What is an attribute? [Was ist ein Attribut?]

Abstract

In this paper, the term 'attribute' will be discussed with regard to the entire system of German. Attributes are not only modifiers of nouns, but also of adjectives (erstaunlich gut), of noun phrases (ein interessanter kanadischer Film), of prepositional phrases (am Haus rechts), etc. Therefore, even uninflected adjectives and adverbs can be attributes. For example, they are attributes to adjectives (erstaunlich gut, sehr gut). But if erstaunlich is an attribute in erstaunlich gut then might dem Kind in dem Kind fremd also be an attribute? Can complements be attributes as well? If so, it makes sense to differentiate attributes as supplements (adjuncts) and attributes as complements. In addition, it can also be shown that attributes can also modify noun phrases, prepositional phrases and other phrases. © © Walter de Gruyter 2006.