Gramática inglesa I

ADJECTIVES

1. Characteristics of the adjective

(Cf. Greenbaum, S. & Quirk, R. 1990: 129-146 )

1.1. Four criteria for adjectives

Four features are commonly considered to be characteristic of adjectives:

(a) They can occur in ATTRIBUTIVE function: an ugly painting, the round table
(b) They can occur in PREDICATIVE function:
The painting is ugly (Cs).
He thought the painting ugly (Co).
(c) They can be premodified by the intensifier very: The children are very happy
(d) They can take COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms:
The children are happier now.
They are the happiest people I know.

1.2. Central and peripheral adjectives

The ability of functioning both attributively and predicatively is regarded as a central feature of
adjectives. Adjectives like hungry and infinite, which satisfy these two features, are therefore CENTRAL
adjectives. Words like old, afraid, utter and asleep, which satisfy at least one of the first two criteria (a or
b), are called PERIPHERAL adjectives.1
*afraid people # People are afraid
utter nonsense # *That nonsense is utter

  (a) (b) (c) (d)

hungry + + + +

infinite + + - -

afraid ? + + +

asleep - + - -

2. Semantic subclassification of adjectives

Three semantic scales are applicable to adjectives: STATIVE/DYNAMIC,
GRADABLE/NONGRADABLE, and INHERENT/NONINHERENT.

2.1. Stative/dynamic
STATIVE adjectives cannot be used with the progressive aspect or with the imperative:
*He is being tall / *Be tall
DYNAMIC adjectives are susceptible to subjective measurement:
He’s being careful / Be careful

1
Most a-adjectives are only marginally acceptable in attributive position, unless they are premodified:
“a somewhat afraid soldier”, “a really alive student”.
A general semantic feature of dynamic adjectives (eg abusive, awkward, funny, foolish, naughty) seems to
be that they denote qualities that are thought to be subject to control by the possessor.

2.2. Gradable/nongradable
Gradability is manifested through comparison (eg tall / taller /tallest) and also through modification by
intensifiers (very tall, so beautiful).
Some stative adjectives (principally denominal adjectives) are not gradable: *very atomic / *more atomic.
All dynamic adjectives, and most stative adjectives, are gradable.

2.3. Inherent/noninherent
INHERENT adjectives characterize the referent of the noun directly. In general, adjectives that occur
predominantly in attributive position are NONINHERENT.

Inherent: a wooden cross (a wooden cross is a wooden object)

that old man (that man is old)
Noninherent: a wooden actor (a wooden actor is not a wooden man)
an old friend of mine (my friend is not (necessarily) old)

Gradable adjectives are either inherent (a black coat), or noninherent (a new friend). Dynamic adjectives
are generally inherent, although there are exceptions (The actor is being wooden tonight).

3. Syntactic functions of adjectives

3.1. Attributive and predicative

Adjectives are ATTRIBUTIVE when they premodify the head of a noun phrase: a small garden.
They are PREDICATIVE when they function as subject complement (He seems careless) or object
complement (I find him careless).

3.1.1 Attributive only

Adjectives that are restricted to attributive position, or that occur predominantly in attributive position, do
not characterize the referent of the noun directly.

-Intensifying adjectives (conveying principally emphasis) are used mostly in attributive position
a mere child # *The child is mere
sheer madness # *That madness is sheer
a complete fool # *The fool is complete

-Some denominal adjectives are restricted to attributive position:

an atomic scientist [“a scientist specializing in the theory of atoms”]
a criminal court [“a court dealing with crime”]

-Restrictive adjectives only occur in attributive position:

a certain person, his chief excuse, the principal objection.

-Some adjectives which are only attributive can be related to adverbs:

my former friend ["formerly my friend"]
an old friend ["a friend of old"]
a possible friend [“possibly a friend”]

3.1.2. Predicative only

Adjectives that are restricted to predicative position tend to refer to a (possibly temporary) condition
rather than a characteristic.
Adjectives beginning with –a are used mainly in predicative position. Common examples of a-adjectives
are: ablaze, afloat, afraid, alert, alone, ashamed, asleep, aware, awake.
The patient was asleep  BUT NOT an asleep patient
The horse was alone in the field  BUT NOT the alone horse
A large group of adjectives that are restricted to predicative position comprises adjectives which can take
complementation (able (to + inf); afraid (that, of, about), answerable (to), fond (of), glad (that, to)), etc.

3.2. Postpositive
A postpositive adjective can usually be regarded as a reduced relative clause:
something useful  something that is useful

The adjective is postpositive in several institutionalized expressions: the president elect ("soon to take
office"), attorney general, notary public.

Postposition is usual for a few a-adjectives and for the four adjectives absent, present, concerned,
involved when they designate "temporary" as opposed to "permanent" attributes:
The house ablaze is next door to mine.
The boats afloat were not seen by the bandits.
The men present were his supporters.
The people involved were not found.

3.3. Adjectives with complementation

The complementation can be a prepositional phrase (I know an actor suitable for the part) or a to-
infinitive clause (The boys easiest to teach were in my class). Notice that adjectives with
complementation normally cannot have attributive position:
“a suitable actor” BUT NOT * a suitable for the part actor
What we can do is make the phrase discontinuous: a suitable actor for the part.

3.4. Adjectives as heads of noun phrases

Adjectives can function as heads of NPs. They, unlike nouns, do not inflect for number or for the genitive
case and usually require a definite determiner:

Type (a): “the innocent”

Adjectives denoting classes or types of people take plural concord:
The poor are causing the nation's leaders great concern.

Type (b): “the Dutch”, “the British”, etc.

Adjectives denoting nationalities have generic reference and take plural concord.
The industrious Dutch are admired by their neighbours.

Type (c): “the mystical”

Adjectives with abstract reference can function as noun-phrase heads.They include superlatives
and take singular concord:
The latest (thing) is that he is going to run for re-election.

3.5. Verbless clauses

Adjectives can function as the head of an adjective phrase realizing the clause:
The man, quietly assertive, spoke to the assembled workers.
Unhappy with the result, she returned to work.
When fit, the Labrador is an excellent retriever.

4. Ordering of adjectives in premodification

The order of adjectives in premodifying (or attributive) position is to a large extent determined by their
semantic characteristics. We distinguish four major zones of adjectives in premodifying position

(I) PRECENTRAL
(II) CENTRAL
(III) POSTCENTRAL
(IV) PREHEAD
DET I II III IV HEAD

a major new customized financial service

ZONE I: PRECENTRAL

The precentral zone includes peripheral, non-gradable intensifying adjectives: certain, definite,
plain, pure, sheer, absolute, entire, extreme, perfect, total, feeble, slight, etc.

ZONE II: CENTRAL

This zone includes the central, gradable adjectives.

This is the normal order of adjectives within this zone: (Cf. Eastwood, J. 1999. Oxford Practice
Grammar, p 248).

1. Opinion adjectives (how good?) usually come before all others. Examples are: wonderful,
lovely, nice, great, awful, terrible, silly.

2. Adjectives of size/length/height precede other central adjectives: a small round table, long
straight hair, a tall angry man.

3. Adjectives denoting other qualities come next (if they do not belong to another group).
Examples are: quiet, famous, important, soft, wet, difficult, fast, angry, warm.

4. Adjectives denoting age (new, old) usually come last within the central zone.

ZONE III: POSTCENTRAL

This zone includes participles (retired, sleeping) and colour adjectives (red, pink) with variable
order: his thinning grey hair / their dark frowning brows

ZONE IV: PREHEAD

This zone includes the “least adjectival and most nominal” premodifiers:

(1) Adjectives denoting origin and style: American, Gothic

(2) Adjectives (or modifying nouns) denoting material: plastic, wooden, paper
(3) Other denominal adjectives with a morphological or semantic relation to nouns: annual, economic,
electric, medical, social, political, rural, etc.
(4) Nouns in attributive position (denoting type or purpose): tourist attraction / college student

Examples of premodification sequence: a small green carved jade idol; the hectic social life;
a crumbling church tower; a beautiful wooden picture