28.The Adjective. Substantivisation of Adjectives. Adjectivisation of Nouns.

The Adj. expresses the categorical semantics of property of a substance. It means that each Adj. used in the text presupposes relation to some noun the property of whose referent it denotes, such as its material, colour, demensions,position, state,and other characteristics both permanent and temporary.It follows from this that,unlike nouns,Adj. do not posses a full nominative value.Gen. features: 1) mean-g- expresses property; 2) form-invariable. some form degrees of comparison (long, longer, longest); 3) funct. a) proceed or follow nouns (times immemorial) ; combine with a preceding advjective (very large); can be followed by the phrase “preposition + n-n” (free from danger); occasionally follow a verb (married young). b) in the sent. it can be an attribute or a predicative (is large); an objective predicative (painted the door green).

All the Adj. are traditionally divided into 2 large subclasses:1)qualitative and 2)relative.1) express such properties of a substance as are determined by the direct relation of the substance to some other substance:wood-a wooden hut, history-a historical event,colour-coloured postcards. 2) denote various qualities of substances which admit of a quantitative estimation. The measure of a quality can be estimated as high or low,adequate or inadequate,sufficient or insufficient,optimal or excessive:an awkward situation-a very awkward situation.

Adjectives can be substantivised, i. e. become nouns. the characteristic features of N in English and see if a S. Adj. has acquired them. These features are, (1) ability to form a plural, (2) to have a form in -'s if a living being is denoted, (3) to be modified by an Adj, (4) performing the function of subject or object in a sentence. E.g. word native possesses all peculiarities, e. g. the natives of Australia, a young native, etc.There is therefore every reason to assert that native is N. when so used, and indeed we need not call them S. Adj. Thus the second of the above questions would also be answered. But the word rich is an example of a different kind. It certainly is S., and obvious, however, that it differs from the word native in some important points: (1) it does not form a plural, (2) it cannot be used in the singular and with the indefinite article, (3) it has no possessive form. But the word rich differs from the word native in some important points: (1) it does not form a plural, (2) it cannot be used in the singular and with the indefinite article, (3) it has no possessive form. It will be right to say that it is only partly substantivised. The word stands somewhere between an Adj and a N. The same may be said of the poor, the English, the Chinese, also the wounded, the accused. Sometimes the result of S-n is an abstract N: Her mind was focused on the invisible. Nouns of this type certainly have no plural form.

Adjectivisation of nouns. In Modern English a noun may stand before another noun & modify it. (stone wall). Is the first component is a noun or is it adjectivised? There are some views. 1- it is a N, 2 - it is an adjective, 3 - it is neither a noun nor an adjective but a separate part of speech. The criteria of degrees of comparison is useless there, as many adjectives don’t form the degrees of comparison.

The 1 element usually appears only in one number form, e. g. stone wall, not stones wall. It is possible to argue that the first element is a noun, which appears there in a definite number form. This proof is inconclusive. (2) Is it able in the cases when it denotes a human being to have a possessive form? The phrase the Einstein theory can take the possessive form; the phrase Einstein's theory is quite possible, and occurs in actual texts. (3) Does it denote a substance or a property? We might say that it denotes a substance but this substance only serves to characterise the property of the thing.Thus, no perfectly objective result can be gained in such cases.