qualification (n.)

A term used in SYNTAX to refer to certain types of STRUCTURAL DEPENDENCE of one grammatical UNIT upon another. In some TRADITIONAL GRAMMARS, for example, dependent ITEMS in a NOUN PHRASE (such as ADJECTIVES, PREPOSITIONAL phrases) were said to qualify the noun (act as qualifiers). In HALLIDAYAN grammar, on the other hand, the term is reserved for structures following the HEAD of the noun phrase: the car in the street would be analyzed in terms of M–H–Q, standing for MODIFICATION–head–qualification.