Thank you, notmyname216, and welcome.
Quote:
Can you explain why the ones with "?" can not be
correct for the sentence: The old walk home.
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Sorry. I did not see your example sentence.
Here are my reasons:
5. determiner adjective noun noun
Two consecutive nouns that (a) do not form a compound and (b) are not joined by a conjunction. In terms of syntax, 'noun noun' should be listed as 'noun'; i.e., a compound, but that would result in
walkhome, which is not an English word. 5. is not OK.
6. determiner adjective noun adverb
If we expand our example sentence
The old walk home to
The old walk that leads home, a relative clause modifying the noun 'walk', then 'home', even though it's a noun in form and an adverb in function within the relative clause, it functions as an adjective because it represents an adjectival clause that has been partially omitted. On the other hand, if we expand
The old walk home to
The old walk (leads) home, a linking structure, then 'home' in answering the question Where? functions as an adverb, so 6. is OK iff interpreted as a linking structure, one in which the linking element has been omitted. Otherwise, 6. is not OK.
(Please note, Adverbs of Place can indeed function as the predicate of a linking structure. The reason being, they are nominal in form; i.e., prepositions and nouns.)
7. determiner adjective noun verb
If 'home' were a verb it would require an
object; e.g., The missile named, 'old walk' homed in
on the target. 7. is not OK.
9. determiner noun verb noun
'old' is an adjective in form, but it functions as a substantive noun; e.g., The old (i.e., the seniors) walk home (everyday at 5:00), so 'old' can be a noun. That is, the first part of 9.
determiner noun verb is OK. It's the last part, the noun, that the problem. 'home' answers the question Where?, so it functions as an adverb; e.g.,
Where did the old walk?, as in 10. below, but 9. is not OK.
10. determiner noun verb adverb
The old (i.e., the seniors) walk home. 10. is OK.
13. determiner noun noun noun
Again, way too many nouns. Functionally, the first noun could be listed as an adjective and the last two nouns as a compound, giving the structure:
13a.
determiner adjective compound noun (The old
walkhome)
but 'walkhome' is not a word, so 13a. is not possible. We could try re-structuring the nouns, wherein 'oldwalk' describes what kind of home
13b.
determiner adjective noun (The
oldwalk home)
but then again 'an oldwalk home' is not English either. So structurally, 13b. is not possible.
14. determiner noun noun adverb
Aside from the double nouns, there the problem of the adverb. Adverbs, note the prefix ad-, add to the meaning of adjectives and verbs. In 14. there is neither an adjective nor a verb for the adverb to pass its meaning onto, so the structure is faulty. 14. is not OK.
16. determiner noun noun verb
As a verb, 'home' is transitive, so it needs an object to realize its meaning. 16. is not OK.