Adnominal

An adnominal is a term used to describe phrases and clauses that modify a noun. To put simply, it covers:

• determiners and modifiers in a noun phrase (or noun phrase minus its head noun) and
• predicative adjective phrase as it also modifies a noun

Modifiers of nouns are almost always adjectival, but they can be adverbial too (see examples), implying that adnominals can be adverbial. Examples:

(Noun phrase has been underlined, head word has been boldened, and adnominals have been mentioned in square brackets in the order in which they occur.)

1. The cheetah went for the kill. [Determiner]

2. Our spacious living room needs renovation. [Determiner, adjective, and adjective]

3. My dog eyed the last piece of cake. [Determiner, adjective, and prepositional phrase]

4. The dog in the yard barked loudly. [Determiner and prepositional phrase]

5. The dog barking loudly in the yard probably scented an intruder.

[Determiner and participial phrase. Note that loudly and in the yard are not adnominals as they don’t modify the head noun dog. The two modify barking to form participial phrase barking loudly in the yard, which is an adnominal]

6. The meeting tomorrow has been postponed. [Determiner and adverb]

7. I bought the air conditioner at quite an attractive price. [Adverb, determiner, and adjective]

8. The company’s annual report, which was released yesterday, surprised the markets.

[Determiner, genitive noun, adjective, and relative clause. Note that yesterday is not an adnominal for the reason explained in the last example]

9. The flowers smell very nice. [Determiner and adjective phrase. Note that the adjective phrase very nice modifies flowers predicatively]

We often use the term adnominal to distinguish phrases and clauses that are constituent of a noun phrase from the same phrase or clause elsewhere. For example, Martha’s in This is Martha’s bag can be termed adnominal genitive noun compared to just a genitive noun in This bag is Martha’s. But we don’t say adnominal determiner because a determiner doesn’t exist outside a noun phrase; it’s always adnominal. More examples:

1A. My dog’s collar is blue. [Adnominal genitive noun]

1B. That toy is my dog’s. [Genitive noun]

2A. The meeting tomorrow has been postponed. [Adnominal adjunct/adverb]

2B. The meeting that was postponed is tomorrow. [Adjunct/adverb]

3A. The man wearing blue shirt is my brother. [Adnominal participial phrase]

3B. Since starting the new fitness regime, my brother has lost 12 pounds. [Participial phrase]

4A. The house by the lake is up for sale. [Adnominal prepositional phrase]

4B. I remember putting the book on the table. [Prepositional phrase]

5A. The proposal to build a new bridge was approved. [Adnominal infinitive phrase]

5B. I was excited to leave early. [Infinitive phrase]

6A. The house where I grew up has been replaced by a high-rise commercial complex. [Adnominal relative clause]

6B. The chairperson resigned from the committee, which surprised everyone. [Sentential relative clause]

Are non-restrictive participial phrases adnominal?

Whereas a restrictive participial phrase is always adnominal, a non-restrictive may or may not be, depending on the underlying meaning.

On the surface, participial phrase not believing the online news seems to be adnominal as it looks like modifying Mac in this sentence.

Mac, not believing the online news, switched on the TV.

But is it?

To understand the ambiguity, let’s go a step back to recreate the clause from which this participial phrase has been derived. The clause could be any of the two, depending on the intended meaning.

If the intended meaning is first, the participial phrase – like its parental relative clause – is adjectival and hence an adnominal. If the intended meaning is second, the participial phrase – like its parental adverb clause – is adverbial, in which case it’s not modifying noun Mac and hence is not an adnominal.

Nominal vs. adnominal

Though they sound similar, nominal and adnominal are grammatically very different.

A nominal is a term used for any phrase or clause that functions as a noun in a sentence. Common nominals are noun, noun phrase, gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, and noun clause.

An adnominal is a term used for certain constituents (determiners and modifiers) of a noun phrase, which is one of the nominals. A modifier (adjective phrase) though can sometimes fall outside a noun phrase as subject complement.