The adjective is a word expressing a quality of a substance.
The adjective has the following morphological characteristics:
Most adjectives have degrees of comparison: the comparative degree and the superlative degree
The comparative degree denotes a higher degree of a quality.
(She is taller than her sister.)
The superlative degree denotes the highest degree of a quality.
(She is the tallest of the three sisters.)
Adjectives form their degrees of comparison in the following way:
(a) by the inflexion er, est (synthetical way);
(b) by placing more and most before the adjective (analytical way).
The following polysyllabic adjectives, however, generally form their comparative and superlative degrees inflexionally:
1. Adjectives of two syllables which end in y, ow, -er, le.
Happy happier happiest
2. Adjectives of two syllables which have the stress on the last syllable: complete completer completest
Some adjectives have irregular forms of degrees of comparison, e. g.: good better best
The adjective has the following syntactical characteristics: In a sentence the adjective may be used as an attribute or as a predicative.
(A little fat chap thrust out his underlip and the tall fellow frowned-ATTRIBUTES)
(Laura was terribly nervous-PREDICATIVE)
Morphological composition of the adjective.
Adjectives are divided into simple, derivative and compound.
1. Simple adjectives are adjectives which have neither prefixes nor suffixes. They are indecomposable: e. g. good, red, black.
2. Derivative adjectives are 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, blue-eyed
Unproductive suffixes are:
-fid: careful
ible: responsible
able: reliable
ant: important
ent: dependent
en: woolen
ous: dangerous
some: troublesome
Productive adjective-forming prefixes are:
un-: unhappy
pre-: prewar
The unproductive prefix of the adjective is:
in-: incorrect
3. Compound adjectives are 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. Qualitative adjectives denote 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 adjectives denote 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 relative adjectives.
1. Relative adjectives have no degrees of comparison.
2. They do not form adverbs with the suffix ly.
3. They have certain typical suffixes, such as en, an, -ist, ic, ical: wooden, Italian, socialist, synthetic, analytical.
4. Relative adjectives are chiefly used as attributes.
(The morning was windy and sharp.)
Substantivized adjectives.
Substantivized adjectives have acquired some or all of the characteristics of the noun, but their adjectival origin is still generally felt.
Substantivized adjectives are divided into wholly substantivized and partially substantivized adjectives.
Wholly substantivized adjectives have all the characteristics of nouns, namely the plural form, the genitive case; they are associated with articles, i. e. they have become nouns: a native, the natives, a native’s hut.
Some wholly substantivized adjectives have only the plural form: eatables, valuables, ancients, sweets, greens.
Partially substantivized adjectives acquire only some of the characteristics of the noun; they are used with the definite article. Partially substantivized adjectives denote a whole class: the rich, the poor, the unemployed. They may also denote abstract notions: the good, the evil, the beautiful, the singular, the plural, the future, the present, the past.
Substantivized adjectives denoting nationalities fall under wholly and partially substantivized adjectives.
Wholly substantivized adjectives are: a Russian — Russians.
Partially substantivized adjectives are: the English, the French, the Chinese.
