Lecture 5. The adjective

1.0. Grammatical description

1.1. Semantics

The adjective is used to denote a quality or feature of an object.

She is a pretty girl.

The vase stood on a low round table.

The adjective may qualify an object either directly by denoting its shape, size, color or some other more general characteristics - qualitative adjectives (“pretty”, “low”, “complete”, “round”), or indirectly, through its relation to another object - relative adjectives. (“woolen”, “wooden”, “silver”).

1.2. Morphological characteristics

Adjective (but only qualitative) change their form to express degrees of comparison. They generally speak about the following forms: the positive degree, the comparative degree, the superlative degree.

The comparative degree will be used to indicate the higher degree, the superlative degree - the highest of the quality expressed by the adjective. The positive degree, however, does not indicate the degree of the quality, but only the quality itself.

Pretty- prettier- prettiest

1.3.0. Syntactical characteristics

1.3.1. Combinability

The adjective may be used in isolation or as part of a phrase.

The book is interesting. (the adjective is used here in isolation)

This is an interesting book. (part of a noun phrase)

There was nothing interesting there. (part of a pronominal phrase)

The book is interesting to read. (part of an adjective phrase)

The adjectives sometimes substantivized, it is used in this case to denote a group of objects or an object possessing the quality. The adjectives may be substantivized fully or partially.

Partially substantivized adjectives often denote the following:

• A class of person possessing the same quality

The old, the young, the rich, the poor, the aged, the unemployed, the wounded, the sick, etc.;

• Nationalities

The English, the French, the Dutch;

• Abstract notions

The beautiful, the plural, the impossible, the inevitable, etc.

They co-occur in the text with the definite article.

Wholly substantivized adjectives may denote.

• Persons

A relative, a conservative, a native, a savage, a criminal, Eropean, a liberal, a progressive, etc.

• Nationalities

A Russian, a German, an Italian, an American, etc.

• Objects with a collective meaning (used only in the plural) Goods, valuables, sweets, eatables, etc.

They are used in the plural and genitive case forms and co-occur with articles like nouns.

1.3.2.0. Functions

Adjectives have two main syntactical functions; they may be used as attributes or predicatives.

This is an interesting book. (attributes)

This book is interesting. (predicatives)

In the majority of cases every adjective can be used in both these functions, but certain peculiarities must be mentioned here.

1.3.2.1 . There is a group of adjectives which are always or pi used predicatively:

afraid, alert, alive, alone, aloof, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware;

and also: faint, glad, ill, unwell, welt, etc.

Another group of adjectives is formed by those which are preferably used attributively:

• Relative adjectives

Criminal, atomic, medical, etc.

He was a nice boy, a friendly boy, and very shy.

• “intersifiers”

close, entire, great, strong, mere, sheer, utter, etc.

Utter and complete disaster! I’ve left every package I bought in Florence in that hotel in Perugia.

• “adverbial” adjectives

former, occasional, late, hard, fast, etc.

She looked (….) at the portrait of the late Queen and the late Poet Laureate.

• Emotionally colored epithets, etc.

poor, dear, honest, wretched, etc.

I don’t know what you’ve heard so far, but I’ll rough it out as it’s come to me. It began with poor little old Doctor Smith.

1.3.2.2 When used as attributes, adjectives generally precede the noun they modify. In postposition they will be found in the following cases:

a) when the adjectives is part of an adjectival phrase It was a book easy to read.

2. when used as attributes to pronouns something interesting, nothing important

3. in special combinations generally standing for terms in legal language attorney general, court martial, postmaster general.

In case where there is more than one adjective used as a prepositive attribute to a noun, the order of the adjectives generally depends on the semantics, the following scale being preferable:

1. "intersifying" adjectives

2. adjectives denoting temporary qualities or expressing the subjective attitude of the speaker 3.adjectives denoting size and shape 4.adjectives denoting age 5.adjectives denoting colour 6.adjectives denoting material 7.adjectives denoting nationality or style The first type of adjectives in this scale is the farthest, the last- the nearest to the noun modified by the adjectives. A real beautiful big old red woolen Oriental carpet 1 2 3 4 5 6 7