What are Denominatives in Linguistics?

In linguistics, a denominative is a noun or noun phrase that functions as an attribute of another noun or noun phrase. It describes or modifies the other noun, rather than being the main subject of the sentence.

For example, in the sentence "The teacher gave the student a book," "a book" is a denominative, modifying the noun "student." It tells us which book the student received.

Other examples of denominatives include:

* Adjective phrases: "the big red car" (where "big" and "red" are adjectives modifying the noun "car")
* Prepositional phrases: "the book on the table" (where "on the table" is a prepositional phrase modifying the noun "book")
* Infinitive phrases: "the student wanted to learn" (where "to learn" is an infinitive phrase modifying the noun "student")

In general, any phrase that functions as an attribute of another noun or noun phrase can be considered a denominative.