My problem with terms like these, and they are used in this way fairly widely, is that they are an attempt to extend structural categories to cover what are functional distinctions. We need to be able to talk about nouns used as modifiers, etc., precisely so that we can keep the structure function distinction before our students.
Herb
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Paul E. Doniger
Sent: Wed 8/23/2006 6:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Grammar instruction--how early and what kind?
Johanna (and others),
What's your take on using the term 'adjectival' to refer to those noun modifiers that aren't stricly adjectives and 'adverbial' for constructions that act like adverbs? They seem logical and useful to me.
Paul D.
----- Original Message ----
From: Johanna Rubba <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 7:18:23 PM
Subject: Re: Grammar instruction--how early and what kind?
According to linguistic definitions of word classes (parts of speech),
"fish" is not an adjective. It cannot take comparative suffixes
*fisher, *fishest; and it cannot appear alone after "seems": *It seems
fish. A suffix has to be added to make it an adjective: "fishy",
"fishlike".
Nouns routinely are used to modify other nouns; this does not change
them to adjectives. So in "fish soup", "fish heads" and so on, we have
a sequence of two nouns.
This is a difference in how parts of speech are defined between
traditional or school grammar and linguistics. In my teaching, I follow
linguistic practice. It is useful to distinguish between the category
of a word and how it functions in language, or, better put, the
functions of language and the kinds of words or phrases that can
perform them. The role "modifier of noun", for example, can be filled
by nouns, adjectives, prepositional phrases, and relative clauses (and
more things):
1. A blue book (adj)
2. A history book (noun)
3. A torn book (past participle)
4. An aging book (present participle)
5. A book for children (prepositional phrase)
6. A book which every educated person should read (relative clause)
7. A book destined for obscurity (past-participle phrase)
8. A book begging to be read (present-participle phrase)
9. A book to take to the beach (infinitive phrase)
10. A book good to take to the beach (adjective phrase)
11. A book thick enough to press flowers (adjective phrase)
(The last five are considered by some to be reduced clauses or reduced
relative clauses.)
Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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