Adjective semantic features of the adjective

The adjective expresses the categorial semantics of property of a substance.

According to the way of nomination all the adjectives are traditionally divided into two large subclasses: qualitative and relative (Fig. 81).

Relative adjectives express such properties of a substance as are determined by the direct relation of the substance to some other substance. They describe properties of a substance through relation to materials, to place, to time, to some action, or to relationship.

Qualitative adjectives 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.

Qualitative adjectives in their turn may be differentiated according to their meaning into descriptive, denoting a quality in a broad sense and limiting, denoting a specific category, a part of a whole, a sequence of order, a number. Limiting adjectives single out the object or substance, impart a concrete or unique meaning to it, specify it, and therefore can seldom be replaced by other adjectives of similar meaning. Many adjectives may function either as descriptive or limiting, depend­ing on the head-word and the context.

Fig. 81

According to the evaluative function all the adjective functions may be grammatically divided into “evaluative” and “specificative” (Fig. 82).

Morphological features of the adjective

According to their morphological composition adjectives can be subdivided into simple, derived and compound (Fig. 83).

Fig. 83

In the case of simple adjectives we cannot always tell whether a word is an adjective by looking at it in isolation, as the form does not always indicate its status.

Derived adjectives are recognizable morphologically. They consist of one root morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes – suffixes or prefixes. To the derivational features of adjectives belong a number of suffixes and prefixes of which the most important are: -ful (hopeful), -less (flawless), -ish (bluish), -ous (famous), -ive (decorative), -ic (basic); un- (unprecedented), in- (inaccurate), pre- (premature).

Compound adjectives consist of at least two stems. They may be of several patterns: consisting of a noun + an adjective (colour-blind), consisting of an adjective + an adjective (deaf-mute), consisting of an adverb + a participle (newly-repaired), consisting of a noun/pronoun + a verbal (all-seeing, heart-breaking),consisting of an adjective/adverb + a noun + the suffix -ed (blue-eyed, down-hearted).

As for the variable morphological features the English adjective has lost in the course of the history of English all its forms of grammatical agreement with the noun. It distinguishes only the hybrid category of comparison.

The category of adjectival comparison gives a relative evaluation of the quantity of a quality. The category is constituted by the opposition of the three forms. The basic form (positive degree) has no features of comparison. The comparative degree form has the feature of restricted superiority (which limits the comparison to two elements only). The superlative degree form has the feature of unrestricted superiority.

The less/least-combinations, similar to the more/most-combinations, constitute specific forms of comparison, which may be called forms of “reverse comparison”. The two types of forms cannot be syntagmatically combined in one and the same form of the word, which shows the unity of the category of comparison.

Thus, the whole category includes not three, but five different forms, making up the two series – direct and reverse (Fig. 84).

Fig. 84

Ways of formation may be synthetic, analytical and suppletive (Fig. 85).

The synthetic way is by adding the suffixes -er, -estt. This means is found with monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives in which the stress falls on the last syllable, in which the second syllable is the syllabic [l], with adjectives in -er, -y, -some, -ow.

Polysyllabic adjectives form their degrees of comparison analytic­ally, by means of more and most.

Several adjectives form their degrees of comparison irregularly. These are suppletive forms.

Fig. 85

Some adjectives generally do not form degrees of comparison (Table 13).

Table 13