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Noun phrases

Noun phrases translate as noun phrases

An English noun phrase is generally mapped on a Swedish noun phrase. However, we allow an English noun phrase to be mapped on a Swedish prepositional phrase, if this is required by the context. If so, the preposition is associated with the source noun phrase as a whole, rather than with any particular part of it.

As exceptions we allow some nouns to be associated with adverbs or adjectives, such as yesterday ˜ i går.

Translators may occasionally use a clause or a verb phrase to translate a noun phrase. This is explicitly disallowed in the close translation we aim at.

Internal structure is kept as far as possible

A (non-conjunct) complex noun phrase consists of a head and one or more attributes. We distinguish the following types of head:

  • adjectives (A)
  • common nouns (CN)
  • pronouns (PRO)
  • proper names (PN)

Common nouns and proper names are collectively referred to as nouns (N). Among the attributes for nouns we distinguish:

Pre-head attributes
  • determiners (det)
  • numerals (num-attr)
  • ordinals (ord-attr)
  • adjectival attributes (adj-attr)
  • nominal attributes (nom-attr)
Post-head attributes
  • genitive attributes (gen-attr)
  • of-genitives (of-attr)
  • partitives (part)
  • prepositional attributes (prep-attr)
  • infinitival attributes (inf-attr)
  • clausal attributes (cl-attr)

The same classification is used for English and Swedish. Moreover, as a default we assume that the type of an attribute is preserved under translation. Exceptions to this are noted below.

Noun phrases can be conjoined using single conjunctions such as and, but, or or paired conjunctions such as both - and, either - or. The structure of conjoined noun phrases is prescribed to be kept in close translation.

Associations for function words appearing in noun phrases

Index of function words: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
a, an
indefinite articles
[ what a|an ... ]   [ vilke(n|t) ... ]   what a car   vilken bil
[ such a|an ... ]   [ en|ett sådan(t) ... ]   such a car   en sådan bil
[ a|an ... ]   [ en|ett ... ]   a car   en bil
[ a|an A one ]   [ en|ett A' ]   a new one   en ny
any
indefinite determiner or pronoun
all
total determiner
both
determiner pr pronoun
[ both of OPRO ]   [ OPRO båda|två ]   both of us   oss båda|två ...
[ both of OPRO ]   [ SPRO ] ... båda ]   both of them were ...   de var båda ...,
båda var de ...
[ both of NP ]   [ båda NP']   both of these reports   båda rapporterna
[ both the N{+pl} ]   [ båda N'{+pl,+def} ]   both the men   båda männen
[ both N{+pl} ]   [ båda N'{+pl,+def} ]   both men   båda männen
both - and
paired conjunction
[both NP1 and NP2]   [både NP1' och NP2']   both men and women   både män och kvinnor
[both NP1 and NP2]   [såväl NP1' som NP2']   both men and women   såväl män som kvinnor
of
genitive marker

[ the N1 of the N2 ]   [ N1'{+def} P N2'{+def} ]   the end of the story   slutet på historien
[ the N1 of the N2 ]   [ N2'{+def,+gen} N1'{-def} ]   the end of the story   historiens slut

some
indefinite determiner or pronoun
[ some NUM N ]   [ cirka NUM' N ]   some 500 diseases   cirka 500 sjukdomar
[some of the N]   [några|en del av N'{+def}]   some of the problems   några av problemen,
en del av problemen
the
definite article
[ the N that ... ]   [ Art{+def} N'{-def} som ... ]   the car that ...   den bil som
[ the N1 of the N2 ]   [ N1'{+def} P N2'{+def} ]   the end of the story   slutet på historien
[ the N1 of the N2 ]   [ N2'{+def,+gen} N1'{-def} ]   the end of the story   historiens slut
[ the Ni ] / play __   [ Ni'{-def}]   play the piano   spela piano
[ the Np{+s} ]   [ Np'{+s}]   the Fergusons   Fergusons
[ the N ]   [ N'{+def}]   the car   bilen
[ the N1 N2 ]   [ N1'-N2'{+def} ]   the toy car   leksaksbilen
[ the A N ]   [ Art{+def} A' N{+def}' ]   the red car   den röda bilen
[ the Ax N ]   [ Ax' N'{-def} ]   the same car   samma bil
that
subjunction
[ ... N that ... ]   [ ... N' som ... ]   ... man that ...   ... man som ...
that
demonstrative determiner
this
demonstrative determiner

[ this Nt ... ]   [ i Nt' ]   this afternoon   i eftermiddag

what
wh-determiner
which
wh-determiner

Page responsible: Lars Ahrenberg
Last updated: 2005-06-07