English adjectives of similarity: A corpus study of their determiner/modifier status

Abstract

This paper investigates the determiner/modifier distinction issue. As reference grammars tend to define determiners and modifiers very vaguely especially in neighbouring cases there is a need for more formal rule together with obligatory semantic constraint. The left-hand periphery of English noun phrases is of strict order: determination zone precedes the modification zone (from left to right), so determiners go before the adjectival string. As the determination zone precedes the modification one it is assumed that only modifiers can be preceded by adjectives. The adjectives of similarity are tested in this way. The corpus-based analysis results in fixing possible adjectives accompanying the adjectives of similarity on their left. It is claimed that no adjective of similarity can be considered as a determiner.