Morphological composition of the adjective.

Adjectives are divided into simple, derivativeand compound.

1. Simple adjectivesare adjectives which have neither prefixes nor uffixes. They are indecomposable: e. g. good, red, black.

2. Derivative adjectivesare adjectives which have derivative elements, suffixes or prefixes or both: beautiful, foolish, hopeless, unkind, unimportant.

Productive adjective-forming suffixes are:

-less: friendless, harmless, hopeless

-like: childlike

-ish: childish, foolish

-ed(-d): beaded

Unproductive suffixes are:

Productive adjective-forming prefixes are:

un-: unhappy

pre-: prewar

The unproductive prefix of the adjective is:

in-/ir-/im-:

incorrect, irregular, improper

3. Compound adjectivesare adjectives built from two or more stems.

The main types of compound adjectives are as follows:

(a) noun-stem + adjective-stem: snow-white.

(b) noun-stem + participle-stem: life-giving, smoke-dried.

(c) adjective-stem + adjective-stem: deaf-mute.

(d) adjective-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: cold-hearted.

(e) noun-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: lynx-eyed.

(f) numeral-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: four-wheeled.

(g) adverb-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: over-peopled.

Classification of adjectives.

According to their meaning and grammatical characteristics adjectives fall under two classes: (1) qualitativeadjectives, (2) relativeadjectives.

1. Qualitative adjectivesdenote qualities of a substance directly, not through its relation to another substance, as size, shape, colour, physical and mental qualities, qualities of general estimation:

little, large, high, soft, hard, warm, white, blue, pink, strong, hold, beautiful, important, necessary, etc.

2. Relative adjectivesdenote qualities of a substance through their relation to materials (silken, woollen, wooden), to place (Italian, Asian), to time (monthly, weekly), to some action (preparatory, rotatory).

Grammatical characteristics of qualitative adjectives.

1.Most qualitative adjectives have degrees of comparison:

Some qualitative adjectives such as greenish, darkish, incurable, unsuitable, chief, principal, have no degrees of comparison.

2. They have certain typical suffixes, such as -ful, -less, -ous, -ent, -able, -y, -ish: careful, careless, dangerous, convenient, comfortable, silvery, watery, whitish, shortish.

3. From most of them adverbs can be formed by the suffix -ly:

graceful — gracefully gay — gaily

4. Most qualitative adjectives can be used as attributes and predi­catives.

How lovely the littleriver is, with its dark,changing wavelets! (Eliot) (ATTRIBUTES)

The youngman was introduced, and they sat down at the table. (Aldington) (ATTRIBUTE)

But you're nearly as oldas I am! (Aldington) (PREDICATIVE)

The Hartlys thought he was 'rich'.George Augustus was so very comfortable...that he too really thought he was rich!(Aldington)(PREDICATIVES)

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 594