A Constituent Structural Analysis of the English Noun Phrase in Selected Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

This study analysed the constituent structure of the English noun phrase (henceforth, NP) in some selected Nigerian newspapers. The aim of the study was to carry out a structural analysis of the English NP in two Nigerian newspapers. One of the objectives of the study was to describe the NP modification in the selected newspapers. Another objective was to analyse the dependency relations between the headword and its modifiers in the NP, among others. The study applied the Dependency Grammar as its theoretical framework. The study is a qualitative research which made use of the descriptive research design. The two newspapers studied constituted the study’s population. The sample size was twenty NPs which   were based on the cover page stories of the two newspapers studied. The non-probability sampling technique was used to arrive at the study population. Some of the findings were that there was a predominant use of prepositional phrases (henceforth, PP) in modifying the NPs while the participle was the least used in modifying the NPs among others. The study concluded that there was consistency in terms of how the two newspapers modified the NPs. The study also noted that the constituents had clustering tendencies in the NP modifications in the two newspapers studied. The study observed that there were dependency relationship between the headwords and their dependents in the NPs in the two newspapers studied. The study therefore recommended that for the fact that consistent structures of the English NP as used by the newspaper producers were relatively consistent, newspaper producers should continue with the standard while encouraging readers of newspapers to familiarize themselves with the consistent structures to enhance understanding and readability.