TeopeTHHecicaH

rpaMMaTHKa
aHrjiHHCKoro
H3MKa

MOCKBA 1983
 lift ^ory of mood, for all the
positive f
, , , ,...... ^rformed upon i t , continues to be a
tremen-
^fflff? y observation TheS is no doubt That
fieId of anaI ticaI

its numerous particular properties, as well

as Its fundamental qualities as a whole, will be
further ex-
posed, clarified, and paradigmatically ordered in
the course
or continued linguistic research.
'm$^Wf*w
C H A P T E
oil RIXVIII

ADJECTIVE

1. {The adjective expresses the catcgorial

semantics of
property of a substance. It means that each
adjective used
in the text presupposes relation to some noun
the properly
of whose referent it denotes, such as its
material, colourjjkli-
mensions, position, state, and other
characteristics bolh per-
manent and temporary./ It follows from
thithafjunlike
 nouns, adject\XS^AQLJ$QL possess a Jull
JiomiualUe valum*
Indeed, words like long, hospitable^fragrant
cannot e f f e c t
any self-dependent nominations; as units of
i n f o r m a t i v e se-
quences they exist only in collocations
showing what i s long,
who is hospitable, what is fragrant J|
1|
||
ilThe semantical bound character of H i e
a d j e c t i v e i.s em-
phasized in English by the use of the
prop-snbsl.il i i (4*||wtf
In the absence of the notional head-noun
of I h o phrase, li.g.'
\ don't want a yellow balloon, let me h a v e
Hue green one over
there.:. . '. ||lt''; v,
On the other hand|if the adjectivejiis placed in a
nonii
triable
(defnutative)
marphnhwu rt\
"iturtrAmong I w Vci 4m{
tatuM* :tive, discussed below.
having tost in the
course of tta
uMwy its forms of gramma ti< a! m. nt i t u
o4 floiwt, la distinguished only by the hybrtf
tlttpty of m\\ parisonf which will form a special
subject ot our M M \ S
m ^' adjectives art traditionally <M?
Irttd Into I ^ *
larft subclasses: qualitative and rtfotivt. |
Relative adjectives express such properties of
<ft substance
as are determined by the direct relation of tin Mb !
\w i to
someottitr substance. E&& wood -4 a mxkten hull
wtllwui it
les mathematical precision; history A hintwimi
ivtnl;
table -f lobular presentation; colour *o/rmwl p\
t< mU\
surgery surgical treatment; the Middle Atfts
m^Himmi
rites. jlJll .illtl |
The nature of this **relattonshi& lit
H

edjoctlw* In heUt revealed by definitional

correlations. Cftfjl. awmtew hut
a htit made of wood? a historical event *** ill
0ttit fvforrlng to a certain period of' history*,
surgical trout uttttt trout* meiit consisting in the
implementation of surety, i If Qualitative
adjectives, as different from " <livo? joins* denote
1
 various qualities of substances which iiiloilffof
qua nli in live estimation, i.e. of establbhiuji
llwif ijyrwfi gtlve quantitative measure. The
measure of n qnriitty lift ht estimated as high or
low, adequate or littiloqttiil \ itflh joift or insufficient,
,

optimal or excessive C/.tiui swMNOIK^i Ij MIm i

tton - a, very awkward situation; a t U f f f c u l l III
K Mi i^Mff tt task; an euthusiuntic reception
ruth*t aW Mlhii *tottic reception; a hearty welcome
nut a tutofciU *' vV

j this connection, ttiu ability of ait

ft riti
adjective to It) ^ of eomp^rison Is usually
taken a^ fanm\ Uf
Vl Si flicir turn, form the opposition of the lower
level ofpre*
Vf entation, where the comparative degree datum
the mm*
L m tiomlly weak member, and the superlative
degree, re
Vk\ spectively, the strong member. The whole of
the double op
VV positional unity, considered from the
semantic angle, ee $i

\ J! stitutes a gradual ternary opposition,

'*

?tf e synthetical forms of compan.\on In .ui .s

6, Tn

\ "i^ / coexist with the analytical forms of

s

comparison effected
k | by the auxiliaries more and -m/. The analytical
ft
formiof
ill comparison perform a double function. On the
one hand,
I !? y * th the evaluative adjectives thatS due
e are usec wi

to
their phonemic structure (two-syllable words with
the stress
on the first syllable ending In other
graphophonemlc
complexes than ~er, -y, >le, *ow or words of more
than two*
syllable composition) cannot normally take the
synthetical
forms of comparison.!In this respect, the analytical
com*
jarison forms are in categorial complementary
distribution
frith the synthetical comparison formsfOn the
other hand,
nhe analytical forms of comparison, as different
from the
synthetical forms, are used to express emphasis,
thus c o m -
plementing the synthetical forms in the sphere of
this im
portant stylistic connotation, Cf,: The audience
became mm
and more noisy, and soon the speaker's words were
drowned
in the general hum of Voices, fcit^i #
M
The structure of the analytical degrees
of comparison is meaningfully overt; these
forms are devoid of the feature of "semantic
idiomatism" characteristic of some oilier
cnt^w-ial analytical forms, such as, for
instance, the forms of the verbal perfect. For
this reason the analytical degrees of eom
parison invite some linguists to call in
question their elalnl to a categorial status
in English grammar. x
J"
Jn particular, scholars point out the
following two fee* tors in support of the view
that the combinations of wort/most with the
basic form of the adjective a t e nut I
he uu.dvtai