Editing Adjective phrase (section)

== Constituency tests ==
[[Constituent (linguistics)|Constituency]] tests can also be used to identify adjectives and adjective phrases. Here are the three constituency tests, according to X-bar theory, that prove the adjective phrase is both a constituent, and an AP.<ref>These examples are generated based on the examples in this textbook:

Sportiche, D., Koopman, H. J., & Stabler, E. P. (2014). ''An introduction to syntactic analysis and theory''. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.</ref>

In the following tests, consider the sentence: '''Sam ordered a very spicy pizza.'''

{{ordered list
| [[Coordination (linguistics)|'''Coordination tests''']] can be used to confirm if ''<u>very spicy</u>'' is an adjective phrase.
: Sam ordered a <u>very spicy</u> (and/but) ''<u>quite small</u> pizza.'' (Sam ordered a <u>AP and AP</u> pizza)

This phrase passed the coordination test because it was grammatical, and the adjective phrases were not creating ambiguous meanings when a conjunction (and/but) is used.
| [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|'''Ellipsis tests''']] can also be used to confirm if ''<u>very spicy</u>'' is an adjective phrase.
: ''Sam ordered a <u>very spicy</u> pizza, but the pizza Betty ordered was not <s>very spicy</s>.''

This phrase passed the Ellipsis test, because no ambiguity is created and the adjective phrase could be elided (deleted).
| A '''movement test''', specifically [[pseudocleft]]ing, can be used to confirm if ''<u>very spicy</u>'' is an adjective phrase.
: ''Sam ordered a <s>very spicy</s> pizza that was <u>very spicy.</u>''

Movement tests not only prove that the constituent moved is a stand-alone constituent, but also proves that this phrase ''<u>very spicy</u>'' is an AP if drawn in a syntax tree. Thus, because this adjective phrase could be moved to the right ([[pseudocleft]]), it's sufficient proof that it is both a [[Constituent (linguistics)|constituent]] and an adjective phrase.
}}