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This paper proposes an analysis of construct-state noun phrases in ModernHebrew which argues for a strict parallelism between the internal structure of noun phrases and sentences. Recent proposals to analyze the S(entence) as the maximal projection of INFL(ection) and the noun phrase as the maximal projection of D(eterminer) are exploited to extend the treatment of sentence subjects to subjects of noun phrases. This extension accounts for the relative position of genitives as well as the lack of overt genitive anaphors in the construct-state construction. In addition, the absence of prenominal definite articles in construct-state noun phrases is shown to follow from the assumption that D is the noun-phrase counterpart of INFL.

In this paper I provide cross-linguistic evidence for a functional projection between D and NP, which I call “Number Phrase” (NumP). In a full noun phrase, the head of this projection is, among other things, the locus of number specification (singular or plural) of a noun phrase. Pronominal noun phrases are distinguished from full noun phrases by the fact that they lack a lexical projection, i.e., they lack a NP. The existence of two distinct functional categories predicts the existence of at least two classes of pronouns, those of the category D, and those of the category Num. In both Modern Hebrew and Haitian, there is evidence that this prediction is borne out.