Types of Adjectives

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Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации

Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования

Донской государственный технический университет

Реферат

по дисциплине «Теоретическая грамматика английского языка»

На тему:

Types of Adjectives

Выполнила: Дорошева П.В.

студентка группы ГЛ 23

Проверила: к. филол. н.

доцент, Постевая Е.В.

Ростов-на-Дону, 2020



Introduction

What is an adjective? Simply put, an adjective describes or modifies a noun. It provides further information about a noun, indicating things like size, shape, color, and more. Adjectives can also modify pronouns. They answer questions like, "Which one?", "How many?", "Whose?" and "What kind?" Without adjectives, we wouldn't know if you had a serene vacation or a disastrous vacation.

The adjective expresses the categorical meaning of property of a substance, e.g.: hard work. That means that semantically the adjective is a bound word of partial nominative value: it cannot be used without a word denoting the substance which it characterizes. Even in contexts where no substance is named, it is presupposed (implied) or denoted by a substitutive word “one”, e.g.: Red is my favourite colour; The blouse is a bit small. Have you got a bigger one? When the adjective is used independently it is substantivized, i.e. it acquires certain features of a noun.

Adjectives are distinguished by a specific combinability with the nouns which they modify, with link verbs and with modifying adverbs. The functions performed by the adjective correlate with their combinability: when combined with nouns, adjectives perform the function of an attribute (either in preposition to the noun modified or in post-position if accompanied by adjuncts), e.g.: a suspicious man; a man suspicious of his wife; when combined with link verbs they perform the function of a predicative (part of a compound nominal predicate), e.g.: The man was very suspicious of his wife. Usually, constructions with the attributive and predicative use of the adjective are easily transformed into each other, as in the examples given. But there are adjectives that can be used only attributively, e.g.: joint (venture), main (point), lone (wolf), live (music), daily (magazine), etc.; there are adjectives that are used only predicatively (usually adjectives denoting states and relations), e.g.: glad, fond, concerned, etc.; in addition, the predicative or attributive use may differentiate homonymous adjectives or different lexico-semantic variants of the same adjective, cf.: a certain man - I'm certain that the report is ready; ill manners - I'm ill.

Formally, adjectives are characterized by a specific set of word-building affixes, e.g.: hopeful, flawless, bluish, famous, decorative, accurate, inaccurate, basic, etc. As for word-changing categories, the adjective had a number of reflective categories in Old English: it agreed with the noun in number, case and gender; all these forms were lost in the course of historical development and today the only morphological category of the adjective is the immanent category of comparison.



Subclasses of adjectives

Adjectives are traditionally divided on the basis of their semantics into two grammatically relevant subclasses: qualitative and relative adjectives.

Qualitative adjectives denote various qualities of substances which admit of a quantitative estimation, i.e. of establishing their correlative quantitative measure. The measure of a quality can be estimated as high or low, adequate or inadequate, sufficient or insufficient, optimal or excessive., e.g.: red, long, beautiful, an awkward situation -- a very awkward situation etc.

Relative adjectives denote qualities of objects in relation to other objects; such adjectives are usually derived from nouns, e.g.: wood - wooden, ice - icy, etc. The ability to form degrees of comparison is usually treated as the formal sign of qualitative adjectives, because they denote qualities which admit of quantitative estimation, e.g.: very long, rather long, not so long, long - longer - longest. But this is not exactly the case.

First, there are a number of qualitative adjectives which have no forms of comparison because their own semantics is either inherently comparative or superlative, or incompatible with the idea of comparison at all (non-gradable), e.g.: excellent, semi-final, extinct, deaf, etc. Second, some relative adjectives, when used figuratively, perform the same semantic function of qualitative evaluation as qualitative adjectives proper and in such contexts acquire the ability to change their form according to the category of comparison, cf.: a golden crown: a relative adjective `golden' is used in its primary meaning - a crown made of gold; golden hair: a relative adjective `golden' is used in its figurative meaning - hair of the color of gold; one can say: Her hair is even more golden than her mother's hair.

On the other hand, a qualitative adjective may be used in the specificative function as a relative adjective, specifying the property of some objects in their relations to the other objects, e.g.: a hard disk - the basically qualitative adjective `hard' in this context specifies the type of the disk in relation to other types: hard disks - floppy disks. In such cases qualitative adjectives do not form the degrees of comparison. Thus, the grammatically relevant subdivision of adjectives should actually be based not on their general semantics, but on their semantic function: the basic semantic function of qualitative adjectives is evaluation, and they normally form the degrees of comparison; the basic semantic function of relative adjectives is specification, and they normally do not form the degrees of comparison. Still, when used in the evaluative function, both qualitative and relative adjectives form the degrees of comparison; when used in the specificative function, neither qualitative, nor relative adjectives form the degrees of comparison.

Attribute Adjectives

Syntactically adjectives may be attributive and predicative. Attributive adjectives come before nouns.

intelligent young woman

Some adjectives are historically attributive:

chief, main, only, particular, principal, sole

Predicative Adjectives

Predicate adjectives are separated from nouns and come after verbs, especially link verbs (be, get, seem, appear, keep, look, feel, make, smell, sound, taste, become, grow, remain, stay, turn).

Chicken made this way tastes more delicious.

Some adjectives are historically predicative:

ill, poorly, fine, asleep, awake, afraid, alive, alone, content, glad, pleased, sorry, upset, near, far (away)

The adjectives old, heavy, late may mean differently as attributive or predicative.

Kelly's quite old now.

She's a really old friend.

Types of Adjectives: Limiting Adjectives

Limiting adjectives do as their name suggests, they limit the noun being described. Generally, there are nine types of limiting adjectives as follows:

· Definite & Indefinite Articles

· Possessive Adjectives

· Demonstrative Adjectives

· Indefinite Adjectives

· Interrogative Adjectives

· Cardinal Adjectives

· Ordinal Adjectives

· Proper Adjectives

· Nouns used as Adjectives

The possessive adjectives my, your, his, her, its, our, and their modify nouns by showing possession or ownership.

Examples:

I forgot my key at home.

What is your phone number?

The demonstrative adjectives “this,” “these,” “that,” “those,” and “what” are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases.

Examples:

That dog is so adorable.

He lives in this house.

An interrogative adjective (“which” or “what”) is like an interrogative pronoun, except that it modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its own (see also demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives).

Examples:

Which method is likely to produce the best results?

What subject did you enjoy most?

An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun, except that it modifies a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.

Examples:

Many people continue to ignore warnings about the dangers of sunbathing.

The examiners can pitch on any student to answer questions.

Adjectives that modify the noun by numbering it (stating how many) are cardinal adjectives.

Examples:

Five pens

Six tables

An ordinal adjective indicates the position of a noun in a series.

Examples:

The first date

The third month

Adjectives derived from proper names are called proper adjectives. They are easily recognizable in that they are always capitalized.

Examples:

Japanese food

Russian opera

Sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives to define or describe another noun.

Examples:

The computer exhibition

A history teacher

The category of comparison expresses the quantitative characteristics of the quality rendered by the adjective, in other words, it expresses the relative evaluation of the amount of the quality of some referent in comparison with other referents possessing the same quality. Three forms constitute this category: the positive degree, the comparative degree, and the superlative degree forms of the adjective. The basic form, known as the positive degree, has no special formal mark, e.g.: tall, beautiful; the comparative degree is marked by two kinds of forms; synthetical forms with the suffix “-er” and analytical forms with the auxiliary word more, e.g.: taller, more beautiful; the superlative degree is also formed either synthetically with the help of the grammatical suffix “-est”, or analytically with the help of the auxiliary word most, e.g.: tallest, most beautiful. The synthetic and analytical degrees stand in complementary distribution to each other, their choice is determined by syllabophonetic forms of adjectives and is covered in detail in practical grammar textbooks. Also, there are suppletive forms of the degrees of comparison, e.g.: bad - worse - worst.

Degrees of comparison

adjective categorical meaning predicative relative

In many languages, some adjectives are comparable and the measure of comparison is called degree. For example, a person may be "polite", but another person may be "more polite", and a third person may be the "most polite" of the three. The word "more" here modifies the adjective "polite" to indicate a comparison is being made, and "most" modifies the adjective to indicate an absolute comparison (a superlative).

Among languages that allow adjectives to be compared, different means are used to indicate comparison. Some languages do not distinguish between comparative and superlative forms.

In English, many adjectives can be inflected to comparative and superlative forms by taking the suffixes "-er" and "-est" (sometimes requiring additional letters before the suffix; see forms for far below), respectively:

"great", "greater", "greatest"

"deep", "deeper", "deepest"

Some adjectives are irregular in this sense:

"good", "better", "best"

"bad", "worse", "worst"

"many", "more", "most" (sometimes regarded as an adverb or determiner)

"little", "less", "least"

Some adjectives can have both regular and irregular variations:

"old", "older", "oldest"

"far", "farther", "farthest"

also

"old", "elder", "eldest"

"far", "further", "furthest"

The general tendency is for simpler adjectives and those from Anglo-Saxon to take the suffixes, while longer adjectives and those from French, Latin, or Greek do not - but sometimes sound of the word is the deciding factor.

Many adjectives do not naturally lend themselves to comparison. For example, some English speakers would argue that it does not make sense to say that one thing is "more ultimate" than another, or that something is "most ultimate", since the word "ultimate" is already absolute in its semantics. Such adjectives are called non-comparable or absolute. Nevertheless, native speakers will frequently play with the raised forms of adjectives of this sort. Although "pregnant" is logically non-comparable (either one is pregnant or not), one may hear a sentence like "She looks more and more pregnant each day". Likewise "extinct" and "equal" appear to be non-comparable, but one might say that a language about which nothing is known is "more extinct" than a well-documented language with surviving literature but no speakers, while George Orwell wrote, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". These cases may be viewed as evidence that the base forms of these adjectives are not as absolute in their semantics as is usually thought.

Comparative and superlative forms are also occasionally used for other purposes than comparison. In English comparatives can be used to suggest that a statement is only tentative or tendential: one might say "John is more the shy-and-retiring type," where the comparative "more" is not really comparing him with other people or with other impressions of him, but rather, could be substituting for "on the whole". In Italian, superlatives are frequently used to put strong emphasis on an adjective: bellissimo means "most beautiful", but is in fact more commonly heard in the sense "extremely beautiful".

On the upper level the positive degree, as the unmarked member, is opposed to the comparative and superlative degrees, as the marked forms of the opposition, denoting the superiority of a certain referent in the property named by the adjective. The weak member, the positive degree, has a wider range of meanings: it denotes either the absence of comparison, or equality/inequality in special constructions of comparison, e.g.: He is tall; He is as tall as my brother; He is not so tall as my brother. On the lower level the comparative degree is opposed to the superlative degree. The comparative degree denotes relative, or restricted superiority, involving a restricted number of referents compared, normally two, e.g.: He is taller than my brother. The superlative degree denotes absolute, or unrestricted superiority, implying that all the members of a certain class of referents are compared and the referent of the word modified by the adjective possesses the property in question to the highest possible degree, e.g.: He is the tallest man I've ever seen. The superlative degree at this level of the opposition is the strong member, being more concrete in its semantics

The opposition can be contextually reduced: the superlative degree can be used instead of the positive degree in contexts where no comparison is meant, to denote a very high degree of a certain quality intensely presented, cf.: She is a most unusual woman (She is an extremely unusual woman); It was most generous of you (It was very generous of you). This kind of grammatical transposition is known as “the relative superlative”. Thus, the superlative degree is used in two senses: the absolute superiority (unrestricted superiority) and the relative superiority (a very high degree of a certain quality). The formal mark of the difference between the two cases is the possibility of indefinite article determination or the use of the zero article with the noun modified by the adjective in the superlative degree, e.g.: It was a most generous gesture; a sensation of deepest regret.

The same grammatical metaphor is used in Russian, cf.: умнейший человек, с огромнейшим удовольствием, etc.; it must be noted, though, that the Russian elative superlative is usually expressed by synthetic forms of adjectives, while in English analytical forms are most often used.

The quantitative evaluation of a quality involves not only an increase in its amount or its intensity, but also the reverse, its reduction, rendered by the combination of the adjective with the words less and least, e.g.: important, less important, least important. These combinations can be treated as specific analytical forms of the category of comparison: they denote what can be called “negative comparison”, or “reverse comparison” and are formed with the help of the auxiliary words less and least; the regular synthetic and analytical forms denoting an increase in the amount of a quality may be specified as “direct comparison”, or “positive comparison” forms. Thus, the whole category of comparison is constituted not by three forms, but by five forms: one positive degree form (important), two comparative degree forms, direct and reverse (more important, less important), and two superlative degree forms: direct and reverse (most important, least important).

The reverse forms of comparison are rarely studied within the category of comparison; this can be explained, besides purely semantic reasons, by the fact that reverse comparison has no synthetical forms of expression, and by the fact that the grammatical meaning of its forms is not idiomatic: the auxiliary word retains its own lexical meaning. Still, if the analytical means of direct comparison, whose idiomatism is also weak, are considered to be grammatical forms of the adjectives, there is no reason to consider the forms of reverse comparison free word-combination.

Adjective Formation

Many adjectives have affixes.

Frequent adjective suffixes:

-able/ible (able to be): comfortable

-ful (full of): beautiful

-less (without): careless

-ive (tending to): attractive

Negative prefixes:

dis-: dishonest

un-: uninteresting

il-: illegal

im-: impolite

in-: inconvenient

ir-: irrelevant

Compound Adjectives

Not all adjectives are single words...far from it. Often, a single adjective will comprise two or more words. A single adjective with more than one word is called a compound adjective. For example:

· Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. (Comedian George Burns)

· Be a good-looking corpse. Leave a good-looking tattoo. (Actor Ed Westwick)

· I like the busted-nose look. (Actor Peter Dinklage)

Compound adjectives are usually grouped with hyphens to show they are one adjective.

Adjective Phrases

In real-life sentences, adjectives are often accompanied by modifiers like adverbs (e.g., very, extremely) and prepositional phrases (e.g., ...with me, ...about the man). In other words, an adjective (shown in bold) will often feature in an adjective phrase (shaded).

· My bankers are very happy with me. (The popstar formerly known as Prince)

(In this example, the adjective phrase describes bankers.)

· The dragonfly is an exceptionally beautiful insect but a fierce carnivore.

(Here, the adjective phrase describes insect.)

Here's a more formal definition:

Formal Definition for Adjective Phrase

An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by an adjective that describes a noun.

An adjective clause, also known as an adjectival clause, is a type of dependent clause that works to describe a noun in a sentence. It functions as an adjective even though it is made up of a group of words instead of just one word. With an adjective clause, the clause is linked to the noun being described with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, that or which) or a relative adverb (when, where or why). Like all clauses, it will have a subject and a verb.

· The people who make history are not the people who make it but the people who make it and then write about it. (Musician Julian Cope)

- Chocolate, which many people adore, is fattening.

- People who are smart follow the rules.

- I can remember the time when cell phones didn't exist.



Источники

1. Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. Taylor & Francis. p. 188

2. "Where Have all the Adjectives Gone?" Studies in Language 1, no. 1 (1977): 19-80

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