Definition and debatable points in the theory of phrases. The status of phrases in
syntax
There are two main levels which are traditionally distinguished in syntax: phrase
level and sentence level. The two main units of syntax are correspondingly the
phrase and the sentence.
There are different definitions of the phrase in linguistic literature. One of them runs
as follows: a phrase is every combination of two or more words which is a
grammatical unit but is not an analytical form of some word (B.A.Ilyish. The
structure of Modern English, p. 171.).
According to some other scholars, the term “phrase” can be applied only to such
groups of words which contain at least two notional words forming a grammatical
unit. Thus, word-groups of the type “preposition + noun” (e.g. at school, in the
lecture hall, etc.) remain outside the classification.
Another debatable problem arises in connection with predicative combinations of
words. Some grammarians hold the view that “a phrase is a group of words which
form a grammatical unit. A phrase does not contain a finite verb and does not have
a subject-predicate structure” (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics, p. 53). Subject-predicate structures are regarded, consequently,
as sentences.
It is known that a sentence is a communicative unit whereas a phrase is a naming
unit employed for naming things, actions, qualities and so on. Subject-predicate
structures may happen to be identical with sentences in form (e.g. They
worked. They worked hard.), but it is only sentences and not phrases which have
intonation of their own. It is also important to notice that the formal coincidence of
subject-predicate structures with sentences is not at all regular: cnf. She sells books
vs* She sells; He bought a newspaper vs* He bought. The formal coincidence of
subject-predicate structures and sentences is possible only with mono-valent verbs
(such as to rain, to snow, to arrive, to sneeze, etc.).
The most remarkable points of difference between phrases and sentences are as
follows:
1) Sentences function as units of communication and phrases are naming units of
language just as separate words are (cnf. Her sister is an English teacher.
vs Mary is a teacher);
2) Sentences are marked by intonation patterns of their own, whereas phrases are
not;
3) All the positions in the sentence should be filled in which is required by the finite
verb valencies.