Noun Postmodification: Ed-Clauses
Postmodification with Ed-clauses
Nouns are sometimes post-modified with an ed-clause. These are non-finiteA clause which contains a non-finite verb (one which has no subject and which does not show tense) and which cannot stand as an independent clause. participleA non-finite verb form used as an adjective and also to form the perfect and progressive aspect, and the passive voice. clauses.
The ed-clause gives more information about the headwordThe head (or headword) is the main word in a phrase. Other parts of a phrase have a modifying or grammatical relationship with the headword.. Ed-clauses can easily be rewritten as passivesDescribes a verb when the subject of the sentence is the sufferer of the action rather than the performer. (e.g. "research published in Nature" = "research which was published in Nature").
These clauses are known as ed-clauses because they are participleA non-finite verb form used as an adjective and also to form the perfect and progressive aspect, and the passive voice. clauses (in this case past participle) but not all past participles end in "ed". There are many common irregular verbs in English so you might see an ed-clause beginning with one of these (e.g. broken, made, found, etc.).
- a fuzzy-looking areahead noun phrase called the Orion Nebulaed-clause (context)In the “sword” part of Orion is a fuzzy-looking area called the Orion Nebula
- clouds of gas and dusthead noun phrase called molecular cloudsed-clause (context)Here, new stars are formed in clouds of gas and dust called molecular clouds
As with other forms of post-modification, head nouns may be extended noun phrases (pre- or post- modified). In the first example above the head noun is "area", premodified with "fuzzy-looking". In the second example the head noun is "clouds" postmodified with the prepositional phrase (of gas and dust). The verb is the ed-clause "called" is quite common in academic texts.
- timehead noun phrase spent on language learning appsed-clause (context)The perception of time spent on language learning apps as something worthwhile shows how far these apps have come in a short time.
Note the irregular verb in the ed-clause.
- a sea of lavahead noun phrase fuelled by countless volcanoesed-clause, (context)It was not a sea of lava fuelled by countless volcanoes , although they certainly existed.
- small areas of rocky surfacehead noun phrase surrounded by a substantial global water oceaned-clause (context)It was probably more like small areas of rocky surface surrounded by a substantial global water ocean.
Note the extended head noun phrases in these examples.
- our latest studyhead noun phrase published in the journal Cortexed-clause (context)In our latest study, published in the journal Cortex , we explored this question by using a brain scanning technique known as diffusion MRI.
- a brain scanning techniquehead noun phrase known as diffusion MRIed-clause (context)In our latest study, published in the journal Cortex, we explored this question by using a brain scanning technique known as diffusion MRI.
The two examples above come from the same sentence. The first shows a non-restrictive use of an ed-clause (extra information about where the study was published) and the second show a restrictive use (its particular type of scan - diffusion MRI).
- shadowshead noun phrase cast by poles stuck vertically into the ground, at midday on the summer solstice, at different latitudesed-clause (context)Eratosthenes’ famous and yet simple method relied on measuring the different lengths of shadows cast by poles stuck vertically into the ground, at midday on the summer solstice, at different latitudes.
Again we have an ed-clause introduced by an irregular verb "cast". This introduces a long clause containing a series of prepositional phrases. But the clause also contains an embeddedThe insertion of one phrase or clause inside of another (also known as nesting). ed-clause modifying the noun "poles". You can see this in the schema below.
- poleshead noun phrase stuck vertically into the ground, at midday on the summer solstice, at different latitudesed-clause (context)Eratosthenes’ famous and yet simple method relied on measuring the different lengths of shadows cast by poles stuck vertically into the ground, at midday on the summer solstice, at different latitudes.
Again we have an ed-clause introduced by an irregular verb "stuck". So we have an ed-clause embedded in another ed-clause. Most ed-clauses can be rewritten as a relative clause. So we could rewrite the embedded ed-clause as "shadows cast by poles which were stuckrelative clause with a passive verb vertically into the ground, at midday on the summer solstice, at different latitudes". Relative clauses are slightly easier to understand but ed-clauses are often preferred for the sake of brevity.
- a filmhead noun phrase produced in 1950 and stored in the recommended conditions since thened-clause (context)According to our model, a film produced in 1950 and stored in the recommended conditions since then could develop vinegar syndrome this year.
Here we have two consecutive ed-clauses (not embedded): "produced in 1950" and "stored in the recommended conditions since then", "then" referring back to 1950 in the first ed-clause.
The following three examples all come from the same sentence.
the studyhead noun phrase, published in Science Advancesed-clause (context)The authors of the study, published in Science Advances , also reviewed evidence of other skeletons buried around the same period in the Americas, looking specifically at graves containing similar tools associated with big-game hunting.This ed-clause, "published in Science Advances", is a non-restrictive ed-clause. It just gives extra information about where the study was published.
- other skeletonshead noun phrase buried around the same period in the Americased-clause (context)The authors of the study, published in Science Advances, also reviewed evidence of other skeletons buried around the same period in the Americas , looking specifically at graves containing similar tools associated with big-game hunting.
This ed-clause, "buried around the same period in the Americas", is a restrictive ed-clause. This clause is an important qualifier of the noun "skeletons" because puts a restriction of the evidence they reviewed.
- similar toolshead noun phrase associated with big-game huntinged-clause (context)The authors of the study, published in Science Advances, also reviewed evidence of other skeletons buried around the same period in the Americas, looking specifically at graves containing similar tools associated with big-game hunting
This ed-clause, "associated with big-game hunting", is also a restrictive ed-clause. It restricts the type of tools they looked at.
a Viking warrior from Swedenhead noun phrase discovered early in the 20th century and long assumed to be maleed-clause (context)In 2017, a famous burial of a Viking warrior from Sweden, discovered early in the 20th century and long assumed to be male , was discovered to be biologically female.
This ed-clause, "discovered early in the 20th century and long assumed to be male", is a non-restrictive ed-clause. It gives extra information about the famous burial of a Viking warrior. In fact there are two ed-clauses here: "discovered early in the 20th century" and [long] "assumed to be male".