English nominal phrase structure and ellipsis

This paper aims to review the relevant research in order to investigate the question: How important to the analysis of syntactic structure is its surrounding discourse context? In particular, how do the nature of discourse-initial fragments and fragment answers impact upon the functional structure of the nominal phrase? My paper begins by first dissecting the nominal phrase through a thorough review of the literature, using examples from work by Longobardi (2004) to illustrate the theory by Bernstein (2008) that determiners convert Noun Phrases (predicates) into arguments. This is seen in examples like ‘home’, where the null determiner heads the phrase. I then explore the structure of the nominal phrase in cases where there appears to be no Determiner Phrase layer at all, for instance in the vocative case. Examples such as these challenge our syntactic ideas about the fundamental structure of the nominal phrase. This leads into my examination of nominal phrases that might at first appear to be analysed as above (e.g. ‘New Year, New Me!’), but instead behave as fragment answers, with ellipsis of a demonstrative (‘this/that’) or the subject + copula. I explore the theories of various linguists throughout this analysis, most notably Merchant (2004, 2012) and his ‘limited ellipsis’ analysis of apparently wholly propositional constructions that syntactically behave as Determiner Phrases. I also address some counter-arguments from Stainton (1995). I conclude with an investigation into fragment answers and the fundamental interconnectedness between syntactic structure and its surrounding discourse context.