Nominal structures

This chapter shows how nominal structures are treated in HPSG. The introduction puts the discussion in the broader context of the NP vs.\ DP debate and differentiates three HPSG treatments: the specifier treatment, the DP treatment and the functor treatment. They are each presented in some detail and applied to the analysis of ordinary nominals. A comparison reveals that the DP treatment does not mesh as well with the monostratal surface-oriented nature of the HPSG framework as the other treatments. Then it is shown how the specifier treatment and the functor treatment deal with nominals that have idiosyncratic properties, such as the gerund, the Big Mess Construction and irregular P+NOM combinations.