AdjP

An adjective phrase (AdjP) is a syntactic constituent headed by an adjective. In many linguistic theories, the AdjP expresses a property or attribute of a noun or of a referent and can appear inside noun phrases or as a predicate in a clause. The head is the adjective itself, while the phrase may include modifiers or complements that refine its meaning.

An AdjP can include degree modifiers and, in some cases, complements or embedded clauses. Degree modifiers such as very, quite, or more precede or modify the adjective (for example, very tall). Some adjectives take optional or obligatory complements or specifiers, often in the form of prepositional phrases or relative clauses (for instance, afraid of heights or interested in astronomy). The internal structure is thus not fixed: an AdjP may be just the adjective, or an extended phrase with modifiers and complements.

Distribution and functions: AdjPs occur in two primary positions. Attributively, they modify a noun within a larger noun phrase (a tall building). Predicatively, they appear with a copular verb to describe a subject (The building is tall). Some languages also allow postnominal adjectives or AdjPs that follow the noun, while English typically places adjectives before the noun or after a linking verb. Adjectival phrases are often gradable and support comparison (tall, taller, the tallest).

Examples: very tall, afraid of spiders, interested in science, not happy, the red car, The car is red. AdjPs interact with tense, agreement, and other functional categories in language-specific ways, but their core function is to ascribe properties to nouns or referents.