their neighbours would then also be prohibited movement.

[GoodTaste]

Residents were only allowed to leave the house once every few days, depending on the risk level of the neighbourhood, and those who tested positive would be transported to quarantine centres or hospitals, and their neighbours would then also be prohibited movement.

-The Lancet

Is "their neighbours would then also be prohibited movement" proper English?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes.

 

[GoodTaste]

What grammatical role does the word movement play here? Does it serve as the object? Does it function as a proposition?

 

[jutfrank]

It's equivalent to saying this:

their neighbours would then also be prohibited from moving

 

[GoodTaste]

Yes your sentence is crystal clear.
But the word movement as a noun itself has a hard time to serve grammatically there. Is it not explainable?

 

[jutfrank]

I think it's the direct object of prohibited but I'm not too confident of that.

 

[probus]

1. The Lancet is one of the most prestigious scholarly journals in the world.

2. It is based in the UK, the oroginal home of English.

Therefore it is HIGHLY implausible that it would use less than perfect English. Having said all that, I admit that "prohibited" followed by a bare noun like that is slightly unusual. It is far more common to say prohibited from doing something or to do something and most common to say such and so is prohibited.

 

[tedmc]

I think prohibited in the context means deprived of. Prohibited/banned is usually followed by from (preposition), and a noun, so it is a bit unusual.