The adjective phrase
The adjective phrase
Besides adjectives proper, participles also function syntactically as adjectives. Adjectives used as predicate complements have an external argument which may raise to become the subject of a copula or the object of a transitive verb. Adjectives may take complements, although mostly they occur without one. A few adjectives take a nominal complement, but mostly the complement is a PP. The complement may also be an infinitival relative, which is the derivational basis of ‘tough’ constructions. An adjective may be preceded by a modifying degree phrase (DegP), expressing degree or comparison. The comparative and the superlative are expressed by modifiers ‘more’ and ‘most’, or by a suffix which is checked against an abstract degree element in DegP. DegP may be followed by a comparative phrase which is extraposed to the right of the adjective.
Keywords: participle, predicate complement, external argument, copula, infinitival relative, ‘tough’ constructions, degree, comparative, superlative, comparative phrase
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