English binominal noun phrases as seen through their Czech counterparts

English binominal noun ph ases as seen h ough hei Czech coun e pa s Gab iela B ůho á#— Ka eřina Va&ků (Cha les Uni e si y( P ague) ABSTRACT !is pape p o ides an analysis o "00 English binominal noun ph ases (BNPs) and hei Czech ansla ion coun e pa s, using da a om apa allel English-Czech co pus. BNPs, cha ac e ized by he N%-o -N& s uc u e, ha e dis inc syn ac ic and seman ic p ope ies, whe e N& ypically unc- ions as he seman ic head, and N% con eys an a ibu i e quali y. !e s udy aims o iden i y Czech s uc u es pe o ming simila unc ions and o speci y he oles o BNPs h ough hei Czech ans- la ions. !e me hodology in ol es manual ex ac ion o BNPs om aco pus, classi ying Czech ans- la ions in o eigh ca ego ies, and analyzing hei e alua i e, desc ip i e, o in ensi ying unc ions. Findings highligh he p e alence o adjec i al p emodi ica ion in Czech ansla ions, he nuanced oles o BNPs, and he cul u al and linguis ic adap a ions in ansla ion. !e esea ch unde sco es he complexi y o ansla ing exp essi e cons uc ions and o(e s insigh s in o linguis ic ypology and ansla ion s a egies. KEYWORDS binominal noun ph ases, con as i e linguis ics, exp essi i y, e alua i e unc ion, seman ic head DOI h ps://doi.o g/%0.%)*%&/%+0,-.",.&0&,.&.) 1 INTRODUCTION Based on he da a om apa allel English-Czech co pus, he p esen pape o(e s an analysis o "00 English binominal noun ph ases (BNPs) as seen h ough hei Czech ansla ion co espondences. BNPs cons i u e adis inc i e ca ego y o syn ac ic con- s uc ions cha ac e ized by he combina ion o wo nouns linked by he p eposi ion o . !ese N%-o -N& cons uc ions a e desc ibed as “aspecial case o p eposi ional ap- posi ion” (Qui k e al., %-+,, p.%&+)), exempli ied by ph ases such as ahell o ap ob- lem, ha idio o ap ime minis e , he ni wi o ahusband, he ool o apoliceman, and an angel o agi l (Aa s, %--+). BNPs a e no able o hei unique syn ac ic and seman ic p ope ies. Syn ac ically, acco ding o p io esea ch, i is he second noun ha unc- ions as he head, wi h he i s noun and he p eposi ion o ac ing as amodi ie in he chunk [N% o a], e.g. hell o a(Aa s, %--+; Kim and Sells, &0%,).1 Seman ically, he i s noun [N%] con eys ap ope y o quali y a ibu ed o he e e en o he second noun [N&] (Aa s, %--+, p.%%+). !is p edica i e aspec o he i s noun mani es s i - sel in wo main ways: he po en ial o pa aph asing BNPs as copula cons uc ions (e.g., he ool o apoliceman becomes he policeman is a ool) and he abili y o subs i u e 1 The modi ie cons uc ion can he e o e be seen as being embedded in ala ge nominal cons uc ion. OPEN ACCESS GABRIELA BRŮHOVÁ#— KATEŘINA VA,KŮ -./ [N% + o + a] wi h an adjec i e (e.g., he ool o apoliceman ans o ms in o he oolish po- liceman). !is dual pa aph asing capabili y unde sco es he seman ic /exibili y and ichness o BNPs in English. !is pape has a wo old aim: a) o iden i y and desc ibe he Czech means which pe o m he same unc ions as he English BNP, b) o u he speci y he unc ions o he cons uc ion as seen h ough he Czech coun e pa s. 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND English binominal noun ph ases exhibi a ange o p ope ies ha ha e been he subjec o linguis ic analysis in wo ks such as hose by Aa s (%--+), Keize (&00*), Kim and Sells (&0%,), and en Wolde (&0&&). !ese p ope ies p o ide insigh s in o he s uc u e and seman ics o BNPs in English. One undamen al cha ac e is ic o English BNPs is he obliga o y use o he p eposi ion o . !is p eposi ion is in eg al o he complex chunk [N% o a], which as awhole unc ions as amodi ie (Aa s, %--+, p.%%-; en Wolde, &0&&, p.&-%; Napoli, %-+-, p.&&)). Fo example, in he ph ase jewel o a ci y in “And i in oduced he o Bu- dapes , ajewel *(o ) aci y.”, he omission o he p eposi ion o would ende he ph ase g amma ically inco ec . !e canonical de e mine o he i s noun in hese ph ases is ypically an in- de ini e a icle. Howe e , a ia ions a e possible (Keize , &00*, p.++(), including demons a i e p onouns ( ha idio o aboy), possessi e p onouns (he ni wi o ahus- band), and inde ini e p onouns like one (one hell o abea ing) o some (some d agon o a ecep ionis ) (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.))). !is /exibili y in he choice o De % allows o a ange o nuances in BNPs. !e second de e mine , on he o he hand, is in a iably an inde ini e a icle, e.g., he s upid ni wi o ahusband. (Huddles on and Pullum, &00&, p.))&), o ahell o aday (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.))–),), wi h o he de e mine s no being possible (c . ahell o *some/*any/*one day). Howe e , in some cases, especially wi h plu al nouns, he a icle may be omi ed, as in jewels o illages like Wes Bu on and Ask igg (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.))–),). Akey aspec o BNPs is ha i is he second noun (N&) ha ypically unc ions as he seman ic head, con ibu ing o he co e meaning o he BNP. Fo ins ance, in She’s a igh ened li"le mouse o awoman, he ph ase essen ially means She is a igh ened woman, no She is a igh ened li"le mouse. Howe e , he e a e ins ances whe e bo h N% and N& can se e as seman ic heads, as seen in She doesn’ wan o alk o his idio o ap ime minis e , whe e idio and p ime minis e bo h hold seman ic weigh : She doesn’ wan o alk o his idio . o She doesn’ wan o alk o ap ime minis e .2 (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.),). In e es ingly, he i s de e mine can ex end i s scope o encompass no only he i s noun bu also he second noun. !is is e iden in ph ases like you ool o a a he (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.)*) o ou mise able sod o acleane (Aa s, %--+, p.%"%), whe e 2 Howe e , amo e sui able pa aph ase would con ain ade ini e de e mine : She doesn’ wan o alk o he / his p ime minis e in his case. OPEN ACCESS -.0 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/1213 he e alua ion applies o he pe son deno ed by he second noun ( a he , cleane ): You a he is a ool. o Ou cleane is amise able sod. F om he p agma ic s andpoin , BNPs a e desc ibed as in a iably e alua i e. One common cha ac e is ic o BNPs is ha hey o en in ol e nega i e assessmen s o he e e en o N& o a e used as insul s (Aa s, %--+, p.%&%). Examples like a ool o ad i e , abi ch o asec e a y, and aslu o aschool eache demons a e he nega i e e alua i e na u e o BNPs. By combining N% wi h N&, hese ph ases in ensi y he nega i e judgmen o de oga o y na u e o he desc ip ion. Howe e , i is impo an o no e ha BNPs can also be used o posi i e assessmen when an app op ia e N% is employed (Aa s, %--+, p.%&%). Fo ins ance, ph ases like an angel o agi l, apea l o ajob, and awonde o aci y exp ess posi i e e alua ions. In hese cases, BNPs c ea e asense o admi a ion o emphasize he excep ional quali ies o he desc ibed pe son o hing. In e ms o meaning, “ he e does seem o be aco e o ‘exp essi e’ meaning in all BNP examples, and his exp essi e na u e is p esumably how he cons uc ion is unc ionally mo i a ed in ac ual usage” (Kim and Sells, &0%,, p.,%) . BNPs o(e a alu- able means o exp ess e alua ions o judgmen s o pe sons and hings, pa icula ly in ic ion . !ey a e ypically used o he desc ip ion o indi iduals and hings o con ey as ong e alua i e meaning and c ea e i id image y. !us, BNPs allow speake s o w i e s o con ey hei subjec i e e alua ions wi h added emphasis and in ensi y, e oking apa icula emo ional o desc ip i e e(ec . Den Dikken (&00., p.%.&) dis in- guishes wo sub ypes o he cons uc ion: a compa a i e (ajewel o a illage) and an a ibu i e sub ype (an idio o adoc o ). In summa y, English BNPs a e cha ac e ized by hei obliga o y use o he p epo- si ion o , /exibili y in de e mine choice, he ypical ole o N& as he seman ic head, he po en ial o bo h N% and N& o ha e p emodi ie s, and hei in a iably e alua i e na u e.3 !ese p ope ies con ibu e o he ich exp essi e po en ial o BNPs in Eng- lish. 3 MATERIAL AND METHOD !e s udy ocuses on examining English BNPs and hei Czech coun e pa s. !is compa a i e analysis seeks o deepen ou unde s anding o he s uc u al and unc- ional cha ac e is ics o English BNPs by explo ing how hey a e ansla ed in o Czech, he eby shedding ligh on he seman ics o he English cons uc ion h ough i s Czech coun e pa s. Since he e is no di ec coun e pa o he BNP in Czech, ou main aim is o in es iga e how his speci ic cons uc ion is ansla ed in o Czech and how i s exp essi i y is e/ec ed. !e p ima y me hodology in ol es ex ac ing ex- amples o BNPs om apa allel English-Czech co pus and analysing hei ansla ion equi alen s in Czech. !e da a o his s udy we e sou ced om he In e Co p pa allel English-Czech 3 Fo ade ailed discussion o he BNP p ope ies see Kim and Sells (2015) and en Wolde (2022). OPEN ACCESS GABRIELA BRŮHOVÁ#— KATEŘINA VA,KŮ -.4 co pus, speci ically ocusing on English o iginals om he ic ion gen e. To iden i y English BNPs, we used he ollowing que y: [ ag = "N."][wo d = "o "][lemma = "a"][ ag = "JJ"]{0,%}[ ag = "N."]. Howe e , his app oach esul ed in nume ous alse posi i es, making manual se- lec ion essen ial o accu a ely iden i ying and ex ac ing au hen ic BNPs. Conse- quen ly, we chose a andom se o au ho s and i les and p ocessed he que y esul s un il we compiled "00 examples o BNPs. !e inal sample con ains )+ i les by ". au ho s. !e manual selec ion p ocess o ex ac ing BNPs was guided by wo p ima y c i- e ia. !e i s c i e ion was e o mula ion by p edica ion, whe e he BNP allows pa - aph asing h ough acopula p edica ion (e.g. agian o aman ansla ing o he man is agian ), o apa aph ase by asimile (e.g. ahoney o ahouse ansla ing o he house is like honey). !e second c i e ion was ha he second noun (N&) in he BNP s uc u e should be he seman ic head. !is app oach, howe e , p esen ed challenges, pa icula ly wi h p oblema ic examples. Fo ins ance, in he ph ase shadow o a, di(e en con ex s led o a ying in e p e a ions. In she was he shadow o agi l, i aligns wi h BNP c i e ia (“ he gi l is ashadow”), bu in she saw he shadow o agi l, ambigui y a ises—i could mean “she saw he gi l” (BNP) o “she saw he gi l’s shadow” (no aBNP). In he case o she s epped in o he shadow o agi l, he s uc u e doesn’ mee he BNP c i e ia. !ese nu- anced con ex s necessi a ed ca e ul manual analysis o ensu e accu a e iden i ica ion o genuine BNPs. !e ex ac ed da a we e hen classi ied in o eigh ca ego ies based on he ans- la ion coun e pa s in Czech. !ese ca ego ies include p emodi ica ion, pos modi i- ca ion, clausal coun e pa , syn he ic coun e pa , apposi ion, in ensi ie , adjec i al ph ase and o he means. !is classi ica ion allows o ade ailed analysis o how he s uc u al and seman ic p ope ies o English BNPs a e con eyed in Czech. Wi hin each ca ego y, we de e mined he unc ion he [N% o a] sequence wi h espec o he ollowing noun. We iden i ied h ee di(e en unc ions: e alua i e, desc ip i e o in ensi ying. In he case o e alua i e unc ion, he [N% o a] exp esses aposi i e o nega i e e alua ion o N& ( ha a nigh ma e o agi l, ahoney o ahouse). !e desc ip i e unc ion is used when he [N% o a] sequence desc ibes he size, shape o appea ance o he N& e e en (apink- aced, gold-hai ed, o e g own che ub o aman) and, las ly, he [N% o a] sequence can be used o in ensi y ap ope y which is ei he exp essed by amodi ie o N& (ahell o as ong wo d “a e y s ong wo d”) o which can be in e ed (hell o an acciden “a e y se ious acciden ”). Ou hypo hesis is ha he p ima y ype o he Czech coun e pa will di(e ac- co ding o he unc ion o he BNP cons uc ion. !e esea ch is expec ed o p o ide insigh s in o he ansla ion s a egies used o BNPs in Czech, e ealing he linguis- ic and cul u al conside a ions ha in/uence hese ansla ions. Addi ionally, he e- sea ch aims o deepen ou unde s anding o he unc ional mo i a ions d i ing he use o BNPs in English. OPEN ACCESS -32 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/1213 4 ANALYSIS .5- VARIABILITY OF N- !e sample o "00 examples o he cons uc ion con ains %&% di(e en ypes a he N% posi ion. !e ollowing igu e displays he mos p ominen ypes wi h hei e- quency in he co pus4: igu%e 1:Mos equen nouns in he N1 posi ion !e da ase exhibi s ama ked cons uc ional p e e ence o he noun hell (e.g. ahell o apa y). Addi ionally, a ai ly s ong p e e ence is obse ed o se e al o he nouns, such as shadow, de il, ool, ghos , gian (e.g. ashadow o a own, ade il o asi - ua ion, ha ool o acons able, agian o alad). Howe e , he N% posi ion wi hin hese cons uc ions also exhibi s ahigh deg ee o lexical di e si y, as e idenced by he in- clusion o awide a ay o o he low- equency ypes, sugges ing a e sa ile pa e n o noun inco po a ion. .51 VARIABILITY OF N1 !e sample con ains e en mo e di(e en ypes a he N& posi ion, ha is %*& di(e - en nouns. Nouns wi h s a is ically signi ican equency a e p esen ed in Figu e &. We can e eal adisce nible pa e n in he dis ibu ion o nouns occupying he N& posi ion wi hin ou cons uc ional amewo k. Unlike he N% posi ion, which is domina ed by aconspicuous ou lie , hell, he N& posi ion showcases g ea e a ia- ion wi h no single noun disp opo iona ely equen . !is sugges s amo e dynamic and /exible u iliza ion o nouns in he N& slo . !e nouns man and ime appea mos equen ly, bu wi h coun s o &) and &" espec i ely, hey do no o e shadow o he nouns signi ican ly. !is is indica i e o acons uc ion ha in eg a es ypically gen- e al nouns such as man, woman, and hing, e/ec ing a endency owa ds gene al a he han speci ic desc ip ions in he N& posi ion. 4 We applied abinomial p obabili y model o assess he s a is ical signi icance o linguis- ic a ian equencies o bo h N1 and N2. We chose o limi ou discussion o ypes wi h 4 and mo e occu ences, as nouns wi h lowe equencies displayed lowe con idence in- e al bounds o ze o, indica ing insu%cien s a is ical e idence o conclusi ely di&e en- ia e hei p esence om andom chance wi hin he gi en con idence le el (p>0.05). hell shadow de il ool ghos gian igu e 5 7 8 10 15 16 110 OPEN ACCESS GABRIELA BRŮHOVÁ#— KATEŘINA VA,KŮ -3- Based on he examples o he cons uc ion p o ided in li e a u e we expec ed ha mos N& e e en s will be anima e, bu ..% o he da ase display an inanima e N& e e en . As o he ypical seman ics o N&, he mos equen e e en s include ape son (ahawk o aman, an impe ious whi lwind o awoman, ahell o aguy), ime (ahell o a ime, ahell o aday; anigh ma e o ayea ), place o loca ion ( his dull ho b u e shi o as ee ; he all, de elic bi d’s nes o ahouse; some ou is ap o aho el) o nouns desc ibing human looks o cha ac e is ics (he squashed- oma o o anose; Goyle’s low asp o a oice; abi"e inkle o alaugh; abig c inkled Uo asmile). !e N& is o en agen- e al, seman ically edundan noun, he main unc ion o which is mainly o ill in he g amma ical slo in he cons uc ion. .56 TRANSLATION COUNTERPARTS igu%e (:Mos equen nouns in he N2 posi ion p emodi ica ion pos modi ica ion clausal coun e pa syn he ic coun e pa o he in ensi ie + ad /adj apposi ion adjec i al ph ase 106 56 36 33 26 21 14 8 man ime hing woman day way guy gi l ways smile oom place doub 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 9 10 23 24 igu%e ):Dis ibu ion o Czech ansla ion coun e pa s o he English BNP OPEN ACCESS -31 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/1213 .565- PREMODIFICATION BY AN ADJECTIVE !e mos equen coun e pa o he English BNP in ou s udy is p emodi ica ion, obse ed in %0. ins ances, accoun ing o o e a hi d o ou da a. Consis en wi h p io esea ch, hese Czech coun e pa s co obo a e ha N% a ibu es ap ope y o N& (Aa s, %--+; Kim and Sells, &0%,), a ole ypically ul illed by adjec i al p emodi- ica ion in Czech. F om he seman ic pe spec i e, he [N% o a] sequence p ima ily se es h ee unc ions: e alua i e, desc ip i e, and in ensi ying. In Czech ansla ions, hese a e ende ed h ough co esponding e alua i e, desc ip i e, o in ensi ying adjec i es. As depic ed in Figu e ), he e alua i e unc ion is ma kedly mo e p e alen in his ca ego y han he desc ip i e and in ensi ying unc ions. igu%e 4:Func ions o [N1 o a] co esponding o Czech p emodi ica ion E alua i e unc ion Bo h N% in he English BNP and he adjec i e in he Czech coun e pa asc ibe an e alua i e p ope y o he seman ic head (N& in English, head o NP in Czech). E al- ua ion is a unc ion which is equen ly desc ibed as he main unc ion o BNPs (c . Aa s, %--+). Examples om ou da ase include: (%) a. you ool o amo he její p a1 2ná ma ka [he oolish mo he ] b. he a sehole o ahusband její k e énsk3 man4el [he c e inous husband] c. a eal p ince o aman á4n2 sk 2l3 chlap [a eally g ea guy] !e examples abo e ep esen pu ely e alua i e unc ion, in ol ing ei he nega i e (exx. %a and %b) o posi i e (ex. %c) assessmen o he e e en o N&. Desc ip i e unc ion Con a y o ou ini ial assump ions, ou da a include &* ins ances whe e he BNP se es apu pose o he han e alua ion, wi h he [N% o a] sequence being mo e de- sc ip i e. He e, he p ima y ole o he i s noun is o desc ibe he size, shape, o appea ance o he N& e e en . !e e o e, we decided o ca ego ize hem sepa a ely. (&) a. agian o aman ob o i 3 mu4 [ahuge man] e alua i e desc ip i e in ensi ying 59 27 20 OPEN ACCESS GABRIELA BRŮHOVÁ#— KATEŘINA VA,KŮ -36 b. a o midable ba el o aman ako 3 dob5e ud2lan3, mohu n3 chlapík [awell-buil , la ge man] c. apudding o a ellow osolo i 3 chlapík [ajelly-like ellow] In ensi ying unc ion In ce ain ins ances, bo h he English N% and he Czech equi alen exhibi an in en- si ying unc ion, ampli ying ap ope y associa ed wi h N&, which can be deduced om he con ex . (") a. one hell o anoise 1ílen3 acho [an insane noise] b. one hell o an achie emen za acen3 úsp2ch [adamn achie emen ] Examples "a and "b demons a e ha he posi ion o he i s de e mine ypically oc- cupied by he inde ini e a icle can ins ead be illed by he inde ini e p onoun one. As en Wolde (&0&&, p.&+-) no es, his ep esen s an empha ic use o one. Fu he mo e, Keize (&00*, p.+-) highligh s ha one se es a ein o cing ole, he eby ampli ying he in ensi y o he ph ase hell o . .5651 POSTMODIFICATION !e second mos equen ansla ion coun e pa in ou s udy is he use o aCzech pos modi ying ph ase o clause (%-% o sample da a). Pos modi ica ion di(e s om p emodi ica ion in ha i allows o mo e exp essi e and e bose desc ip ions, which a e pa icula ly sui able o depic ing he appea ance o he N& e e en . !e dis ibu- ion o he h ee unc ions o he [N% o a] sequence is comple ely di(e en in his ca - ego y. I seems ha he e alua i e unc ion in Czech is mo e associa ed wi h he ad- jec i al p emodi ica ion han wi h pos modi ica ion. !e di(e en dis ibu ion o he desc ip i e and e alua i e unc ion in p emodi ica ion and pos modi ica ion coun- e pa s is s a is ically signi ican . igu%e 5:Func ions o [N1 o a] co esponding o Czech pos modi ica ion Pos modi ica ion akes a ious o ms, anging om a ela i e clause (exx. )a, ,a), p eposi ional ph ase (exx. )b, ,) o an adjec i al ph ase (ex. )c). In se e al ins ances he Czech ansla ion coun e pa s con ain ame apho (sjes řábí áří in ex. )b) o asimile (jako ěs o in ex. )c), c ea ing acompa ison be ween he desc ibed pe son o hing and he noun used in N%. !e ansla ion may also make use o an idioma ic ex- desc ip i e in ensi ying e alua i e 29 16 11 OPEN ACCESS -3. LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/1213 p ession wi h aco esponding unc ion, e.g. an in ensi ying [N% o a] is ansla ed as an in ensi ying idiom in o Czech (ex. .). !is ansla ion app oach appea s mo e ap o complex seman ic ela ionships han ap emodi ie , especially in he desc ip i e unc ions o N%. Desc ip i e unc ion ()) a. he squashed- oma o o anose nos, k e 3 p5ipomínal ozmačkané ajče [anose ha looked like asquashed oma o] b. a hin, shabby, agged hawk o aman yzábl3, o1un 2l3, zpus l3 mu4 sjes 5ábí á5í [a hin, shabby, agged man wi h ahawk ace] c. he a pudding o agi l a dí ka nakynu á jako 2s o [ he gi l isen like dough] E alua i e unc ion (,) a. he uin o an old woman 4ena, zní4 zbyla jen s a5ičká oska [awoman who emained jus an old w eck] b. Well, you’ e one hell o adoc o ! Teda y js e op a du dok o za 1echny p achy! [You a e eally adoc o o all he money! = You a e a e ible doc o !] In ensi ying unc ion (.) one hell o ac ack puklina jako h om [ac ack like hunde = ahuge c ack ] .5656 CLAUSAL COUNTERPART Ano he ela i ely equen means how o deal wi h he BNP in he Czech ansla ion is subs i u ing he seman ically dense nominal cons uc ion by aclausal coun e pa (%&% o sample da a). In hese ins ances, he ansla o op s o amo e explici , and o en mo e e bose, manne o exp ession (exx. * a, b) o e/ec he exp essi i y o he o iginal BNP. !ese cases show ha Czech ends o explici ly exp ess wha Eng- lish only implies, hus p o iding amo e i id desc ip ion o he e e en o N&. In many o hese ins ances, he Czech use o alexical e b co esponds o an English cons uc ion wi h aseman ically weak e b like ha e, ake, o make comple- men ed by an objec (exx. + a, b). !e ypological di(e ence in he choice o nominal and e bal means in Czech and English was al eady desc ibed by Ma hesius (%-*,, p.%0)), who no iced ha “[i] n Czech, one almos in a iably encoun e s apu ely e bal p edica ion, i.e. he ac- ion is exp essed by he ini e e b- o m. !is is also qui e common in English, bu in addi ion, a e y equen ype appea s o be he e bo-nominal p edica ion, i.e. OPEN ACCESS