Timeline for Adjectives versus Noun Adjuncts [duplicate]
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
21 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:38 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://english.stackexchange.com/ with https://english.stackexchange.com/
|
|
| Jan 3, 2015 at 15:56 | review | Reopen votes | |||
| Jan 4, 2015 at 12:51 | |||||
| Jan 3, 2015 at 12:51 | history | closed |
Araucaria - Him Edwin Ashworth Drew Ellie K Lynn |
Duplicate of Is the noun "points" used as an adjective in "a points victory"? | |
| Jan 3, 2015 at 0:40 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | If you look at the monograph 'Nominal Modifiers in Noun Phrase Structure: Evidence from Contemporary English' [Pastor Gómez, Iria] now linked to in the earlier thread, you'll find nearly 200 pages of analysis essentially saying 'The situation is fluid, if rather viscous; analysis of some cases is difficult, and there is scope for disagreement'. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:43 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @tchrist Explains why you keep bending the rules :) | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:41 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | 'If there is a grammar that answers this question then that is exactly the sort of answer I'm looking for.' But then you'll think the next grammar you read which offers different analyses is 'wrong'. I'd nearly agree with Araucaria: 'umbrella' remains nearer the noun side of the noun-adjective continuum when used as a premodifier. But that's just one example. I'm usually happiest with Collins' treatment. eg for iron: iron 1b noun (as modifier): iron railings /.../ adj 11. very hard, immovable, or implacable: iron determination | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:40 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @EdwinAshworth My spoon is plasticker than your spoon. :) | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:25 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | I've added an answer there, with a couple of references. It seems rather crazy to say that 'plastic' in 'plastic spoon' is an adjective (though the adjective appeared well before the noun, albeit not with the 'made from ...' sense) while 'steel' in 'steel knife' is a noun. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:22 | answer | added | Jon Hanna | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:20 | comment | added | Lynn | @Araucaria - If there is a grammar that answers this question then that is exactly the sort of answer I'm looking for. As it stands, I lack access to such a reference and the general reference meta list doesn't seem to have one. I have only the definition of adjective = "a word that modifies a noun", which every schoolchild knows. "Chicken" in "chicken soup" appears to fit that definition, hence my confusion. I am not a linguist - that's why I'm asking here! | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:14 | comment | added | Lynn | @EdwinAshworth - I think the stuff in that other question is pretty much what I'm looking for, but it's so buried amidst discussions that I hesitate to support this as a "duplicate". Also it lacks any references cited. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:09 | comment | added | F.E. | ""noun adjunct" <== Is that a Part-Of-Speech (category?) or is it a syntactic function? -- cc. @Araucaria | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 23:04 | comment | added | Araucaria - Him | @EdwinAshworth Yes, indeed. But no grammar or syntax publications abide by the parts of speech attributed to words by dictionaries. There may be contentious cases, but no serious grammar published by OUP or CUP (apart from ELL pubs) say that, for example, umbrella in umbrella stand is an adjective. And no grammar papers published for grammarians or syntacticians in reputable academic journals would refer to it as such. Basic grammars even ones as old as CGEL 1985 distinguish between part of speech and function :) | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:58 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @Araucaria. What do you mean by 'The grammars published by the same publishers are [authorities on parts of speech]'? There are differences in analyses in many areas. 'Intransitive prepositions' are not accepted by all grammarians, for instance. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:50 | comment | added | Araucaria - Him | Are you asking whether "it's a noun or an adjunct"? Nouns can be adjuncts and adjectives can be adjuncts. Maybe you're asking whether it's a noun or an adjective? Or maybe you're confused between the part of speech and the function? | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:38 | review | Close votes | |||
| Jan 3, 2015 at 12:52 | |||||
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:35 | history | edited | tchrist♦ |
edited tags
|
|
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:33 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | The OED calls these "nouns used attributively" like how a baby cat is a kitten; that uses the noun baby attributively. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:32 | comment | added | Araucaria - Him | Whether a word is a noun is based on syntactic data. For example: is the word modifiable by adjectives or adverbs; is the word gradable (big, bigger, biggest versus chicken, chickener, chickenest). Dictionaries are no authorities on parts of speech. The grammars published by the same publishers are. | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:19 | answer | added | SrJoven | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jan 2, 2015 at 22:02 | history | asked | Lynn | CC BY-SA 3.0 |