On 2009-12-27, at 10:37 PM, Peter Adams wrote:

> When you (and others on the list) say noun is a category of word and that nouns can function as modifiers, I suspect you are talking about uses like "stone" or "computer" in the following sentences:
> 
> A stone wall separated my house from my neighbors'.
> I took a computer course at my local community college.

Yes, that's right.

> But why isn't it just as accurate and perhaps more intuitive to students to call "stone" and "computer" adjectives in these sentences.

For the following reasons:
-When dictionaries lists words like 'computer', 'stone', 'lamp', 'toaster', 'tooth', etc., they list them as nouns, not as adjectives, and yet it is the rare noun that cannot come before and modify another noun. This then should be seen as a property of nouns.
-Adjectives appear before nouns functioning as attributive modifiers, but they have other functions...
	-He became happy (predicate complement)
	-He walked away satisfied (adjunct)
	-It was silky smooth (adj modifier (rare))
	-I saw something interesting (post-noun modifier)
...so when you say something functions as an adjective, why should that mean attributive modifier?
-Adjectives are typically gradeable (more ~, most ~) and can be modified by 'very', but you can't say:
	-The very stone wall
	-the most computer course
-Adjectives can function as complement to 'seem', but you don't say:
	-The course seemed computer
	-The wall seemed stone (this seems marginally acceptable) 
-A variety of word categories function as attributive modifiers...
	-A dripping faucet (verb)
	-A computer course (noun)
	-A happy girl (adj)
	-An around-the-world trip (preposition (less common))
...so it strikes me as more educationally sound to explain this fact, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses, and its limitations than simply saying that these things are adjectives.

> I'm also wondering, Brett, if you would say nouns can be used as verbs as well as modifiers, as with "book" and "table" in the following.
> 
> We booked a reservation at the Tremont Hotel.
> Senator Baucus tabled the motion for a public option.

No, clearly 'book' and 'table' exist as both nouns and verbs. The point is not that all words belong only to a single category, but rather that each category has a wider range of functions than is commonly attributed to it. Here, they are not nouns because nouns don't have past tense forms. Contrast this with 'computer' above which would be expected to have a gradable form if it existed as an adjective.

> And would you say the verbs "walk" and "drive" being used as direct objects in the following sentences?
> 
> I shoveled the walk on Saturday.
> We took a drive on Sunday.

Again, no. These clearly exist as both nouns and verbs.

Best,
Brett

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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