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2. Noun Phrase as Prepositional Complement in a Clause
According to Huddleston and Pullum, a word is called a preposition when it has noun phrase as a complement. The form of a preposition is quite simple for it
has no inflection like verbs do. Since noun phrase contains a noun as the head, it has the same characteristic in the English grammar. Often prepositional phrase is
constructed from preposition as the head then followed by noun phrases. Those noun phrases following a preposition is called prepositional complement. There are
total 187 noun phrases with 27 occurrence found in the data of the utterances. The examples of the noun phrases as prepositional complement with different structure
types are as follow in the order of occurrence in the utterances. 53
They’re runes, burned into
our skin
. page 30 The noun phrase
our skin
in clause 53 is a prepositional complement of the preposition
into
. The noun phrase itself has the structure of determiner followed by the head of the phrase. The word
our
is the determiner of the singular noun head phrase
skin
. There are 97 noun phrases sharing this similar structure of noun phrase which function as prepositional complement.
54 We lived in
a manor house
. page 111 Clause 54 shows that the noun phrase
a manor house
is the prepositional complement of the preposition
in
. According to the data, there are 33 noun phrase functioning as prepositional complement with this type of structure. The structure
of this structure type of noun phrase is determiner followed by pre-modifier in order to modify the head of the phrase. The indefinite article
a
is the determiner of the phrase. The noun
manor
modifies the singular noun head
house
as a pre-modifier. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
53
55 Try to think of it as
endurance training
. page 46 In clause 55, it can be seen that the noun phrase
endurance training
is the prepositional complement of the preposition
as
. The noun phrase structure is only consists of pre-modifier and the head of the phrase. The noun word
endurance
is the pre-modifier of the singular noun head
training
. There are 25 noun phrases found as a prepositional complement with this type of structure in the data.
56 That Ravener demon got you in
the back of the neck
. page 36 The phrase in italic as in clause 56 is a prepositional complement. It
follows directly the preposition in. The noun phrase
the back of the neck
has the structure of determiner
the
followed by the head
back
then the post-modifier
of the neck
. 23 noun phrases are found in the utterances with the same structure and the function of prepositional complement.
57 You instructed me yourself in
the precise art of killing
. page 279 The noun phrase the precise art of killing in clause 57 is a prepositional
complement. It has the structure of determiner followed by the pre-modifier, the head of the phrase, and the post-modifier. The definite article
the
is the determiner followed by the pre-modifier
precise
and post-modifier
of killing
to modify the noun phrase head
art
. There are only 5 noun phrase which share the same structure functioning as prepositional complement found from the data collection.
58 I’d got hold of
something interesting
. page 74 The noun phrase
something interesting
in clause 58 is a prepositional complement of the preposition
of
. The data collection show that there are only 3 noun phrase with this type of noun phrase structure as the prepositional
54
complement. The noun head
something
is modified by the nonfinite clause
interesting
. 59
I must have sent five hundred of them back to
whatever hellish dimension they crawled out of
. page 160 Clause 59 shows the noun phrase
whatever hellish dimension they crawled out of
is the only prepositional complement with the structure pre-modifier followed by the head and the post-modifier found in the utterances. The preposition
to
indicates that the noun phrase in clause 60 is the prepositional complement. The adjectives
whatever
and
hellish
is the pre-modifier to modify the singular noun phrase head
dimension
followed by the finite clause
they crawled out of
as the post- modifier.
In summary, clauses 53 to 59 show that all of the noun phrases are the complement of the preposition such as
in
,
into
,
to
,
as
,
of
and
at
. In addition, all of the prepositions in the above examples have meanings in terms of space and time.
The prepositions
in
as in clause 54, and 56 show the meaning of spatial location. The preposition in doesn’t always indicate spatial location but also to indicate
something or someone belongs to or as a part of something as in clause 57. In clause 53 and 59, the preposition
into
and
to
indicates the direction of the action of the verb. In clause 55, the preposition
as
is used to indicate how a person or thing is thought to appear. The preposition
of
in clause 58 indicates something relating to.
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3. Noun Phrase as Predicative Complement in a Clause
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