About a month ago Michael Kischner asked for opinions on single-word
modifiers, and whether or not we should recommend a distinction
between plain modifiers and modifiers derived from participles.

His e-mail has been sitting in my "to think about" file for a while,
but I would like to respond to his request for opinions.

He combines the two modifier types  in examples like

"angry and insulted"
"the happy, smiling students."

And he asks if there is _enough_ of a difference between them to
justify creating two separate categories.

This seems to fit in with the more general question of how far to
subdivide part of speech categories.  The subdivision is real
(Kirshner demonstrates this by pointing out several differences
between plain modifiers and participial modifiers).  But it is also
a highly refined subdivision.  He asks, is it too refined to be
useful in the classroom?

In my opinion, Kischner gives us a virtual lesson plan in his
original posting (copied below).  So, in my opinion it would be a
very useful distinction for the classroom.

However, it is clearly not an elementary school distinction.

If we had a reliably consistent grammar curriculum in North America
(or any established concept of a curriculum for the subject called
"English"), I think we could place Kischner's point somewhere
in the upper grades of high school.

In my opinion, it's a useful distinction.  A good unit of grammar
could be taught and tested on this basis.


> Date:          Mon, 25 Jan 1999 11:47:49 -0800
> Reply-to:      Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>                <[log in to unmask]>
> From:          Michael Kischner <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject:       Re: Single-word modifiers of noun
> To:            [log in to unmask]

> Would everyone agree that, when considering single-word modifiers of
> nouns, we may reasonably distinguish  between adjectives and participles
> on one hand and nouns and gerunds on the other?  Adjectives and
> participles share with each other properties that they do not
> share with nouns and gerunds modifying nouns.  Adjectives and participles
> can
>
>  -- be compounded (small and flimsy, beaten and mocked)
> -- be serial or coordinate (hard, stale bread; polluted, stinking waters)
> -- be placed before a noun, after a noun, and before determiners (Hungry
> and thirsty, the campers devoured the meal; bleeding and limping, my
> friends  returned to camp.)
>
> In view of this, may adjectives and participles be treated together when
> we are instructing students in their use?  Because participles so often
> convey such a distinctively verby feeling, it might seem better to treat
> them separately, including them with participle phrases, but they are so
> often used together with adjectives --  angry and insulted, she left the
> room; the happy, smiling students received their diplomas -- that I'm
> wondering what others think.
>
> *******************************************************************************
>                 Michael Kischner
>                 North Seattle Community College
>                 9600 College Way North
>                 Seattle, WA 98103
>
>                 (206) 528-4540    FAX (206) 527 3784
>                 email [log in to unmask]
> *******************************************************************************
>