Chapter  I   SIX GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

Lesson  4   Major Morpheme -- Adjective (A)

 4-1  [Adjective(A), Noun Expansion(A + N)] 
     Some major morphemes describe the color, shape, size, etc. of nouns.  Such a morpheme is called an adjective or A in this book.  The underlined part in the following (1) is an adjective.
     (1)  big apple
     In English an adjective (A) generally is placed before the noun (N) which it modifies.  This is an example of expansion.  In the above example, the adjective "big" expands the noun "apple" to make the noun phrase "big apple".  Diagram:

    (2)      (big apple)
                   N
                  
              A        N
            (big)   (apple)

     [Expansion: A + N N]
(In this book, a noun, whether it's a word, a phrase, or a clause (cf. 25-1), is often expressed simply as N.  And the same with A, V, and AD.)

 4-2  [Meanings of Adjectives] 
   Adjectives can signify:
     (i) Shape
       (3)  round,  square,  oval-shaped,  etc.
    (ii) Color
       (4)  green,  blue,  brown,  red,  snow-white,  transparent, etc.
   (iii) Size
       (5)  big,  short,  small,  medium-sized,  etc.
    (iv) Material
       (6)  wooden,  iron,  plastic, etc.
     (v) Others
       (7)  liquid,  rich,  young,  healthy,  Japanese,  broken, etc.
 4-3  [Postpositional Adjectives] 
     In some exceptional noun phrases the adjective is placed after, not before, the noun.
   (i) Idiomatic Cases
     (8)  something nice
     (9)  somebody clever
    (10)  the president-elect

  (ii) Cases with a Long Adjective Phrase
    (11)  a white house on the green hill
    (12)  a book useful for our studies
     Some are used in both positions.
    (13) a.  the best person available     (Quirk, p.418)
         b.= the best available person
    (14) a.  the time appointed
         b.= the appointed time
 4-4  [Two or More Adjectives: A1-- A2--N] 
     When two or more adjectives expand a noun, there seems to be a certain order.
     (15) a.  the big young man      (Lobeck, pp.153-154)
          b. *the young big man
     (16) a.  a new German car
          b. *a German new car
     (17) a.  the great oaken table
          b. *the oaken great table
However, some native speakers accept (15b), (16b) and (17b).

 4-5  [N? + N = N] 
     Sometimes a noun seems to be used as an adjective.  Consider the underlined parts.
     (18) a.  a girl friend
          b.  a good friend
The morpheme "girl" in (18a), like "good" in (18b), functions as an adjective, because it expands the noun "friend".
     In this book, however, we suppose no noun can expand another noun.  Instead we suppose "girl" in the above temporarily has turned into an adjective by the convertor(CVT) "ø"(cf.8-6).  Thus, the diagram of "girl friend" will be:
     (19)      (girl friend)
                     N
                    
                 A       N
                  (friend)
            N      CVT
          (girl)   (ø)
 4-6  [Two Grammatical Features of Adjectives: Adjectivity] 
     Adjectives are generally used in the pattern "A + N".
    (i)  A + N
     (20) a.  a big house
          b.  a nice watch
          c.  a pink car
But adjectives are also used as an essential element in the verb phrase.(cf. VZ + (N) + A   in   5-2)
   (ii) A in V
     (21) a.  The house is big.
          b.  The watch looks nice.
          c.  They painted the car pink.
     Most adjectives have both usages.  But some are used only in (i), not in (ii), while others are used only in (ii), not in (i).  Moreover, some rare adjectives, used in both, carry different meanings.
     (22) a.  John is an utter fool.
          b. *The fool is utter.
     (23) a. *John smiled at the asleep baby.
          b.  The baby is asleep now.
     (24) a.  The late king was very particular about tea.
          b.  The king was late for the coronation.
It can be said that there is a gradience of adjectivity among adjectives.
Copyright(C) 2004 Masaya Oba. All rights reserved.