Lecture 4Noun and Noun PhraseTeaching Time: 2hoursTeaching Aims:1. Let the students master the classification of nouns and function of nounphrases.2.Make the students master the numberforms of nouns.3.Makethestudents masterthepartitives.Key Points:1.The classification of nouns2.Thefunctionofnounphrases3.The number forms of nouns4. The partitivesDifficultPoints:1.The function of noun phrases2.The numberforms of nounsTeaching Procedures:Stage I : Greetings (Imin)Stage II :Revision (8mins)1.TheteacherchecksEXERCISE3C2.TheteachergivesanexplanationofsomedifficultonesStagel:Presentation (30mins)As has been pointed out, the noun phrase is a phrase with a noun as its head.It is the noun head that determines the way the noun phrase is organized1. Classification of nouns and function of noun phrases1)Classification of nounsNounscanbeclassifiedaccordingtowordformation,lexicalmeaning and16
16 Lecture 4 Noun and Noun Phrase Teaching Time: 2hours Teaching Aims: 1. Let the students master the classification of nouns and function of noun phrases. 2. Make the students master the number forms of nouns. 3. Make the students master the partitives. Key Points: 1. The classification of nouns 2. The function of noun phrases 3. The number forms of nouns 4. The partitives Difficult Points: 1. The function of noun phrases 2. The number forms of nouns Teaching Procedures: StageⅠ: Greetings (1min) StageⅡ:Revision (8mins) 1. The teacher checks EXERCISE 3C 2. The teacher gives an explanation of some difficult ones. StageⅢ: Presentation (30mins) As has been pointed out, the noun phrase is a phrase with a noun as its head. It is the noun head that determines the way the noun phrase is organized. 1. Classification of nouns and function of noun phrases 1) Classification of nouns Nouns can be classified according to word formation, lexical meaning and
grammatical forma)simple,compoundandderivativenounsAccordingtowordformation,nounscanbedividedintosimple,compoundand derivative nouns. A simple noun is a noun that contains only one freemorpheme (e.g.:man,chair,land,faith).Acompound noun isanounthatiscomposedoftwoormoremorphemes (mostlyfreemorphemes)(e.g:armchair,farmland,seaside, roommate).Aderivativenoun is a noun that comesfrom averb,an adjective or a simple noun with affix(e.g:arrangement, greatness,patriotism).b)ProperandcommonnounsAccording to lexical meanings, nouns fall into two major categories:propernouns and common nouns.A proper noun is name used for a particular person,place or thing, and spelt with a capital initial letter (e.g: Anderson, Britain, TheNewYorkTimes).Acommonnounscanbefurtherclassifiedintoindividual,collective,material,and abstract nouns(e.g.:boy,tiger,family,team,water,air, honesty, glory).c)Countand noncountnounsAccordingtogrammaticalform,nounscanbedividedintotwoclasses:countnouns and noncountnouns.Acountnoun(or countablenoun)isanounthathas a plural and which can collocate with numbers and with such determiners asa(n),many,few,these those,several,etc(e.g.:a car,two cars,many cars,several cars). A noncount noun (or uncountable noun) is a noun that cannot gowith the above-mentioned words(e.g.:bread,furniture,merchandise).2)Function ofnounphrasesThe noun phrase can function as all the elements in a sentenceexcept thepredicate verb:Children at play seldom remember what time it is.(subject)That was an attractivelittleblackchair(subject complement)Inthehall I saw someextremely valuablepictures.(object)17
17 grammatical form. a)simple，compound and derivative nouns According to word formation，nouns can be divided into simple，compound and derivative nouns．A simple noun is a noun that contains only one free morpheme (e.g.：man, chair， land，faith). A compound noun is a noun that is composed of two or more morphemes (mostly free morphemes) (e.g.：armchair， farmland，seaside, roommate). A derivative noun is a noun that comes from a verb，an adjective or a simple noun with affix(e.g.: arrangement, greatness， patriotism). b) Proper and common nouns According to lexical meanings, nouns fall into two major categories: proper nouns and common nouns. A proper noun is name used for a particular person, place or thing, and spelt with a capital initial letter (e.g.: Anderson, Britain, The New York Times). A common nouns can be further classified into individual， collective，material，and abstract nouns(e.g.：boy，tiger，family， team，water， air，honesty，glory)． c) Count and noncount nouns According to grammatical form，nouns can be divided into two classes： count nouns and noncount nouns．A count noun(or countable noun)is a noun that has a plural and which can collocate with numbers and with such determiners as a(n)，many，few，these those，several，etc(e.g.：a car，two cars，many cars， several cars). A noncount noun (or uncountable noun) is a noun that cannot go with the above-mentioned words (e.g.: bread, furniture, merchandise) ． 2) Function of noun phrases The noun phrase can function as all the elements in a sentence except the predicate verb： Children at play seldom remember what time it is．(subject) That was an attractive little black chair. (subject complement) In the hall I saw some extremely valuable pictures. (object)
They elected him chairman of theboard. (object complement)Mr.Brown,director ofthecoal mine,nine,shouldberesponsiblefortheaccident.(appositive)Teachers should be concerned about the students' moral culture.(prepositionalcomplementation)He returned last night. (adverbial)Aphoto is taken each timethis button is pushed. (conjunction)2.Number forms of nounsNumber is a grammatical distinction which determines whether a noun ordeterminer is singular or plural.1) Regular and irregular pluralIndividual nouns are au countable and therefore have singular and pluralforms. The singular form of an individual noun, which shares the same form asthe base of the word, can take such determiners as a(n) and one (e.g.: a / onedesk,an / one article).Theplural form of an individual noun can be regular orirregular.The regular plural is formed by adding-s or-es to the base(e.g:days,houses,donkeys,tomatoes,boxes,churches,brushes,classes,babies,countriesloaves,wives,etc),while the irregular plural is notformed in the above way butby other means such as by changing the internal vowel or by changing theending ofthe noun(e.g.:tooth-teeth,man--men,mouse---mice,child--Children,ox--oxen).Irregular plurals also include some words offoreign origin,borrowed fromGreek,Latin or French.Theplural forms of these borrowed words areknown as"foreign plurals", e.g.:basisbasescriterion-criteriaalumnus—alumnistratum-strataSome borrowed words have two plural forms: a foreign plural and anEnglish plural, e.g.:medium--media--mediums18
18 They elected him chairman of the board. (object complement) Mr. Brown，director of the coal mine，nine，should be responsible for the accident．(appositive) Teachers should be concerned about the students’ moral culture. (prepositional complementation) He returned last night. (adverbial) A photo is taken each time this button is pushed. (conjunction) 2. Number forms of nouns Number is a grammatical distinction which determines whether a noun or determiner is singular or plural． 1) Regular and irregular plural Individual nouns are au countable and therefore have singular and plural forms. The singular form of an individual noun，which shares the same form as the base of the word，can take such determiners as a(n) and one (e.g.：a／one desk，an／one article)．The plural form of an individual noun can be regular or irregular. The regular plural is formed by adding-s or—es to the base(e.g.: days， houses，donkeys，tomatoes，boxes，churches，brushes，classes，babies，countries， loaves，wives，etc)，while the irregular plural is not formed in the above way but by other means such as by changing the internal vowel or by changing the ending of the noun(e.g.：tooth-teeth，man-men，mouse-mice，child-Children， ox-oxen)． Irregular plurals also include some words of foreign origin，borrowed from Greek，Latin or French．The plural forms of these borrowed words are known as “foreign plurals”，e.g.： basis—bases criterion—criteria stratum—strata alumnus—alumni Some borrowed words have two plural forms：a foreign plural and an English plural，e.g.： medium——media——mediums
-indexesindex—indices-formula-formulae—formulascurriculum—curricula—curriculumsFor some nouns, their singular and plural number share the same form,e.g:adeer-ten deerone fish—several fishaJapanese--agroupof Japaneseanaircraft-ahundredaircraft2)Numberforms ofthe collective,material,abstractand proper nouna)NumberformsofthecollectivenounSome collective nouns are countable,some are not.Countable collectivenouns behave just like individual nouns. An uncountablecollective noun hasno plural form.If we wantto count the number,we will have to use a kind ofindividual noun related semantically tothe collective (e.g.:a piece offurniture, two articles of equipment).Thereis alsoakindof collectivenounthe singular or in the plural sense.When viewedwhichcanbeusedeitherinas a single unit, thecollective is singular inmeaning and is to be followedby a singularverb.When,on the Other hand,the noun is used to refer to theindividuals that form the collective, it is plural in meaning and shouldbefollowed by a plural verb.b)Number forms of thematerial nounMaterial nouns are generally uncountable and have no pluralforms.Butthere are some such items that can be used either unaccountably orcountably.When used to meanthematerial itself,they areuncountable,butwhen used in other senses,for example,two coffees inthe sense of“two cupfulsof coffee",they are countable,behavingjust like individual nouns.Therearealsomaterial nouns that cantakeplural endings,for example,sands/waters inthe sense of "large expanse of sand or waterandfoods/fruits in the sense of "avariety offood or fruit":these nouns,though ending in-s, remain uncountable.19
19 index——indices——indexes formula—formulae—formulas curriculum—curricula—curriculums For some nouns, their singular and plural number share the same form，e.g.： a deer——ten deer one fish—several fish a Japanese——a group of Japanese an aircraft——a hundred aircraft 2) Number forms of the collective，material，abstract and proper noun a) Number forms of the collective noun Some collective nouns are countable，some are not．Countable collective nouns behave just like individual nouns. An uncountable collective noun has no plural form．If we want to count the number, we will have to use a kind of individual noun related semantically to the collective (e.g.：a piece of furniture，two articles of equipment). There is also a kind of collective noun which can be used either in the singular or in the plural sense．When viewed as a single unit，the collective is singular in meaning and is to be followed by a singular verb．When，on the Other hand，the noun is used to refer to the individuals that form the collective，it is plural in meaning and should be followed by a plural verb． b) Number forms of the material noun Material nouns are generally uncountable and have no plural forms. But there are some such items that can be used either unaccountably or countably．When used to mean the material itself，they are uncountable，but when used in other senses，for example, two coffees in the sense of “two cupfuls of coffee’’，they are countable， behaving just like individual nouns. There are also material nouns that can take plural endings， for example，sands/waters in the sense of “large expanse of sand or water” and foods／fruits in the sense of “a variety of food or fruit”；these nouns，though ending in-s, remain uncountable．
c) Numberforms of theabstractnounAbstract nouns aremostly uncountable.Theycannot takesuchdeterminers as a(n) /one or plural forms.But there are a few abstract nouns(e.g.:“a victory",“two Victories")that are countable like individualnouns.There are also abstract nouns that havepluralendings but which areuncountable.We can say,for instance,“He is in financial difficulties,but not“He is in several difficulties."In the case of some abstract nouns, the mereaddition of a plural ending has the effect of changing the meaning of the base.For instance, the word experience in “We meet once a year to exchange ourteaching experience"is used in the sense of经验",while the plural formexperiences means"经历"in “"We told each other our experiences in foreigncountries"Some abstract noncount nouns have semantically related individualnouns as their countable equivalents.This is clear when we use photos orphotographsinstead of photography to express the idea of“taking a lot ofpictures".d)NumberformsofthepropernounProper nouns are unique in reference and therefore have no plural forms,except for such proper names as the United States,the Philippines,theNetherlands, etc which are themselves plural in form. When a proper nountakes a plural ending, it takes on some characteristics of a common noun,e.g.:HaveyouinvitedtheBrowns?TherearetwoMissSmiths/ MissesSmithourclass.3.PartitivesPartitives, also called unit nouns, are commonly used to denote a part of awhole or the quantity of an undifferentiated mass. Both count and noncountnouns can enter partitive constructions.With plural count nouns,partitiveconstructions can denote the idea of“a group",“a pack",etc.With noncountnouns,such constructions can achieve countability.Partitiyes fall into thefollowing categories:20
20 c) Number forms of the abstract noun Abstract nouns are mostly uncountable. They cannot take such determiners as a(n)／one or plural forms．But there are a few abstract nouns (e.g. ： “a victory" ， “two Victories”) that are countable like individual nouns．There are also abstract nouns that have plural endings but which are uncountable．We can say，for instance，“He is in financial difficulties，but not “He is in several difficulties．” In the case of some abstract nouns, the mere addition of a plural ending has the effect of changing the meaning of the base. For instance，the word experience in “We meet once a year to exchange our teaching experience’’ is used in the sense of“经验”，while the plural form experiences means“经历"in “We to1d each other our experiences in foreign countries”. Some abstract noncount nouns have semantically related individual nouns as their countable equivalents. This is clear when we use photos or photographs instead of photography to express the idea of “taking a lot of pictures"． d) Number forms of the proper noun Proper nouns are unique in reference and therefore have no plural forms, except for such proper names as the United States，the Philippines， the Netherlands, etc which are themselves plural in form. When a proper noun takes a plural ending，it takes on some characteristics of a common noun，e.g.： Have you invited the Browns? There are two Miss Smiths／Misses Smith our class． 3. Partitives Partitives，also called unit nouns，are commonly used to denote a part of a whole or the quantity of an undifferentiated mass．Both count and noncount nouns can enter partitive constructions．With plural count nouns，partitive constructions can denote the idea of “a group”，“a pack”，etc．With noncount nouns，such constructions can achieve countability. Partitiyes fall into the following categories：