Module 1 Concepts: Adjectives

An ADJECTIVE is a form-class word; usually modifies a noun; can be compared and can follow very.

A prototypical adjective fits both slots in the frame sentence: The ____ man seems very ____.

Adjectives like lovable, funny, and short make sense in both slots. They also meet most of the other criteria for adjectives:

Has an adjective-making morpheme:

lovable

funny

Takes a comparative or superlative morpheme:

funnier, funniest

shorter, shortest

Can be made comparative or superlative by using more or most:

more lovable, most lovable

Can be qualified:

rather lovable

very funny

fairly short

Some adjectives are peripheral cases because they do not fit a majority of the adjective tests:

1. Adjective-making morpheme

2. Comparative or Superlative (inflectional morpheme)

3. Comparative or Superlative (more or most)

4. Can fit both slots of the adjective frame sentence: The __ man seems very __.

For example, a word might be considered peripheral if it does not fit both slots in the adjective frame sentence.

When adjectives fit best only in the first slot, they are attributive:

• The entire pizza seems very entire.

When adjectives fit best only in the second slot, they are predicative:

• The afraid man seems very afraid.

The fewer adjective characteristics an adjective has, the more it becomes a peripheral case. An adjective like entire or afraid functions exclusively as an attributive or predicative adjective.

Members of all four form classes can be divided into further subclasses based on certain semantic features. These features often have grammatical consequences. The following are some of the subclasses of adjectives:

Attributive and predicative adjectives: Adjectives that only fit one of the two slots in the frame sentence are either attributive or predicative.

• attributive adjectives occur before a noun, usually attributing a quality to that noun

  • The entire pizza disappeared.

• predicative adjectives occur in the predicate of a sentence and without a following noun

  • Our teacher was aghast.

Predicative adjectives requiring complements: Some predicative adjectives accept or even require complements.

• My brother is fond. à The sentence seems to be missing something.

• My brother is fond of frozen yogurt. à the complement of something is a necessary addition to fond.

Gradable and nongradable adjectives: Gradable adjectives can be distinguished by qualifiers indicating intensity:

• somewhat late

• a bit late

• very late

• extremely late

Nongradable adjectives don’t normally occur with such qualifiers. The following qualified adjectives seem nonsensical:

• rather vertical

• somewhat perfect

• very double

• extremely triangular

As a sentence constituent, an adjective or any group of words that can substitute for an adjective is an adjective phrase.

An adjectival is a word or phrase that functions as an adjective would in a predicate adjective or a noun-modifying role.

An adjectival clause is usually a relative clause, but sometimes a subordinate clause.

An adjectival complement is a sentence-level adjectival word or phrase serving either as subject complement of a linking verb or as an object complement following a transitive verb.

An adjective complement is a phrase that completes the meaning of an adjective.