Complexity in the Noun Phrase Structure of the Nigerian EFCC Act

Abstract

This research examines the noun phrase structure in the EFCC Act. Other English phrases (verb, adjectival, adverbial, and prepositional phrases) are unimportant to this study except, of course, when they relate to noun phrase. The design for the research is qualitative/content analysis. The EFCC Act provides the data for the study. Noun phrases of different realisations are randomly selected from the text in order to establish the extent of their complexity or otherwise by categorizing the kinds of structure that pre-modify or post-modify the head word. These are further examined in order to establish the extent of their complexity or otherwise by categorizing the kinds of structure that pre-modify or post-modify the head word. The analysis is based on the MHQ models. Findings show that the Act is populated with complex noun phrases, and this complexity, most of the times, lies in post-modification and, at other times, in pre-modification. Sometimes, both pre-modification and post-modification are responsible for this complexity. However, complexity is more realized through post-modification than pre-modification. This complexity is a result of an attempt to restrict or limit the sense of the headword or an attempt to reduce meaning to possible exactitude or clarity.