PRACTICE CLASS #2 (#3)
2012-03-06
a responsible girl / the person responsible
…the students present…/ …those absent….
her late husband / …wasn’t conscious… / conscious effort
…all the people involved…/ involved inquiry
Is this an easy camera to use?
His was too strong an argument to be expressed in public.
It is big enough a house for two families to live in.
I need as big a table as possible.







Fascinated with her inner beauty, he sat in
silent admiration and ...
Uneasy, he just sat and waited to receive an
email.
When nervous, count to ten. When really
nervous, count to twenty.
Magnificent!
How nice of you!
WHAT ARE THESE STRUCTURES?
HOW SHOULD WE CLASSIFY THEM?
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
VERBLESS
ADJECTIVE
CLAUSES
CONTINGENT
ADJECTIVE
CLAUSES
EXCLAMATORY
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Eager to start the climb, the students rose at first light.
When not used to the climate, dress sensibly.
Excited, they shouted loud.
If possible, try to work out every day.


inherent, adj. =a quality that is inherent in
something is a natural part of it and cannot
be separated from it
Not all adjectives characterize the referent of
the noun directly:
◦ an old friend ≠ my friend is old
◦ Here “old” refers to the friendship and it does not
characterize the person.

Adjectives that characterize the referent of
the noun directly are called INHERENT, and
those that do not are called NON-INHERENT.
happy girl
happy rock
hard Rock
hard rock
wooden table
wooden Nichols Cage
NI = NON-INHERENT; I = INHERENT
NI
I
NI
NI
NI
NI
NI
I
NI = NON-INHERENT; I = INHERENT
I
NI
NI
I
NI
NI = NON-INHERENT; I = INHERENT
NI
I
syntactic classification of
adjectives
CENTRAL
PERIPHERAL
This classification is based on syntactic functions which adjectives can
perform.
Adjectives that can have BOTH attributive and predicative function are called
CENTRAL. E.g. a happy girl vs. The girl is happy. / He made her happy.
Adjectives that have EITHER attributive or predicative function are called
PERIPHERAL. E.g. an utter fool vs. *The fool is utter.





Adjectives that are attributive only are
adjectives usually CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR
GROUPS.
INTENSIFYING ADJECTIVES
RESTRICTIVE ADJECTIVES
ADJECTIVES RELATED TO ADVERBIALS
DENOMINAL ADJECTIVES
There are adjectives that have a hightening
effect on the noun they modify, or the
reverse, lowering effect. Such adjectives are
called INTENSIFYING ADJECTIVES.
 EMPHASIZERS (sheer madness)
 AMPLIFIERS (complete fool)
 DOWNTONERS (slight effort)
MOST OF THEM ARE USUALLY ATTRIBUTIVE
ONLY.




The adjectives that have a lowering effect, i.e.
DOWNTONER ADJECTIVES are CENTRAL
ADJECTIVES (NOT ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY):
a slight effort
= The effort was slight.
a feeble joke
= The joke was feeble.



The adjectives that have a GENERAL
HEIGHTENING effect, i.e. EMPHASIZER
ADJECTIVES are ATTRIBUTVE ONLY:
a clear failure
≠ The failure was clear.
sheer arrogance
≠ His arrogance was sheer.

plain nonsense
≠ The nonsense was plain.
EMPHASIZERS ARE NON-INHERENT.





The adjectives that SCALE THE MEANING UPWARDS
FROM AN ASSUMED NORM, i.e. AMPLIFIER
ADJECTIVES can be ATTRIBUTVE ONLY OR CENTRAL,
depending on whether they are INHERENT OR NONINHERENT.
a complete victory
= The victory was complete. (INHERENT)
a complete fool
≠ The fool is complete. (NON-INHERENT)
great destruction
= The destruction was great. (INHERENT)
a great fool
≠ The fool is great. (NON-INHERENT)



The adjectives that RESTRICT THE REFERENCE OF
THE NOUN EXCLUSIVELY, PARTICULARLY OR
CHIEFLY, are called. RESTRICTIVE ADJECTIVES
and they are ATTRIBUTVE ONLY:
the main reasin
≠ The reason was main.
a certain person
≠ The person was certain.

the very man
≠ The man was very.




Adjectives that ARE DERIVED FROM ADVERBS OR
ADVERBIAL CONSTRUCTIONS, i.e. ADJECTIVES RELATED
TO ADVERBIALS are ATTRIBUTVE ONLY. They are NONINHERENT.
my former friend
≠ My friend is former. (~ formerly my friend)
past students
≠ The students are past. (~students from the
past)
the late president
≠ The president is late.
SOMETIMES an adjective related to adverbials
can be ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY or CENTRAL,
depending on the noun which it modifies.


a good thief
≠ The thief is good. (~ he thieves well)
a good writer
= The writer is good.

a poor liar
≠ The liar is poor. (~ he lies poorly)

the poor man (who went bankrupt)
= The man is poor.



Adjectives that ARE DERIVED FROM NOUNS, i.e.
DENOMINAL ADJECTIVES are ATTRIBUTVE ONLY.
They are NON-INHERENT.
a criminal lawyer
≠ The lawyer is criminal.
(~ he specializes in criminal law)
an atomic scientist
≠ The scientis is atomic.
(~ he specializes in atomic science)
SOMETIMES an adjective related to
adverbials can be ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY or
CENTRAL, depending on the noun which it
modifies.
CENTRAL; PERIPHERAL (attributive only; predicative only)
PERIPHERAL, attributive only, limiter
PERIPHERAL, attributive only, intensifier/amplifier
CENTRAL
CENTRAL; PERIPHERAL (attributive only; predicative only)
PERIPHERAL, predicative only
CENTRAL
PERIPHERAL, attributive only, denominal
CENTRAL; PERIPHERAL (attributive only; predicative only)
CENTRAL
PERIPHERAL, attributive only, limiter
PERIPHERAL, attributive only, related to adv.
ADVERBS!


The adverb phrase is a phrase that has an
adverb as its head.
The AdvP can have the following forms:
e.g. carefully
Adv e.g. very carefully
Adv e.g. carefully enough
Adv Cl e.g. so fast that I couldn’t see it
fast enough to escape
o AdvP = (Adv) Adv PP e.g. (much) better than Bill
◦
◦
◦
◦
AdvP
AdvP
AdvP
AdvP
=
=
=
=
Adv
Adv
Adv
Adv
ADV
HEAD
HEAD
HEAD
HEAD
PP
FIRST
LAST
HIGH
IN A SILLY WAY / MANNER
EARLY
LATE
IN A MOTHERLY WAY
MORE CLEARLY
The Stock Exchange reacted quite calmly.
These almonds taste bitter.
She smiled bitterly.
To a European, Chinese sounds strange.
You acted in a cowardly way/manner.
Her mother had slapped her hard.
She walks in an ugly way/manner.
The sports committee meets monthly / once a month / on a monthly basis.
She glanced at me slyly.
The play impressed me considerably.
He approaches the subject less scientifically.
Bob works much harder than Tom.


The adverb phrase is a phrase that has an
adverb as its head.
The AdvP can have the following forms:
e.g. carefully
Adv e.g. very carefully
Adv e.g. carefully enough
Adv Cl e.g. so fast that I couldn’t see it
fast enough to escape
o AdvP = (Adv) Adv PP e.g. (much) better than Bill
◦
◦
◦
◦
AdvP
AdvP
AdvP
AdvP
=
=
=
=
Adv
Adv
Adv
Adv
SYNTACTIC FUNCTION OF
ADVERBS
DEPENDENT (PART
OF OTHER PHRASES)
INDEPENDENT
ADVERBIAL:
He speaks slowly.
MODIFIER:
extremely slow
very slowly
rather a mess
straight through the wall
over ten victims
COMPLEMENT OF
PREPOSITION:
over here
till then
from inside
ADVERBIALS
INTEGRATED into the
CLAUSE STRUCTURE
ADJUNCTS
PERIPHERAL in the
CLAUSE STRUCTURE
Primarily NON-LINKING:
Primarily LINKING:
Provide speaker’s comment
connect sentences
DISJUNCTS
CONJUNCTS
DISJUNCT
Modifier of AdvP /ADJUNCT
CONJUNCT
Modifier of NP
Modifier of PP
Modifier of AP
ADJUNCT
ADJUNCT
Modifier of AP
Modifier of AP
Modifier of NP
DISJUNCT
Modifier of PP
ADJUNCT
Modifier of AP
Modifier of NP
ADJUNCT / Modifier of NP
Modifier of AP
Actually, to be continued…