
• Determiners are specifiers that occur to the left of the noun. So, determiners are
always daughters of NP sisters of N’. Below are some examples on determiners:
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• Adjectives modify nouns and can only occur to the left of nouns. Adjectives are
adjuncts. So, they are always daughters of N’ sisters of N’. Below are some examples
on adjectives:
• Adverbs such as very can modify adjectives. Adverbs are adjuncts. When an ad-
verb modifies an adjective, it is always daughter of A’ sister of A’. Below are some
examples on adverbs when they modify an adjective.
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• Prepositions: prepositions can modify nouns. All prepositions except for the prepo-
sition of are adjuncts. So, when prepositons modify a noun, they are always daugh-
ters of N’ sisters of N’. The preposition of is always a complement. So, the preposi-
ton of is always daughter of N’ sister of N (the head). Blow are some examples on
prepositions.
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• Adjectives and prepositions can modify nouns at the same time. Blow are some
examples:
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4 Verb Phrases
• Verbs can co-occur with the following elements:
1. Adverbs: adverbs such as quickly can modify verbs. Adverbs are adjuncts.
When an adverb modifies a verb, it is always daughter of V’ sister of V’. Exam-
ples: finished the race quickly, danced nicely.
2. Adverbs modifying other adverbs: adverbs such as very can modify other
adverbs (e.g. very quickly). Adverbs are adjuncts. When an adverb modifies
another adjective, it is always daughter of Adv’ sister of Adv’.
3. Prepositions: prepositions can also modify verbs. All prepositions except for
the preposition of can modify verbs. So, when prepositions modify a verb, they
are always daughters of V’ sisters of V’. Examples: visited the doctor on Monday,
read the book in the library.
5 Practice
• Adverbs: adverbs such as quickly can modify verbs. Adverbs are adjuncts. When an
adverb modifies a verb, it is always daughter of V’ sister of V’. Examples: finished
the race quickly, danced nicely.
• Adverbs modifying other adverbs: adverbs such as very can modify other ad-
verbs (e.g. very quickly). Adverbs are adjuncts. When an adverb modifies another
adjective, it is always daughter of Adv’ sister of Adv’. Below are some examples:
• Adverbs of time: time expressions such as yesterday, tomorrow, and tonight are
adverbs that can only modify verbs, because only verbs have events (i.e. time), but
not nouns. Here too, such adverbs are always daughter of V’ sister of V’.
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• So, Adverbs in English has three functions:
1. To modify adjectives: A very long movie.
2. To modify verbs: finished the race quickly .
3. To modify other adverbs: finished the race very quickly.
• Prepositions: prepositions can also modify verbs. All prepositions except for the
preposition of can modify verbs. So, when prepositions modify a verb, they are
always daughters of V’ sisters of V’. Below are some examples:
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Practice: Applying X-bar to Lexical Categories

Introduction to Linguistics: Syntax

Dr. Mohammad Alhailawani

1 The X-bar Schema

• Nouns can co-occur with the following elements:

• Verbs can co-occur with the following elements:

1. To modify adjectives: A very long movie.

2. To modify verbs: finished the race quickly .

3. To modify other adverbs: finished the race very quickly.

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