Abstract:
A phase is an instance of derivation or “spell out’’ of a chunk or
whole of a sentence construction. It is standardly assumed that
only complementizer phrases and little v(erb) phrases are phases,
and tense and verb phrases are not phases. Other categories such
as determiner phrases and applicative phrases have been tested
positive for phases. However, no claim is made about the status of
prepositional phrases as phases. This paper investigated whether
prepositional phrases in English can have the status of a phase as
defined in phase theory. It was hypothesised that prepositional
phrases are phases of the ‘weak’ kind. To determine the phase
status of prepositional phrases, the method of standard phase
diagnostics tests such as computational complexity, phonological
independence, semantic independence, and case checking, and
theta completeness were used. It was found out that
computational complexity is not a valid test to test prepositional
phrases for phasehood. While prepositional phrases bear very
strong evidence to be labelled phases with respect to phonological
independence, PPs fail to be phases in the case of semantic
independence, and case checking and theta completeness. Given
these findings, it was concluded that prepositional phrases in
English are phases of the ‘weak’ kind. A sample of sentence
constructions in English selected by the author and borrowed from
the existing literature were used for the tests to draw conclusions.
The study is expected to help better understand and analyze the
cognitive processes involved in the acquisition and production of
the English language specifically and any language in general.
