What is "determiner phrase"

n. (context linguistics English) A phrase headed by a determiner.

In linguistics, a determiner phrase (DP) is a type of phrase posited by some theories of syntax. The head of a DP is a determiner, as opposed to a noun. For example in the phrase the car, the is a determiner and car is a noun; the two combine to form a phrase, and on the DP-analysis, the determiner the is head over the noun car. The existence of DPs is a controversial issue in the study of syntax. The traditional analysis of phrases such as the car is that the noun is the head, which means the phrase is a noun phrase (NP), not a determiner phrase. Beginning in the mid 1980s, an alternative analysis arose that posits the determiner as the head, which makes the phrase a DP instead of an NP.

The DP-analysis of phrases such as the car is the majority view in generative grammar today ( Government and Binding and Minimalist Program), but is a minority stance in the study of syntax and grammar in general. Most frameworks outside of generative grammar continue to assume the traditional NP analysis of noun phrases. For instance, representational phrase structure grammars assume NP, e.g. Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, and most dependency grammars such as Meaning-Text Theory, Functional Generative Description, Lexicase Grammar also assume the traditional NP-analysis of noun phrases, Word Grammar being the one exception. Construction Grammar and Role and Reference Grammar also assume NP instead of DP. Furthermore, the DP-analysis does not reach into the teaching of grammar in schools in the English-speaking world, and certainly not in the non-English-speaking world. Since the existence of DPs is a controversial issue that splits the syntax community into two camps (DP vs. NP), this article strives to accommodate both views. Some arguments supporting/refuting both analyses are considered.