In linguistics, a determiner phrase (DP) is a type of phrase headed by a determiner such as many.[1] Controversially, many approaches, take a phrase like not very many apples to be a DP, headed, in this case, by the determiner many. This is called the DP analysis or the DP hypothesis. Others reject this analysis in favor of the more traditional NP (noun phrase or nominal phrase) analysis where apples would be the head of the phrase in which the DP not very many is merely a dependent. Thus, there are competing analyses concerning heads and dependents in nominal groups.[2] The DP analysis developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s,[3] and it is the majority view in generative grammar today.[4]
In the example determiner phrases below, the determiners are in boldface:
- a little dog, the little dogs (indefinite or definite articles)
- my little dog, your little dogs (possessives)
- this little dog, those little dogs (demonstratives)
- every little dog, each little dog, no dog (quantifiers)
- ^ Müller, Stefan (2016). Grammatical theory: From transformational grammar to constraint-based approaches. Language Science Press. ISBN 978-3-944675-21-3.
- ^ Müller, Stefan (2016). Grammatical theory: From transformational grammar to constraint-based approaches. Language Science Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-3-944675-21-3.
- ^ Several early works that helped establish the DP-analysis are Vennemann & Harlow (1977), Brame (1982), Szabolski (1983), Hudson (1984), Muysken & van Reimsdijk (1986), and Abney (1987).
- ^ Poole (19??: ???) states that the DP-analysis is the majority stance in generative grammar today.
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