ADJECTIVES Characteristics: Morphological: Some of them have inflection -er & -est in comparison Derivation with affixes: (a-,

-y, -ful, -less, -able, -ic(al), ... Invariable words (for gender, case and number) Notional: They qualify things, people and states, providing fuller or more limited meaning. Some can have different degrees: gradability, so they can be modified by very Kinds: Gradable/ nongradable Stative/dynamic Inherent/noninherent Functional: They can have an attributive function and position They can have an predicative function and position The most common definition of an adjective is based on their function: they are the natural MODIFIERS of Nouns. Syntactic functions of adjectives 1. Adjectives are attributive when they premodify the head of a noun phrase: a small garden 2. They are predicative when they function as subject complement (He seems careless) or object complement (I find him careless) often expressing the result of a process (He writes his letters large) 3. Adjectives are postpositive when they immediately follow the noun or pronoun they modify. Compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs can only be modified postpositively: (Tell me something funny). The same applies to some institutionalized expressions: (the president elect) . Adjectives ending in -able and -ible can be postpositive, as well as attributive, mainly when they are used in a superlative degree (the best use possible) and when they have a temporary meaning (the stars visible). . Adjectives with complementation (i.e., with a prepositional phrase or a toinfinitive) normally require postposition. (I know an actor suitable for the part; they have a house larger than yours) . To avoid postposition we frequently use a relative clause (I know an actor who is suitable for the part) or a discontinous adjectival phrase (they have a house larger than yours). Semantic classification of adjectives -Gradable/nongradable (from HUDDLESTON, in Introduction to the Grammar of English, 1984, CambridgeU.P.) A large number of adjectives (nongradable, such as anthropological, phonetic, philatelic) do not take modifiers of degree (very, more,...) This is not a syntactic property, but gradability is primarily a semantic matter; it depends on the meaning of the adjective. From a semantic point of view, a gradable adjective denotes a scalar property (as opposed to a categorial one): it's a property that can be possessed in varying degrees; that's why they can take degree modifiers.

However, many adjectives are polysemous, denoting a categorial property in one sense and a scalar one in another: a nationality adjective denotes a categorial property in its central sense, as in a British passport, the British Parliament, but also has an extended meaning denoting a scalar property ("like stereotypical British people or things"), as in He's very British; the primacy of categorial sense is reflected in the fact that the adjective will not normally be interpreted in the scalar sense unless there is some grading modifier present (very). To a significant extent, therefore, the gradable/nongradable contrast applies to uses of adjectives, rather than simply to the adjectives themselves. Stative/dynamic Adjectives are characteristically stative. They denote a state. Tall, old, rich, tall, black Dynamic adjectives denote an action or getting to a state. Careful, polite, faithful, kind, brief, quick, brave. Dynamic adjectives can appear in the predicative position with the imperative and progressive forms of to be: Be careful (*Be tall), He's being polite (*He's being rich), He told me to be brief (*He told me to be old). Inherent/Noninherent Inherent adjectives characterize the referent of the noun directly: a black coat, a wooden cross Noninherent adjectives do not characterize the referent of the noun directly: a new friend, a golden girl Semantic-syntactic classification: ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY Intensifying adj. Intensifying adj. have a heightening or lowering effect on the noun they modify. We can distinguish 3 subclasses: Emphasizers: They have a general heightening effect: a certain winner, a definite loss, the simple truth, a true scholar. Amplifiers: They scale upwards from the standard: a complete victory, great destruction, the very end. Downtoners: They have a lowering effect: a slight effort. Restrictive adj. They restrict the reference of the noun: the exact answer, the same student.

Related to Adverbs Some noninherent attributive-only adjectives can be related to adverbials: a hard worker, a big eater, a good thief. Denominal adj. They are non-inherent attributive adjectives derived from agentive nouns referring to the activity of the noun or to a material: a criminal lawyer, an atomic scientist, a woolen dress. ADJECTIVES (from Collins COBUILD Grammar of English) - Adjectives are one way of giving more information about named (or identified) people or things. They can be used as MODIFIERS of a Noun or as COMPLEMENTS of a Link Verb (to be) Also, Nouns can be used to modify other headword Nouns. We use an ADJECTIVE to identify or describe a noun. They have in invariable form for singular or plural, as a subject or an object: They only change with comparisons. They can appear in two main structures: The attributive structure (before the noun) is used when the information is not the main purpose of the statement. The predicative structure (after the link verb) is used when the information is the main purpose, the complement. There are two main types of adjectives: Qualitative Adjectives identify the quality a person or a thing has: (happy, intelligent) They are gradable, i. e. the person or thing can have more or less of the quality they mention. This is expressed by means of submodifiers (very, rather, more) or inflection (er, -est) Classifying Adjectives identify the particular class they belong to(financial matters, financial help: there are many kinds of help, financial help is one of them). Noun modifiers are similar to classifying adjectives (money matters).Nationality and origin adjectives are classifying adj.

They are non-gradable. They place the person or the thing in a class. They do not take sub-modifiers, only absolutely, meaning you feel strongly about what you are saying. There can be adjectives belonging to both types, but they have different meanings: an emotional person (qualifying) is someone "feeling or expressing strong emotions"; the emotional needs (classifying) are the needs "related to a person's emotions" . Most adjectives which can be used only attributively are classifying adjectives. Other kinds are: Emphasizing adjectives emphasize the speaker's feelings about something. The non usually shows opinion. (complete, absolute, utter, real, total, true, very). Colour adjectives say what colour something is. they can take submodifiers referring to tone (light brown hair). Postdeterminers make the reference more precise. They are similar to Determiners. (-Go to the traffic lights. -Which ones? - The next traffic lights.) certain, following, first, only, other, same, usual, last, left, top showing position Adjectives with unclear or incomplete meaning are predicative or postpositive with a prepositional phrase: accustomed, related, similar, aware, capable, due, likely --------------- Other ways of giving more information before nouns about the amount are the partitive structure with 'of': using quantifiers (many of, some of) or using other partitives (a bottle of , a piece of); and Numbers and Fractions - Other ways of giving more information within the Noun Group ins using a qualifier after the headword to expand its meaning. They can appear in the following structures: - N + prep. phrases a girl with red hair

- N + Adj+ prep phrases, non-finites or that-clauses a man responsible for the project, to develop it - N + relative clauses - N + Adv. of place or time the paragraph below, Life today in England Ordering of Adjectives When we use more than one adjective in a noun group, the usual order for the adjectives is: POSTMODIFIERS + QUALITATIVE ADJECTIVES + COLOUR ADJECTIVES + QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES Influence of meaning on the structure Atributive only Predicative only Adj. and other word classes NOUNS as premodifiers adverbs

Adj as head of noun phrases Adjectives

and