Some main characteristic features of an adjective (on the material of Greek)

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Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Department of Classical Philology

Main characteristic features of an adjective (on the material of Greek)

Kh. Kuibida, Ass. Professor

Summary

The article examines the basic properties of adjectives as an independent class of words on the basis of various theoretical positions existing in the linguistic literature, and interprets key linguistic terms and concepts. The research emphasizes that the analysis of adjectives as a distinct part of speech can be conducted based on different criteria, including semantics, key morphological features, syntactical considerations, and word-formation peculiarities. So, this article delves into the historical, semantic, and grammatical aspects of adjectives, particularly within the context of the Greek language. It begins by tracing the linguistic traditions surrounding adjective studies, from antiquity to modern times, highlighting the evolution of the concept of adjectives as a distinct part of speech.

The article explores various linguistic traditions' classifications of adjectives and their roles within different morphological schools. In terms of semantics, the article clarifies the categorical meaning of adjectives, emphasizing their attributiveness and their ability to express static qualities of objects. It outlines the distinction between primary and secondary adjectives, explains their formation and semantic nuances. Furthermore, the article delves into the semantics of derivative adjectives, including qualitative, relative, and possessive adjectives, and explicates their lexical motivation and compositional nuances.

Grammatically, the article describes the morphological and syntactic properties of adjectives, focusing on their agreement with nouns in gender, number, and case. It discusses the semantic-grammatical category of comparison and explores the syntactic functions of adjectives as attributive and predicative elements within sentences. Additionally, the article examines the position of adjectives relative to nouns in Ancient Greek, highlighting their syntactic independence from their position. The main points are supported by many illustrative examples based on the Greek language.

Keywords. Adjective; linguistic traditions; criteria; semantics; grammatical peculiarities; derivation.

Introductory notes

Adjectives belong to the category of words that play a crucial role in the cognitive activities of individuals. The forms of our minds not only reflect the existence of objects or phenomena but also determine relations and connections between them, activating various structures of consciousness. Due to their semantics, adjectives emphasize key characteristics and contribute to forming a distinct notion of a subject. The figurative use of adjectives enhances the stylistics of the text by introducing imagery. The analysis of adjectives in different languages has always been of significant importance among linguists. It helps to uncover the development of particular lexical systems and reveals the peculiarities of societal development during specific

In Modern Greek (MG) linguistics, the study of adjectives falls within the purview of various scholars and researchers. Some notable figures who have contributed to the study of adjectives in MG include: G. Babiniotis, A. Roussou, A. Ralli, S. Varlokosta, A. Alexiadou. Classical languages, such as Latin and Ancient Greek, have been studied extensively by scholars like K. Coulter, M. Leumann, R. Olishchuk, J. Poultney (for Latin), and A. Blanc, J.B. Hainsworth, E. Hamp, R.S. W. Hawtrey, H.M. Hoeningswald, K. Kuibida, M. Petryshyn, Io. Manolessu, T. Meissner, A. Rally, J. Richards, O. Tribulato, E. Schwitzer, L. Zvonska (for Ancient Greek).

Linguistic traditions provide a comprehensive study of adjectives at different language levels. Some aspects, particularly concerning the Ancient Greek language (AG), with its variety of interesting phenomena, still require further research and generalization.

Therefore, the purpose of this work is to identify and generalize the main grammatical, semantic, and word-formation properties of adjectives in Ancient Greek (in comparison with MG concerning some phenomena), based on existing studies in the scientific literature on this subject. It should be noted that the major difference between AG and MG is mainly caused by the influence of the diglossia history of the language. All historical phases of Greek, from the Koine onwards, display a distinction between learned/high and ver-nacular/low which widens with the passage of time, involving more and more phonetic and morphological differentiation.

As a result, the vocabulary contains lexical items of different chronological periods and different morphological properties [1]. The sections of this paper are dedicated to providing an overview of the main linguistic traditions of adjective studies, semantic and grammatical properties of adjectives, particularly in Greek language.

1. The linguistic traditions of adjective studies

The concept of an adjective as a distinct part of speech traces its roots back to antiquity, with Aristotle making the first attempts at classifying parts of speech. In his works, derivative names resembling modern relative adjectives were identified. Dionysius Thrax mentioned the category of quality among name varieties, and Charisius described words accompanying and qualifying names as accidents of names. The term “adjective” was first used in Latin grammar manuals of the pre-classical period. Sextus Pompeius Festus, in particular, referred to it in the context of names. The traditional definition of an adjective in linguistics is a word used to qualify a noun or pronoun: "adiectiuum non potest per se plenum habere sensum [...] hic non nascitur sensus sine alia persona - an adjective cannot have the full meaning by itself [...] the sense does not arise without another person" [2].

The traditional definition of an adjective in linguistics is a word used to qualify a noun or pronoun. The main linguistic traditions concerning the principles of the division of words into parts of speech have developed based on Indo-European languages since ancient times. The classification of words is made on the basis of complex criteria (semantic, syntactic, morphological, and word-forming) [3]. After numerous discussions regarding the number of parts of speech (ten, four, or five) [4; 3; 5], the adjective is unanimously regarded as a separate and variable part of speech by adherents of different concepts and morphological schools:

Traditionally, an adjective is distinguished among the six basic parts of speech, equally with a noun, a verb, a numeral, a pronoun, and an adverb [6; 5].2. Participles are often included in the category of adjectives that modify a noun (as verbal adjectives). Some pronouns (of the corresponding type of declension) and the ordinal numerals (as the category of ordinal adjectives) [4; 7] are also included. Historians of language, however, emphasize the substantive nature of an adjective when combined with a noun. According to Aristotle, there was no distinction between the name and the characteristic of the name [8]. The adjective was separated from the general class of names, and its formation acquired semantic, morphological, and syntactic features, classifying it as a separate part of speech [9]. Thus, the distinction between a noun and an adjective has diminished over time, with the attributiveness of a noun increasing. K. Brugman argued that adjectives and nouns were not distinct in Indo-European languages. The impetus for the process of adjective formation was the realization that one noun, when combined with another as an attribute or a predicate, expressed only its inherent quality [9].

In the course of understanding objective reality, an abstract category of quality formed in the human mentality. Nouns, serving as names of objects or phenomena that expressed characteristics of other objects or phenomena in the language, assumed corresponding syntactic positions in sentences. As a result, the syntactic category of attributiveness developed, and all primary adjectives were originally relative. Qualitative adjectives emerged as a separate subgroup when characteristics were realized not only in relation to other objects but independently [10]. In AG, it is sometimes challenging to distinguish an adjective from a noun even by inflection (e.g., ??íäñïöüíïò - ?íäñïöüíïò, “who kills people - death-dealing”); the distinction often relies on the presence of an article. In Modern Greek, the distinction between adjectives and nouns is generally clearer than in Ancient Greek. Very rarely there can be cases in certain contexts or with certain word formations.

The most popular case is that some adjectives in Greek can be used as nouns when they refer to a specific group of people or objects. In such cases, they may share inflectional patterns with nouns, making it challenging to identify them solely based on inflection: ï êáëüò, ç êáëÞ, ôï êáëü - “the good one” (can be used as a noun or as an adjective together with the noun).

The traditional definition of an adjective in linguistics is: “An adjective is a word used to qualify a noun or pronoun” [11] or, in other words, it is a part of speech that describes, modifies, or qualifies a noun or a pronoun. An adjective expresses characteristic directly or through their relations to objects or phenomena [3] (e.g., color, size, external features, internal properties, taste, material, relation to time, space, action, process, state). AG: äáöïéíåüò - red-haired, å?ñýò - wide, ?ñôßöñùí - intelligent, ?êõðÝôçò - fast-flying. MG: ãñÞãïñïò - fast, Ýîõðíïò - intelligent, îýëéíïò - wooden etc. The tradition of separating adjectives into semantic-grammatical classes based on four criteria (semantic, morphological, syntactic, and word-forming) predominates in linguistics. The analysis of AG adjectives in this article is based on this concept. The main semantic peculiarity of an adjective isto denote the static feature of an object (e.g., ðïëýêåóôïò ?ìÜò - “an embroidered belt”).

The grammatical peculiarity of the Greek adjective lies in its agreement with the word it modifies in gender, number, and case (these categories depend on the noun and are subject to change). A semantic-grammatical category of comparison is another general peculiarity of an adjective (êáñôåñüò - êáñôåñüôåñïò - êáñôåñüôáôïò “strong - stronger - the strongest”).

The morphological features explain a typical syntactic functioning of an adjective in context, serving as an attribute (e.g. ï?éåò äáóýìáëëïé - thick-fleeced sheep (plural). Adjectives can often function as a nominal part of a predicative expression, as exemplified by: ï?ã?ñ ó?ôïí ?äïõó ?, ï?ðßíïõó ?á?èïðá ï?íïí, ôï?íåê ??íáßìïíÝò å?óé êá??èÜíáôïé êáëÝïíôáé (Homer: ²liad5, 342) - “they/gods/don'teatbread, don't drink red wine because they don't have blood and are call edimmortal”.

In this context we can see two compound predicates (having the subject èåïß) containing different link verbs: ?íáßìïíÝò å?óéand?èÜíáôïé êáëÝïíôáé. The verb å?íáé (“to be”) is considered a perfect link, devoid of vocabulary individuality (that denotes the most general concept of a human mind). The structural part of the compound nominal predicate can also be expressed by the verbs not devoid of lexical meaning completely - such as a link verb êáëÝïíôáé. It's important to note that in AG, both attributive and predicative adjectives mostly occur in postposition to the noun (e.g., ëßò å?ãÝíåéïò - lion with a splendid mane). In MG, the position of adjectives can also vary depending on the context and emphasis.

Structurally and genetically, adjectives are divided into two large classes: primary and secondary. Primary adjectives express qualities of the subject (irrespective of something) and consist of a stem (root) and inflection (e.g., âáèýò -deep, ðéêñüò -bitter). Secondary adjectives express a complex feature (due to their relations to the subject, action, place, and time, e.g., âéâëéáêüò -bookish) or a secondary qualitative sign (e.g., ï?ëïò -curly). Secondary adjectives can be motivated both by adjectives and by words that belong to other parts of speech (e.g., AG: èñáóõêÜñäéïò -“with a brave heart”: èñáóýò + Þ êáñäéÜ; èåïöéëÞò - “God-loving”: èåüò + öéëÝù, MG: ðåéíáóìÝíïò - “hungry”: ðåßíá).New adjectives can be formed in various ways through the word-building process, with the most typical methods in Greek being affixation (prefixation: ?âñïìïò < ?-+ ?âñüìïò, suffixation: äïêéìáóôÞò < äïêéìÜæù + -ôÞò) and composition (e.g., ðáíäÞìéïò < ð?ò + ?ä?ìïò). The similar word-building processes exist in MG, among which the affixation tends to be the more prevalent and widely accepted method in everyday language due to its practicality and efficiency (á-+ ÷ñþìá “color”) = Ü÷ñùìïò “colorless”; áãÜðç + ôïò = áãáðçôüò “beloved”). Composition tends to be more prevalent in technical or specialized vocabulary, where precise terminology is often needed (ðáëéüò + ìüäá = ðáëéïìïäßôéêïò “old-fashioned”).

The figurative use of adjectives and their atypical syntactic positions impart additional shades of expressiveness (e.g., AG: ?íÞñ óêëçñüò - severe, stubborn, MG: ãëõêüò ëüãïò - sweet talk).

2. The semantics of an adjective

The notion of semantics has been a topic of scientific interest since ancient times. Now, it is usually studied within the framework of lexicography due to practical purposes, aiming to explain certain words and translate them. All language units “act as a unity of denoted and denotation...they are connected by the relations of two types into the paradigm and syntagm” [12].

Nowadays, linguists analyze words regarding their semantics at various levels - categorical meaning, grammatical meaning, lexical, and word-forming meaning. The approach based on word-forming processes is called word-centric, and the approach based on grammatical, lexical, and stylistic meanings of the word is termed text-centric. semantic adjective noun greek language

Semantics that depends on the part of speech (categorical meaning) is considered to be the most general in the language system. Categorical meaning is the most general, abstract meaning in relation to specific lexical meanings, common to one semantic-grammatical class of words, to one part of speech. The categorical meaning of an adjective is its attributiveness; it signifies and modifies an object. Adjectives express a static, permanent quality of a certain state of an object. The semantics of adjectives is not formed by the notion of objects (as in the case of nouns), but by the notion of the quality of objects. Therefore, they are used necessarily alongside nouns and depend on them in the grammatical position [5]: ôçëåêëõôüò ?ñÝóôçò - glorious Orestes.

The semantic aspect, as we understand it, is of primary importance; the syntactic and morphological features of words are formed on the basis of it. The general categorical meaning is considered the highest level of abstraction because it includes all the words of one semantic-grammatical class. The meanings of different classes within the part of speech are subordinated to it. In semantic groups, derivative words are classified according to word-building peculiarities. In the context, we interpret the individual lexical meaning of every word.

Derivative meaning is a common meaning for structurally similar derivatives that can be determined on the basis of the correlation "derivative - forming base" and is expressed by the word-forming model: the forming base + the affix. It's like a cumulative meaning of an affix and a forming base (its categorical meaning). Lexical meaning (LM) is a specific individual meaning of a word (objective reality in relation to the sound complex). LM can be motivated and non-motivated. Primary words have non-motivated LM, derivatives have motivated LM. The use of a word in context is one of the factors that characterize its LM (making possible the realization of its meaning).

Depending on the context, there are the following types of LM: nominal (direct), syntactically specified (metaphorical, accidental), phraseologically specified (figurative, for example): êñáäßç ?ôåéñÞò - an unbroken heart, ?ñßçñåò ?ôá?ñïé - faithful comrades, ?óðåôïí ê?äïò - the glorythat is beyond words.

One of the main peculiarities of adjectives is their division into semantic groups - qualitative, relative, and possessive adjectives. Qualitative adjectives denote the properties of objects that derive directly from knowledge, assessments, and individual perceptions: ìÝãáò - great. Among them, there are non-motivated (ãëõêýò - sweet) and motivated ones --reinterpreted original relative meaning (ìåãÜèõìïò - courageous), subjective estimation (êáêïìÞ÷áíïò - insidious).

Relative adjectives express unchangeable features of an object. They are only derivative words (?ëåîÜíåìïò - which protects from the wind). Relative adjectives can also express belonging (to a person or an animal): ?ððéïò - of a horse, horse-like; âïýôçò - bullish. Ordinal numerals (ðñ?ôïò - the first) can be interpreted as numeral adjectives (particularly speaking of Ukrainian [13] and Greek languages. In English for example the group of words that quantifies nouns are called numeral adjectives or adjectives of number and are divided into three types: definite numeral adjectives (cardinal andordinal numbers), indefinite numeral adjectives (express tentative numeral idea: few, several), distributive numeral adjectives (each, either, every).

The pronouns like ?êáóôïò - “each” are treated as pronoun adjectives in Greek (as in Ukrainian). In English, for example, they are called adjective pronouns. Derivative qualitative adjectives are characterized by the system of affixes, participating in the formation of adjectives with both neutral and common meaning of subjective-expressive estimation, with some degree or intensity of expression: ?ñßãíùôïò - well known.

Semantic groups of non-derivative qualitative adjectives are considered to express absolute quality and evaluative quality - size, distance, color, and physical characteristics: ãõìíÜò - nude, ãÝñùí - old, ëåõêüò - white. Derivative adjectives (relative in origin) express the meaning of neutral quality or special qualities (measure, intensity of expression, similarity), quality assessment (incompleteness, excessiveness): á?þíéïò - eternal, ?áâäùôüò - striped, ?ìðåëüåéò - full of vineyards.

The semantics of relative adjectives mostly depend on their origin. The denoun units, for instance, can be classified into the following groups:

Adjectives derived from the names of places (toponymic adjectives). They express relations to different geographical names (populated areas, countries, territories, parts of the world, rivers): ?ðïýíôéïò - opuntian, ?ëýìðéïò - Olympic.

Adjectives motivated by the names of people or animals (express the relation to creatures): ?íèñþðåéïò - human.

Adjectives that express a relation to the material or substance: ãáëÜêôéíïò - milky.

Adjectives that express a common relation: ?íÜëéïò - sea. Adjectives derived from adverbs express a relation to time and place: ÷èéæüò - yesterdays.

Deverbal adjectives express relation to action: ëåêôéêüò - conversational. Speaking of the meaning of primary and derivative adjectives, we should mention such notions as etymological and syntagmatic meaning. The etymological meaning of the word expresses its content. Derivative words are characterized by a syntagmatic meaning, accumulating the semantics of constituents that correlate with a certain syntactic equivalent. If the basic form of a word is accompanied by affixation, the meaning of the word-forming morpheme is included.

The compound AG derivative adjectives can be motivated by the following combinations:

Attributive (A + S): ëéãýöùíïò - vociferous.Predicative (V + S): öéëüîåéíïò - who loves guests. Numeral-noun combinations (Num + S): ?êáôüã÷åéñïò - with 100 hands.

Adverb-noun combinations (Adv + S): ?ã÷Ýìá÷ïò - who is fighting up close. The meaning of the compound adjective in some cases differs from the sum of meanings of its components; such adjectives are characterized by semantic integrity or are idiomatic (?äõåðÞò - sweet-talking, ?äýò - sweet, ô??ðïò - a talk). If the general meaning of the derivative adjective is a sum of meanings of its components and is not characterized by semantic integrity, the adjective is non-idiomatic (öõãïðôüëåìïò = ?öõã?í ôïí ðüëåìïí - refers to someone who fled from war or a deserter).

The lexical motivation of compound adjectives can be understood after finding the connection between the meanings of derivative words with the meanings of their constituents. Such a connection can be divided into: Strong, when the meaning of the derivative word derives from the meanings of its components (?îÝôçò - six years old < ?î ?ô?í - six years).

Weak, when the meaning of the derivative is not directly motivated by the meaning of its parts (?ôáëÜöñùí - light-hearted derives from the meaning “having children's mind”: ?ôáëüò - children's, infantile). Metaphoric, when the meaning of the derivative word is figurative (ìåãáëÞôùñ - “brave” literally “with a big heart”, ìÝãáò - big, ô??ôïñ - heart). Obscured, which is a loss of original meaning (it's not typical of the language of the ancient period). All thelexical meanings of adjectives should be interpreted only in the context that helps to understand the author's concept. For example: ôï?ä?í?í ãå ìÝãéóôïí ?ðïõñÜíéïí êëÝïò ?óôß (Homer: Odyssey 9, 264) - “... he has the greatest glory that extends up to heaven” (about the king Agamemnon). Metaphorical use of adjectives (when they denote unusual properties of an object, its untypical qualities, abilities: ?ðôåñïò ì?èïò - “a wingless word” that is “unspoken”) with time leads to such changes in the meaning as widening (extension) or narrowing [14; 15]

3. Grammatical properties of an adjective as a part of speech

Grammar, as the science of the morphological and syntactic structure of a language, holds a central position in the system of linguistics. Morphology focuses on words as nominative units of language, while syntax deals with word groups and sentences as communicative units of language. Therefore, when discussing the grammatical properties of an adjective, we refer to the analysis of its morphological and syntactic features (see also [14], [16]).

All the categories of an adjective, including gender, number, case, and degrees of comparison, are considered semantic-grammatical. This implies that the formal-structural expression of these categories has evident semantic content, which can be represented as “form + objective reality”. For instance, in Greek adjectives, the meanings of gender, number, and case are determined by inflections (speaking of the adjective structure in the paper we use the term “suffix” not distinguishing inflections), as seen in examples like ?ãíùóô-ïò/ïí (Sg); ?ãíùóô-ïé/á (Pl) - unknown. The meanings of degrees of comparison are determined by suffixes [17], such as ðñïãåí-Ýóôåñïò, á, ïí - prior; ?ðïôìü-ôáôïò, ç, ïí - the most unfortunate. This is with the exception of suppletive forms (e.g., ?ãáèüò - ?ìåßíùí - ?ñéóôïò), uncompleted forms (e.g., ?ã÷é (adv.) “near” - ?ôôïí “nearer” - ?ã÷éóôïò “the nearest”), or analytical forms (e.g., adverb?/ ß+ adjectives = ?÷áëåðüò - “more difficult”), Ü/ ?+ adjectives = Ü÷áëåðüò - “them ost difficult”).

In AG, synthetic forms are more productive compared to English, where analytical forms are more commonly used. In Modern Greek, both synthetic and analytic forms are commonly used (ìéêñüò “small” - ìéêñüôåñïò “smaller” - ï ìéêñüôåñïò “the smallest”; üìïñöïò “beautiful” - ðéï üìïñöïò “more beautiful” - ï ðéï üìïñöïò “the most beautiful”).

However, the preference for synthetic forms, similar to Ancient Greek, can still be observed in certain contexts. Synthetic forms tend to be more prevalent in formal or literary language, while analytic forms are often used in colloquial speech or informal writing. Overall, Modern Greek exhibits a mix of both synthetic and analytic forms, reflecting its historical development and linguistic diversity. Adjective categories of gender, number, and case are dependent and interchangeable, as illustrated in examples like ?óèë?òêá?óþöñïíïòãõíáéê?ò (Euripides: Alcestis 615) (we can notice the dependence of the adjectives ?óèë?ò and óþöñïíïò on the noun ãõíáéêüò, their absolute accordance in genus, number and case). They are semantically attached to the noun; for example, the singular denotes not only one sign but a sign of one object, while the plural denotes signs of several objects (e.g., èõìïöèüñá öÜñìáêá - fatal drugs). Only degrees of comparison have a semantically independent meaning, comparing one sign between several objects or different signs of the same object, as exemplified in the line: ?ó?Ðçëå ä' ðÜíôùí ?êðáãëüôáô' ?íäñ?í (Homer: Iliad 1, 146) - “because you, Peleid, are the most frantic of all the men”.

The category of degrees of comparison is construed in modern linguistics as independent, specific, and interlevel. Some researchers view it as a morphologically-syntactic word-changing category, where the forms of degrees of comparison are not considered derivative words but rather word forms within the lexeme (e.g., ?ëáðáäíüò / ?ëáðáäíüôåñïò - “weak” / “weaker”). On the other hand, others categorize it as morphologically-syntactic-word-forming [3; 18]. The ability to form three degrees is less productive among compound adjectives in AG; although it is deemed a norm we find in Greek the gradation of the compound adjective “happy”: “someone that has been graced with god-givenluck / someone the gods favor” - å?-äáßìùí/å?äáéìïíÝóôåñïò/ å?äáéìïíÝóôáôïò). This lower productivity can be attributed to the complex word structure involving two or more stems and affixes, as well as the intricate semantic structure (e.g., êáêüîåéíïò / “unhappy, having bad guests” / - êáêïîåéíþôåñïò).

In Modern Greek, compound adjectives typically use analytical forms to express degrees of comparison (öùôåéíïêüêêéíïò “bright red” - ðéï öùôåéíïêüêêéíïò “brighter red” - ï ðéï öùôåéíïêüêêéíïò “the brightest red”). The category of comparison is thus grounded in the correlation of morphological means with morphological categories (such as case, gender, and number), considering the right-side valency of the predicative adjective. In sentences, comparatives are employed as integral structures, where their inherent divalent potential influences both the left-side and right-side components. The left-side valency is represented by a substantial syntaxema as the subject of comparison, while the right-side is represented by a syntaxema denoting the object of comparison. An example illustrating this structure is: ?ôñåßäç êýäéóôå öéëïêôåáíþôáôå ðÜíôùí (Homer: Iliad 1, 122) - “Atride, the most famous, the most avaricious of all” (we can see the left-side component - “Atride” and the right-side component - “of all”). Depending on the language, adjectives can either precede or follow nouns. In Greek adjectives may function as pre-nominal or post-nominal modifiers [19]. For example, in Homeric Greek, adjectives as attributes more frequently appear in postposition, as seen in the phrase: ?÷éëå?ò äáßöñùí - courageous Achilles. In MG while postpositive placement is still common for both attributive and predicative adjectives, prepositive placement is also frequently used, especially in colloquial speech and in cases where emphasis or stylistic effect is desired (Ç ãÜôáç ìáýñç - the black cat, ìáýñç ç ãÜôá - black the cat).

While both forms are grammatically correct, the choice between prepositive and postpositive placement often depends on factors such as regional dialect, personal style, and the specific nuance or emphasis intended by the speaker or writer. In English, however, adjectives have distinct functions and can be classified as prepositive (attributive adjectives) and postpositive (predicative adjectives).In essence, the grammatical and syntactic roles of adjectives are predominantly understood through their connections with other words or language units within the context. Context represents the actual existence of a word, and verbal context provides the lexical and grammatical conditions that govern a word's functioning.

The relationship between word combinations and their selection can be likened to the relationship between words and thoughts: a profound thought lacks significance without an apt verbal expression. Thus, the coherence of a statement relies on its proper structural organization.

Conclusions

The history of adjectives goes back to ancient times, with Aristotle being the first to identify derivative names resembling modern relative adjectives. In this formative stage, adjectives emerged from nouns, necessitating their combination with another noun. The analysis of adjectives in linguistics traditionally relies on four different-level criteria: semantic, morphological, syntactic, and word-forming. Theoretical generalizations about the main features of adjectives vary depending on the language.

In Ancient Greek, the semantic-grammatical peculiarity of adjectives lies in their agreement with the modified word in gender, number, and case. These categories are semantically tied to the noun, undergo word-changing, and have their meanings determined by the endings. The category of comparison, considered semantically independent, is predominantly determined by suffixes in a synthetic manner in AG, with degrees of comparison being less characteristic of compound adjectives.

The syntactic function of an adjective, denoting a static sign, is contextually determined. Its primary role is attributive, while its secondary function is predicative. The positioning of an adjective, whether preposition or postposition, does not change the meaning of the sentence in AG.

The lexical meaning of an adjective is interpreted contextually. Stylistic analysis reveals the functioning peculiarities of adjectives, determines certain word-forming and changing characteristics, and offers a clearer reflection of semantics through typical and atypical examples of word use. The metaphorical use of AG adjectives over time has led to the widening/narrowing of their word meanings. As a result of word-forming processes, primarily derivation and compounding, derivative adjectives with both simple and complex structures can be formed. This research gives ground for analyzing adjectives in other languages, considering typological aspects, and further studying the main features of word formation processes in different language systems.

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