THE ADJECTIVE:

FORMATION,
CLASSIFICATION
, DEGREES OF
COMPARISON.
Lecture 9

Developed by Olkova I.A.

LECTURE OUTCOMES
Upon the end of the lecture you will be able to:
 speak about the categorial semantics of
adjectives;
 describe the combinability of adjectives and
their morphological characteristics;
 characterize the subclasses of the English
adjectives;
 speak about the morphological category of
comparison and its relation to the subclasses of
adjectives;
 explain the notion of substantivization of
adjectives giving the examples of two main
kinds of the substantivized adjectives.
THE CATEGORIAL SEMANTICS
OF THE ADJECTIVE
Property of substance

Each adjective presupposes relation

to some noun
Possible property denoted by the
Adjective: material, colour, dimension,
position, state, etc.

Give your examples of adjectives

THE SEMANTICALLY BOUND
CHARACTER OF ADJECTIVES
 Adjectives do not possess the full
nominative value.
 That is, words like long, hospitable,
fragrant do not nominate, they exist only in
collocations showing what is long, who is
hospitable and what is fragrant.

The semantically bound character of the

adjective
THE SEMANTICALLY BOUND
CHARACTER OF ADJECTIVES
It is emphasized in English by the use of the
prop-substitute (prop-word, i.e. as
a substitute for a previously mentioned noun)
one in the absence of the nominal head-noun.
Eg. I don’t want a yellow balloon, let me have
the green one over there.

If the adjective is placed in a nominatively self-

dependent position, this leads to its
substantivization
Eg. Outside it was a beautiful day, and the sun
tinged the snow with red. (The sun tinged the
snow with the red colour.)
 COMBINABILITY OF
ADJECTIVES
with nouns that they modify (usually in pre-
position, and occasionally in post-position):
The pupils did some remarkable work (pre-
position)
Every star visible is named after a famous
astronomer.(post-position)

 with link verbs:

The pupils’ work was remarkable.

with modifying adverbs:

Puppies can be quite difficult to train.
ADJECTIVES IN POST-POSITION
 Postposition is obligatory when the adjective
modifies a pronoun:
Eg. something useful; everyone present.

 There are many set phrases in English which

feature postpositive adjectives. They are
often loans or loan translations from foreign
languages.
Examples:
 In culinary arts with foods, drinks, and
recipes: spaghetti bolognese; chicken supreme
 In Christianity: God Almighty

 In law: court-martial, persona non grata

 In hospital emergency code: Code Black, Code

MORPHOLOGICAL
FEATURES OF ADJECTIVES
 Suffixes: -ful (hopeful), -less (flawless), -
ish (bluish), -ous (famous), -ive
(decorative), -ic (basic)

 Prefixes: un- (unprecedented), in-

(inaccurate), pre- (premature)
ADJECTIVES

Adjectives

Common Stative

Qualitati
Relative
ve
COMMON (QUALITATIVE) ADJECTIVES
Denote various qualities of substances which
allow their quantitative estimation.
Describe the shape, size, color, and manner of the
noun

Eg. an awkward situation – a very awkward situation

a hearty welcome – not a very hearty welcome
a difficult task – rather a difficult task

The measure of quality can be estimated as:

 high or low
 adequate or inadequate
 sufficient or insufficient
 optimal or excessive
COMMON (RELATIVE) ADJECTIVES
Express properties of a substance as are determined by
the direct relation of the substance to other substance

Eg. wood – a wooden hut

history – a historical event
surgery – a surgical instrument

The nature of this ‘relationship’ in adjectives is best

revealed by definitional correlations.
A wooden hut – a hut made of wood
A historical event – an event referring to a certain period
if history.

How would you explain the following adjectives:

‘awkward’ or ‘enthusiastic”?
STATIVE ADJECTIVES
The main meaning types conveyed:
 the psychic state of a person (afraid, ashamed,

aware)
 the physical state of a person (astir, afoot)

 the physical state of an object (afire, ablaze, aglow,

afloat)
 the state of an object in space (askew, aslant)

the living predecessor – the predecessor alive

the burning house – the house afire
an excited crowd – a crowd astir
an open door – a door ajar

What do the stative adjectives have in common?

Prefix a- and post-position
DEGREES OF
COMPARISON
The ability of an adjective to form degrees of
comparison – a formal sign of its qualitative
character.

Relative adjective is incapable of forming

degrees of comparison.

But! Some qualities are incompatible with

the idea of degrees of comparison
adjectives denoting such qualities are
incapable of forming degrees of comparison.
extinct, immobile, deaf, final, fixed, etc.
DEGREES OF
COMPARISON
Some relative adjectives still are able to
form degrees of comparison.

Eg. a medieval approach – rather a medieval

approach - a far more medieval approach

of a military design – of a less military

design – of a more military design

a grammatical topic – a purely

grammatical topic - the most grammatical
of the suggested topics
ADDITIONAL LINGUISTIC
DISTINCTION BASED ON THE
EVALUATIVE FUNCTION OF
ADJECTIVES

Evalu •Good, smart,

handsome, bright
•Wooden (in the meaning
ative of ‘expressionless’)

•Good in the grading

Specifi terms (bad, satisfactory,
excellent)
cative •Wooden (made of wood)
DEGREES OF
COMPARISON
 Evaluative adjectives are able to form
the degrees of comparison
 Specificative adjectives are not able to
form the degrees of comparison

Eg. Bundle found herself looking into

the expressionless, wooden face of
Superintendent Battle.
The superintendent was sitting behind
the table and looking more wooden than
ever.
THE MORPHOLOGICAL
CATEGORY OF COMPARISON
 One and the same adjective can be both
relative and qualitative (evaluative and
specificative) and correspondently form
or not form the degrees of comparison

The morphological category of

comparison is potentially represented in
the whole class of adjectives.
SUBSTANTIVIZED
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives display the ability to be easily
substantivized by conversion, i.e. by zero-
derivation
1) Old units, well-established in the system of
lexicon (the English, the unemployed, a
relative, the poor, a dear, the rich)
2) New ones, having a distinct flavour of
purposeful conversion:
He was a regional man, a man who wrote
about sensitives who live away from
places where things happen.
The weather report promises a new high in
heat and humidity.
KINDS OF SUBSTANTIVIZED
ADJECTIVES WELL-ESTABLISHED IN
THE SYSTEM OF LEXICON

1) They may indicate a class of persons in a

general sense (e.g. the poor = poor people,
the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives
are plural in meaning and take a plural verb.
Pluralia Tantum
Eg. The old receive pensions.
The English are great lovers of tea.
2) They may indicate an abstract notion. Then
they are singular in meaning and take a
singular verb.
Singularia Tantum
Eg. The good in him overweighs the bad.
My mother never lost her taste for extravagant.
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