noun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase (abbreviated NP) is a phrase whose head is a noun or a pronoun, optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers.[1] Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, but some languages like Tuscarora and Cayuga have been argued[who?] to lack this category. Noun phrases normally consist of a head noun, which is optionally modified (“premodified” If the modifier is placed before the noun; “postmodified” if the modifier is placed after the noun). Possible modifiers include: Noun phrases can make use of an apposition structure. This means that the elements in the noun phrase are not in a head-modifier relationship, but in a relation of equality. An example of this is I, Caesar, declare …, where “Caesar” and “I” do not modify each other. The head of a noun phrase can be implied, as in “The Bold and the Beautiful” or Robin Hood’s “rob from the rich and give to the poor”; an implied noun phrase is most commonly used as a generic plural referring to human beings.
