Adjectives and Nouns

Adjectives and Nouns

We have seen that attributive adjectives occur before a noun which they modify, for example, red in red car. We need to distinguish these clearly from nouns which occur in the same position, and fulfil the same syntactic function. Consider the following:    rally car   saloon car   family car  Here, the first word modifies the second, that is, it tells us something further about the car. For example, a rally car is a car which is driven in rallies. These modifiers occur in the same position as red in the example above, but they are not adjectives. We can show this by applying our criteria for the adjective class. Firstly, they do not take very:    *a very rally car   *a very saloon car   *a very family car  Secondly, they do not have comparative or superlative forms:    *rallier *ralliest / *more rally / *most rally   *salooner *saloonest / *more saloon / *most saloon   *familier *familiest / *more family / *most family    And finally, they cannot occur in predicative position:    *the car is rally   *the car is saloon   *the car is family  So although these words occupy the typical adjective position, they are not adjectives. They are nouns. However, certain adjectives are derived from nouns, and are known as DENOMINAL adjectives. Examples include:     a mathematical puzzle [`a puzzle based on mathematics']   a biological experiment [`an experiment in biology']   a wooden boat [`a boat made of wood']    Denominals include adjectives which refer to nationality:    a Russian lady [`a lady who comes from Russia']   German goods [`goods produced in Germany']    Denominal adjectives of this type should be carefully distinguished from nominal adjectives denoting nationalities. Compare:     Nominal Adjective: The French are noted for their wines   Denominal Adjective: The French people are noted for their wines

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Nominal Adjectives

Nominal Adjectives

Certain adjectives are used to denote a class by describing one of the attributes of the class. For example, the poor denotes a class of people who share a similar financial status. Other nominal adjectives are:   the old   the sick   the wealthy the blind   the innocent  A major subclass of nominal adjectives refers to nationalities:     the French   the British   the Japanese  However, not all nationalities have corresponding nominal adjectives. Many of them are denoted by plural, proper nouns:    the Germans   the Russians   the Americans   the Poles    Nominal adjectives do not refer exclusively to classes of people. Indeed some of them do not denote classes at all:     the opposite   the contrary   the good  Comparative and superlative forms can also be nominal adjectives:    the best is yet to come   the elder of the two   the greatest of these   the most important among them  We refer to all of these types as nominal adjectives because they share some of the characteristics of nouns (hence `nominal') and some of the characteristics of adjectives. They have the following nominal characteristics:  they are preceded by a determiner (usually the definite article the)  they can be modified by adjectives (the gallant French, the unfortunate poor)  They have the following adjectival features:    they are gradable (the very old, the extremely wealthy)  many can take comparative and superlative forms (the poorer, the poorest)

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Stative and Dynamic Adjectives

Stative and Dynamic Adjectives

As their name suggests, STATIVE adjectives denote a state or condition, which may generally be considered permanent, such as big,red, small. Stative adjectives cannot normally be used in imperative constructions:  
 

*Be big/red/small  

Further, they cannot normally be used in progressive constructions:  
 

*He is being big/red/small 

In contrast, DYNAMIC adjectives denote attributes which are, to some extent at least, under the control of the one who possesses them. For instance, brave denotes an attribute which may not always be in evidence (unlike red, for example), but which may be called upon as it is required. For this reason, it is appropriate to use it in an imperative:   
 

Be brave! 

Dynamic adjectives include: 
   

calm  careful  cruel  disruptive  foolish  friendly  good  impatient

mannerly  patient  rude  shy  suspicious  tidy  vacuous  vain

   
All dynamic adjectives can be used in imperatives (Be careful!, Don't be cruel!), and they can also be used predicatively in progressive constructions:   
 

Your son is being disruptive in class  
My parents are being foolish again  
We're being very patient with you 

The majority of adjectives are stative. The stative/dynamic contrast, as it relates to adjectives, is largely a semantic one, though as we have seen it also has syntactic implications.   
  

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Inherent and Non-inherent Adjectives

We have now looked at the main criteria for the adjective class - gradability, comparative and superlative forms, and the ability to occur attributively and predicatively. Most adjectives fulfil all these criteria, and are known as CENTRAL adjectives. Those which do not fulfil all the criteria are known as PERIPHERAL adjectives.  

We will now examine the adjective class in more detail.
 
 

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Inherent and Non-inherent Adjectives

Most attributive adjectives denote some attribute of the noun which they modify. For instance, the phrase a red car may be said to denotea car which is red. In fact most adjective-noun sequences such as this can be loosely reformulated in a similar way:  
   

an old man	~a man who is old
difficult questions	~questions which are difficult
round glasses	~glasses which are round

This applies equally to postpositive adjectives: 

something understood   ~something which is understood  
the people responsible   ~the people who are responsible    

In each case the adjective denotes an attribute or quality of the noun, as the reformulations show. Adjectives of this type are known as INHERENT adjectives. The attribute they denote is, as it were, inherent in the noun which they modify.  

However, not all adjectives are related to the noun in the same way. For example, the adjective small in a small businessman does not describe an attribute of the businessman. It cannot be reformulated asa businessman who is small. Instead, it refers to a businessman whose business is small. We refer to adjectives of this type as NON-INHERENT adjectives. They refer less directly to an attribute of the noun than inherent adjectives do. Here are some more examples, showing the contrast betwen inherent and non-inherent:  

   

Inherent	Non-inherent
distant hills	distant relatives
a complete chapter	a complete idiot
a heavy burden	a heavy smoker
a social survey	a social animal
an old man	an old friend

  
  
 

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Stative and Dynamic Adjectives

As their name suggests, STATIVE adjectives denote a state or condition, which may generally be considered permanent, such as big,red, small. Stative adjectives cannot normally be used in imperative constructions:  
 

*Be big/red/small  

Further, they cannot normally be used in progressive constructions:  
 

*He is being big/red/small 

In contrast, DYNAMIC adjectives denote attributes which are, to some extent at least, under the control of the one who possesses them. For instance, brave denotes an attribute which may not always be in evidence (unlike red, for example), but which may be called upon as it is required. For this reason, it is appropriate to use it in an imperative:   
 

Be brave! 

Dynamic adjectives include: 
   

calm  careful  cruel  disruptive  foolish  friendly  good  impatient

mannerly  patient  rude  shy  suspicious  tidy  vacuous  vain

   
All dynamic adjectives can be used in imperatives (Be careful!, Don't be cruel!), and they can also be used predicatively in progressive constructions:   
 

Your son is being disruptive in class  
My parents are being foolish again  
We're being very patient with you 

The majority of adjectives are stative. The stative/dynamic contrast, as it relates to adjectives, is largely a semantic one, though as we have seen it also has syntactic implications.   
  
  

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Attributive and Predicative Adjectives

Attributive and Predicative Adjectives

Most adjectives can occur both before and after a noun:        the blue sea ~ the sea is blue the old man ~ the man is old happy children ~ the children are happy  Adjectives in the first position - before the noun - are called ATTRIBUTIVE adjectives. Those in the second position - after the noun - are called PREDICATIVE adjectives. Notice that predicative adjectives do not occur immediately after the noun. Instead, they follow a verb.   Sometimes an adjective does occur immediately after a noun, especially in certain institutionalised expressions:  the Governor General   the Princess Royal   times past  We refer to these as POSTPOSITIVE adjectives. Postposition is obligatory when the adjective modifies a pronoun:  something useful   everyone present   those responsible  Postpositive adjectives are commonly found together with superlative, attributive adjectives:  the shortest route possible   the worst conditions imaginable   the best hotel available  Most adjectives can freely occur in both the attributive and the predicative positions. However, a small number of adjectives are restricted to one position only. For example, the adjective main (themain reason) can only occur in the attributive position (predicative: *the reason is main). Conversely, the adjective afraid (the child wasafraid) can only occur predicatively (attributive: *an afraid child).

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Characteristics of Adjectives

Characteristics of Adjectives

Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, orless, before them:   
  

very cold weather   
extremely large windows   
less violent storms 

   
Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone.  

This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives are gradable, though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is non-gradable:  

   

my main reason for coming	~*my very main reason for coming
the principal role in the play	~*the very principal role in the play

   
   
As well as taking modifying words like very and extremely,adjectives also take different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison:   
  
big     bigger     biggest

   
The lowest point on the scale is known as the ABSOLUTE form, the middle point is known as the COMPARATIVE form, and the highest point is known as the SUPERLATIVE form. Here are some more examples:  

   

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
dark	darker	darkest
new	newer	newest
old	older	oldest
young	younger	youngest

  

In most cases, the comparative is formed by adding -er , and the superlative is formed by adding -est, to the absolute form. However, a number of very common adjectives are irregular in this respect:   

 

Characteristics of Adjectives

Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, orless, before them:   
  

very cold weather   
extremely large windows   
less violent storms 

   
Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone.  

This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives are gradable, though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is non-gradable:  

   

my main reason for coming	~*my very main reason for coming
the principal role in the play	~*the very principal role in the play

   
   
As well as taking modifying words like very and extremely,adjectives also take different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison:   
   big     bigger     biggest

   
The lowest point on the scale is known as the ABSOLUTE form, the middle point is known as the COMPARATIVE form, and the highest point is known as the SUPERLATIVE form. Here are some more examples:  

   

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
dark	darker	darkest
new	newer	newest
old	older	oldest
young	younger	youngest

  

In most cases, the comparative is formed by adding -er , and the superlative is formed by adding -est, to the absolute form. However, a number of very common adjectives are irregular in this respect:   

   

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest

  

Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative using moreand most respectively:  

   

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
important	more important	most important
miserable	more miserable	most miserable
recent	more recent	most recent

 

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest

  

Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative using moreand most respectively:  

   

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
important	more important	most important
miserable	more miserable	most miserable
recent	more recent	most recent

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