heavy (adj.)
04:12 PM
2023-09-18
67
heavy (adj.)
A term applying to a type of NOUN PHRASE recognized in GENERATIVE GRAMMAR, referring to a relatively long or complex (‘heavy’) CONSTITUENT in contrasting examples such as *John considers stupid my friends v. John considers stupid many of my best friends. In classical TRANSFORMATIONAL grammar, the POSTPOSING of a heavy NP was called heavy NP shift.
