A few adjectives have no comparative but a superlative with -most: uppermost,
westernmost, etc. We have investigated that some adjectives have supplative forms in
their comparison, such as good, better, best. Comparative and superlative forms apply
only to the base form of the adjective, so that duplicate forms like most biggest or
worser are nonstandard (although lesser is sometimes permitted as a variant of less).
An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying
words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies. In the
following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:The truck-shaped balloon
floated over the treetops. Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous
wallpaper. The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea. The coalmines are dark and
dank. Many stores have already begun to play irritating Christmas music. A battered
music box sat on the mahogany sideboard. The back room was filled with large, yellow
rain boots.
501
Most attributive adjectives denote some attribute of the noun which they modify.
For instance, the phrase a red car may be said to denote a car which is red. In fact most
adjective-noun sequences such as this can be loosely reformulated in a similar way
71
:
Yuqorida keltirilgan misoldagi
“an old man”
birikma o`zbek tilidagi
“qari
kishi,nuroniy kishi,keksa kishi’
kabi sinonomik variantlarga tog`ri keladi.
an old man
~a man who is old
difficult questions
~questions which are difficult
round glasses
~glasses which are round
Qari kishi
~nuroniy kishi,keksa kishi
Qiyin savollar
~murakkab savol,muommoli savol
Aylana shishali stakanlar
~billur yumoloq stakanlar
This applies equally to postpositive adjectives:
something understood ~something which is understood
the people responsible ~the people who are responsible
Tushunarli narsa ~ narrsa qaysiki tushunarli
Hurmatli insonlar ~insonlar qaysiki hurmatli
In each case the adjective denotes an attribute or quality of the noun, as the
reformulations show. Adjectives of this type are known as INHERENT adjectives. The
attribute they denote is, as it were, inherent in the noun which they modify.
However, not all adjectives are related to the noun in the same way. For example, the
adjective small in a small businessman does not describe an attribute of the
businessman. It cannot be reformulated as a businessman who is small. Instead, it refers
to a businessman whose business is small. We refer to adjectives of this type as NON-
INHERENT adjectives.
71
Dixon, R. M. W.. Adjectives.In R. E. Asher (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics pp. 29-35. 1999.
502
They refer less directly to an attribute of the noun than inherent adjectives do.
Here are some more examples, showing the contrast between inherent and non-
inherent:
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |