From The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, page 519:
Genitives, such as Christ’s in [4iv], we take to be modifiers not determiners. They occur readily in names that are themselves functioning as modifier within a larger construction, as in a Christ’s College don: this is a construction which accepts nominals but not full NPs in modifier position. Such genitives cannot normally contain a determiner — compare King’s College, Women’s College, etc.
I don’t see what is the clear difference between modifiers and determiners. Aren’t the latter just included in the modifiers’ category?
Best Answer
The difference is actually alluded to in that very quotation: a determiner, plus a nominal, forms a noun phrase (NP).
More specifically, they form a determined NP. There also exist bare NPs, which consist of a nominal with no determiner. For example, in "I drank some whole milk", "whole milk" is a nominal and "some whole milk" is a determined NP, whereas in "I only drink whole milk", "whole milk" is both a nominal and a bare NP.
(Note: The CGEL does not always use the same terminology as other sources. It generally offers compelling rationales for its decisions, but it's important to be aware that these differences exist. For example, what the CGEL calls a "nominal", many other sources would call a "noun phrase", and what the CGEL calls a "noun phrase", many other sources would call a "determiner phrase".)
Not in the CGEL's classification, no. In the CGEL's classification, a modifier does not change the function of a phrase, whereas a determiner does.