33 means a system that is voluntary for warning against rises in prices Quirk et al.,
1985, p. 1343. In short, the word „voluntary‟ modify the noun head „system‟, but
the word „food‟ directly modifies the premodifier „price‟.
3. Prenominal Genitive ‘s versus Postnominal of-construction
There are two syntactic devices in ENPs to indicate possession. One is by the genitive inflection
‘s, or known as a Saxon genitive, and the other one is by the of-phrase. Although they share the same meaning, Quirk et al. 1985 explain
the difference between the two constructions. The genitive construction consists of two NPs. The first NP shows the genitive case by the inflection
‘s, while the second is the superordinate phrase in which the genitive NP is embedded with a
determinative function. The determinative function means that the genitive NP, by inflection
‘s, functions the same as the determiners, like the p. 1276.
19.a 1. the book
2.
the student’s book
Compared to the genitive construction, the superordinate phrase in the of- construction precedes the NP that is introduced by of. Structurally, the difference
between the genitive and of-construction, in which N
2
is the superordinate phrase or the noun head, is shown as:
Genitive: N
1
‘s N
2
of-phrase: N
2
of N
1
19.b 1. the first grade student‟s English book
2. the English book of the first grade student Quirk et al. 1985 also explain five factors influencing the choice between
the genitive and of-phrase constructions. Those are lexical factors, relational
34 factors, syntactic factors, objective and subjective relations, and communicative
factors. In this research, the first four factors are discussed. Lexical factors including the use of names or personal nouns influence the
choice of genitive construction. The genitive by ‘s is favoured with personal
names, personal nouns, and noun with personal characteristics Quirk et al., 1985, p. 1277
19.c 1. Patrice‟s car; the car of Patrice
2. the dog‟s collar; the collar of the dog
The theory is supported by Haege man and Guéron‟s argument 2004 that “proper
names preferentially appear as pre- nominal Saxon genitives” p. 413.
19.d 1. Bill‟s arm
2. the arm of Bill Quirk et al. 1985 also add that with inanimate or concrete nouns, the of-
construction is required. In their previous book, A Grammar of Contemporary English, Quirk et al. 1972 emphasize that the main factor in choosing the
genitive instead of of-phrase construction is the animate or rather personal quality of the modifying nouns p. 198.
19.e 1. the roof of this house 2.
this house‟s roof However, a group of inanimate nouns, particularly geographical nouns, nouns
denoting location and time, can use both genitive and of-phrase Quirk et al., 1985, p. 1277.
19.f 1. Indonesia‟s population ~ the population of Indonesia
2. the world‟s economy ~ the economy of the world
3. last year‟s profit ~ the profit for last year
35 The next factor in the choice of prenominal genitive and postnominal of-
phrase is subjective and objective relation. The following NP in example 19g has left-to-right predication.
19.g 1. the imprisonment of the murderer 2. Someone imprisoned the murderer.
Verb Object
The NP in 19g.1 has a corresponding sentence in 19g.2, which is assumed to have verb-object relation. This is what Quirk et al. 1985 calls the objective
relation. With the objective relation, of-phrases are preferred to prenominal genitives. The genitive construction is uncommon and unnatural with objective
relation, except when the noun head or N
2
is a deverbal noun. Thus, in the NP „the
imprisonment of the murderer ‟, the phrase has a corresponding genitive as „the
murderer‟s imprisonment‟. Yet, the rule cannot occur in the following NPs in example 19h.
19.h 1. love of power ~ Someone loves power. power‟s love
2. men of science ~ Men study science science‟s men
On the other hand, the NPs in 19i have right-to-left predication. 19.i 1. the arrival of the train ~ The train arrived.
Subject Verb
2. the funnel of the ship ~ The ship has a funnel. The relation between the NPs is a subject-verb relationship and is mentioned as
subjective relation Quirk et al., 1985, p. 1278. Either the genitive construction or of-phrase can occur with subjective relation. Thus, examples 19i have the
genitive equivalents: 19.j 1.
the train‟s arrival 2.
the ship‟s funnel
