S NP
I. Definition. There is a very ramified set of nominalising transformations in English.
The general definition of this transformation reads as follows: the nominalising transformations are such transformations as " nominalise a sentence, i. e. change to a form that can appear in one of the N-phrases positions of another sentence."
The seagull shrieked the shriek(ing) of the seagull
He loves pictures his love for pictures
The man has a son the man's son
The N -transforms show that the relations of the sentences from which they are derived are preserved in the N -phrases: in the first sentence these were the relations of ' actor action,' in the second ' actor action thing acted upon,' and in the third the relations of possession. These relations constitute the meaning of the N -transforms.
Thus we must conclude that the definition of nominalisation given above is not exhaustive, and we must add to it the following "...and keep the same relations between their form classes that characterise the sentences from which they are derived."
II. The necessity of the S NP transformation It will be of interest
to seek out the reason why native speakers of English generate N-transforms and extensively use them. The first reason is that no lexicon can be large enough to contain names for all the things about which at some time or other we shall speak and for which we must have distinct names, e. g. not " the shriek of a seagull " but "the shriek of an engine," and the like. The second reason for using N -transforms, especially those with V -to, V -ing, and V -en, is that they make English sentences more compact as compared with the complex sentences. This fact has been mentioned by many English and American grammarians
III. The transformation of nominalisation is mostly applied to kernel sentences, and more rarely to their passive transforms; in each case the relations of the units of the underlying construction being retained by the N -transform.
The kernel sentences are of several types: verbal and with BE. The sentences with V are distinguished in accord with the valence of the V (transitive, intransitive, etc.); the sentences with BE are also subdivided into such as express characteristics of the NP1, (subject), and such as express the place of the subject.
The N -transform may be filled in with class words capable to fill a certain position in the N -structure.
He owned the shop the owner of the shop
the landlord of the shop
In the first N -transform we observe a regular transformation, in the secondonly the substitution of the positions with the suitable words.
IV. Transformations of sentences with BE. The word BE is a unique word. The transformational procedures of these sentences differ from those of verbal sentences in many ways, e. g. the function word 'do1 is not used in T-A, T-Q, T-W, T-NOT, it has special forms for the singular and the plural in the past, and special forms in the singular for persons in the present tense.
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In the domain of nominalising transformation the uniqueness of BE tells in its being very easily deleted.
A. (1) NP is A TAN (T is a determiner)
The operations applied to the sentence are: (a) deletion of BE, (b) embedding A into NP between T and N, e. g.
The girl is pretty the pretty girl
The man is kind the kind man
The sea is rough the rough sea
The N is A sentence structure is differentiated into two subtypes:
(1) with A that express quality and
(2) with A that express state.
The second type doesn't lend itself to the nominalising transformation, it has no corresponding N -structure which can express 'actorstate' relations, since TAN transform expresses 'thingits quality' relations and not 'actor state' relations. Thus we nominalise:
His smile was cold a cold smile (generalised)
Her voice is fine fine voice
but we do not nominalise:
"The baby is cold," "The baby is asleep,"
"The man is right," "Mother is angry," and the like.
Some A are quality and state A, just as well as some V are transitive and intransitive. The nominalising transformation (the possibility or the impossibility of its application) is a formal way of discriminating these two subgroups of A. Non-transformational grammar could not find the solution of the problem of 'state adjectives' although the intuition of the scientist told about the difference. Tyhus we nominalise:
His looks were angry the angry looks
The answer was right a right answer
The answer is wrong a wrong answer
But we cannot nominalise in this way the following sentences:
"The mother was angry,"
"The man was right,"
"You are wrong,"" The boy is ill,"
"The children are awake,"
"The field was a froth with cowslips," etc.
(2) Kernel sentences of the same type ' NP is A ' may be transformed in an other way:
NP is
A TN / A of NP where N / A is an N derived from A.
The task was difficult the difficulty of the task
The expedition was dangerous the danger of the expedition.
The day was lovely the loveliness of the day
The man is wise the wisdom of the man.
* * *
The perations applied to the sentence are performed on two levels: on the morphemic level the N is derived from the A by means of certain suffix transformations; on the syntactic level the NP of the kernel sentence is connected with TN / A by means of the preposition 'of'.
B. NP is NP NP NP
The operation applied is the deletion of the word BE. The two NP stand in opposition to one another after this operation.
Mr. West is a teacher Mr. West a teacher
Spot is a dog Spot a (the) dog
The determiner depends on the underlying sentence, whether it is kernel or the T of identification.
. (1) NP is of NP NP of NP
