Semantic classification

Lectures

The Adjective. The Adverb

1. A general outline of the adjective.

2. Classification of adjectives.

3. The problem of the stative.

4. The category of comparison.

5. A general outline of the adverb.

6. Classification of adverbs (semantic features).

7. Structural types of adverbs (morphological features).

The Adjective

A general outline of the adjective

Semantic features. The adjective expresses the property of an entity.

Typically, adjectives denote states, usually permanent states, although there are

also adjectives which can denote temporary states. Adjectives are characteristically

stative, but many of them can be seen as dynamic. The stative property of an entity

is a property that cannot be conceived as a developing process, and the dynamic

property of an entity is a property that is conceived as active, or as a developing

process.

eg. John is very tall. vs .*John is being very tall today

John is very careful today (unemphatic). vs. John is being careful today

(emphatic).

Morphological features. Derivationally, adjectives are related either to

nouns or verbs. Suffixes changing nouns to adjectives are: - (i)al, -ar, -ary or –ery,

-ed, -en, -esque, -ful, -ic(al), -ish, -istic, -less, -like, -ly, -ous, -ward, -wide, -y.

Suffixes changing verbs to adjectives are: -able or –ible, -ent or –ant, -ed, -ing, -

ive, -(at)ory.

Syntactic features. In the sentence, the adjective performs the functions of

an attribute (an adjunct) and a predicative. Of the two, the more typical function is

that of an attribute since the function of a predicative can also be performed by

other parts of speech.

Adjectives can sometimes be postpositive, that is, they can sometimes follow the item they modify.

Adjectives can often function as heads of noun phrases. As such, they do not

inflect for number and for the genitive case and must take a definite determiner.

An adjective can function as a verbless clause (eg. Anxious, he dialed the

number).

Classification of adjectives

Semantic classification

All the adjectives are traditionally divided into two large subclasses:

qualitative and relative. Relative adjectives express such properties of a substance

as are determined by the direct relation of the substance to some other substance.

E.g. mathematics — mathematical precision; history — a historical event.

Qualitative adjectives, as different from relative ones, denote various qualities of

substances which admit of a quantitative estimation, i.e. of establishing their

correlative quantitative measure. The measure of a quality can be estimated as high

or low, adequate or inadequate, sufficient or insufficient, optimal or excessive. The

ability of an adjective to form degrees of comparison is usually taken as a formal

sign of its qualitative character, in opposition to a relative adjective which is

understood as incapable of forming degrees of comparison by definition.

However, in actual speech the described principle of distinction is not

strictly observed. Substances can possess qualities that are incompatible with the

idea of degrees of comparison. So adjectives denoting these qualities and incapable

of forming degrees of comparison still belong to the qualitative subclass (extinct,

immobile, deaf, final, fixed, etc.) On the other hand, some relative adjectives can

form degrees of comparison. Cf.: a grammatical topic — a purely grammatical

topic — the most grammatical of the suggested topics.

Prof. Blokh suggests that distinction be based on the evaluative function of

adjectives. According as they actually give some qualitative evaluation to the

substance referent or only point out its corresponding native property, all the

adjective functions may be grammatically divided into "evaluative" and

"specificative". One and the same adjective, irrespective of its being "relative" or

"qualitative", can be used either in the evaluative function or in the specificative

function. For instance, the adjective good is basically qualitative. On the other

hand, when employed as a grading term in teaching, i.e. a term forming part of the

marking scale together with the grading terms bad, satisfactory, excellent, it

acquires the said specificative value; in other words, it becomes a specificative, not

an evaluative unit in the grammatical sense. Conversely, the adjective wooden is

basically relative, but when used in the broader meaning "expressionless" or

"awkward" it acquires an evaluative force and, consequently, can presuppose a

greater or lesser degree ("amount") of the denoted properly in the corresponding

referent.

Thus, the introduced distinction between the evaluative and specificative

uses of adjectives, in the long run, emphasizes the fact that the morphological

category of comparison (comparison degrees) is potentially represented in the

whole class of adjectives and is constitutive for it.

Adjectives that characterize the referent of the noun directly are termed

inherent, those that do not are termed non-inherent.

eg. an old member of the club – the member of the club is old

Most adjectives are inherent, and it is especially uncommon for dynamic

adjectives to be other than inherent.

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