Morphological structure of a word. Classification of Morphemes

9. The Adjective. The category of Comparison.

1)The adj. expresses the categorical meaning of property of substance. 2)To the derivational features of adj. belong suffixes & prefixes of which the most important are - ful(hopeful), -less(flawless), -ish(bluish), -ous(famous), -ive(decorative), -ic(basic), un-(unprecedented), in-(inaccurate), pre-(premature). 3)As for the morphological features, the E.adj. has only one category-the category of Comparison. 4)In the sentence the adj. performs the functions of an attribute & predicative. 5)Adj. are distinguished by a specific combinability with nouns, which they modify, usually in preposition & occasionally in postposition. They also combine with link verbs & modifying adverbs.
All the adj. are traditionally divided into 2 large subclasses:
1) Relative: express such properties of a substance, which show the direct relation of the substance to some other substance(peripheral) e.g. wood-wooden heart 2) Qualitative: denote various qualities of substances(nucleous) e.g. different task
Degrees of Comparison It is the system of ternary opposemes, showing quantitative distinctions of qualities. e.g. long-longer-the longest. It is shows a higher or the highest amount of the property in comparison with the property of some other substances. Traditionally the adj. have 3 Degrees of Comparison: the positive, the comparative, the superlative
The positive degree is not marked; the comparative & the superlative degrees are expressed in 3 ways: synthetically(-er, -est), analytically(more, most), suppletively (by means of different roots)
suppletive opposemes are few in number, but occur often:
e.g. good-better- the best, bad-worse- the worst
There are different opinions about the number of degrees of comparison. Pr.Smirnitskii was of the opinion that there are only 2 forms of comparison: positive & relative, the later is expressed in 2 variants: comparative & superlative. So he reduced a ternary opposition to a 2-member opposition.
Some grammarians consider that only 2 degrees of comparison are to be found in adj.:the comparative & the superlative degree, while the so-called “positive degree” doesn’t express any degree, & it is simply the basic form to build up the degrees of comparison.
V.Plotkin is of the opinion that the degrees of comparison had lost the status of a morphological category, because the morphemes –er, -est have become suffixes for a few adj. & adv.(polite, narrow, clever, able). On the other h&, the forms words “more, most” are not equivalents of the suffixes –er, -est, as they retain some lex. meaning of their own & are also used with a limited number of adj. polysyllabic ones.
Moreover, not all E.adj. have the category of comparison, they are divided into comparables & non-comparables, the later are derived adj.-woolen, wooden, mathematical, i.e. relative adj. & the former adj. are qualitative ones.
Even some qualitative adj. have no degrees of comparison.
1) those expressing the highest degree lex.ly – supreme, extreme 2) those having the suffix –ish – reddish, bluish 3) denoting uncomparable qualities – deaf, dead, lame
The superlative often shows a very high degree of quality, without any comparison:
e.g. The room was furnished in the most refined style.
Elative (безотносительно высокая степень качества)
e.g. It was a most interesting performance.
Sometimes adj. have meanings different from their degree of comparison.
e.g. The positive may express comparative & even superlative meaning. e.g. As brave as a hare
The analytical forms “more” & “most” are used with monosyllabic adj. for emphasis. e.g. He looked more stern (than his father ) then.
E. relative adj. change for degrees of comparison, when used figuratively.
e.g. She has a more iron will than you have