CHAPTER III

THE ADJECTIVE.

§ 178. AN ADJECTIVE is a word which can not by itself form the Subject of a proposition, but which can form the Predicate of one, and can also qualify or limit the meaning of a Noun; as, "Man is mortal;" " an honest man ;" "the second ring." See § 399.

Adjectives, from the Latin word adjectivus (added to), have been called Attributives, because they denote qualities attributed to things. An Adjective denotes a concrete quality of a Noun, without any other circumstance. Thus, in the phrase "he is an eloquent man," the word eloquent withdraws the attention from every other circumstance, and fixes it upon his eloquence. It is sometimes called a noun adjective, because it is the name of a quality. Unlike the AngloSaxon, the English adjective preserves the same form in both numbers, and in all genders and cases. See 375, 3; 380.

CLASSIFICATION.

§ 179. Adjectives may be divided into two classes: I. Those which denote a VARIABLE quality or limitation, one which is capable of increase or diminution; as, Brave, good.

II. Those which denote an INVARIABLE quality or limitation, one which is incapable of increase or diminution; as, Wooden, brazen.

§ 180. Another division has been proposed, by which Adjectives have been distributed into, FIRST, Those which fix the attention on the quality or property which they describe, whether this property be an object of the bodily sense; as, Green, loud; or of the mental perceptions and affections; as, Dear, kind, true. Among these, the most characteristic are those which are not obviously derived from any other word; as, Good, soft, bright. Words of this class do not contain in themselves any reference to any other word; but we have

various derivatives formed from each of them; as, Goodness, wisdom, truth, soften, brighten, redden.

Besides the Adjectives that are apparently primitive in our own language, we have many Adjectives of quality derived from the Latin; as, Long, large, grand. From these we either form abstract Substantives; as, Length, largeness; or we Anglicize the abstract term already formed in another language; as, Chastity, grandeur. In other cases, abstract words have been established in our own language of a primitive character; as, Joy, virtue; and we have Adjectives of quality derived from them; as, Joyful, virtuous. Abstract terms are never strictly primitive, but are formed from some concrete substantive or verb. Joy comes from the French joye, and the Italian gioia from the Latin gaudium, whose root is gaudeo. Virtus is an old Roman abstraction from vir.

The SECOND CLASS under this distribution are those which have a manifest and distinct reference to some Primitive; either a concrete substantive; as, wooden, fatherly; or to a verb; as, tiresome, seemly. These may be called ADJECTIVES OF RELATION. Various terminations are employed in the formation of such terms: some of Teutonic origin; as, Lovely, faithful, faithless, witty, sleepy, troublesome, sheepish, golden; others of Latin extraction; as, Gracious, ethereal, angular, adamantine, visionary, promissory, angelic, offensive, changeable, accessible, and others. The characteristic of the present class of adjectives is, that they have a distinctly felt reference to their primitives. When, for instance, we speak of a beechen bowl, of an insular climate, of fatherly duties, there is a reference, distinctly perceived, to the substantives from which the adjectives come, and we are conscious that we mean a bowl made of beech, the climate of an island, the duties of a father.

This mental reference to the primitive, when we use a derivative adjective, admits of very numerous and various degrees of consciousness and distinctness, implying either the material, as earthen; or some participation of substance or quality, earthy, earthly; or some actual or metaphorical assimilation; as, childish, homely.

This reference, too, is felt in very different degrees by dif

ferent persons, according to their habits of thought and their knowledge of the languages. It is, therefore, difficult, or perhaps impossible, to draw any very distinct line between the two classes of adjectives. But in some cases the relative character is clear and immovable.

1. No adjectives are more decidedly relative than those expressing the MATERIAL of which a thing is made; as, ȧpyúpeos, argenteus, silbern. The French are destitute of these terms; they say une vaisselle d'argent. In English we form such adjectives from the substantive by adding the termination -en; as, golden, brazen. Formerly this mode of derivation was more extensively used than it is now. Milton, in the Comus, talks of cedarn alleys. Treen platters (tree-n) = wooden plates, was a usual term at the time when the thing itself was familiar.

2. But many words do not admit of this adjectival termination, and we use the SUBSTANTIVE adjectively, without any change; as, "an iron crown;""a stone coffin;" "a glass bottle." The analogy of these cases has led us to do the same, even where the adjective exists. Thus we speak of an oak floor, not oaken; of a brass candlestick, not brazen; of silk, not silken stockings. In this way almost every substantive in the language can be used as an adjective without modification; as, “a bottle nose ;” “a university man ;” and the same usage is often extended, at least colloquially, to compound words and phrases. Falstaff tells Prince Hal to "go hang himself in his own heir-apparent garters;" and Campbell uses similar forms in the line

“Like angel visits, few and far between.”

3. We are much more at a loss to express PREDOMINANT QUALITIES or INGREDIENTS. We might say a stony field, but it is not common to say, or, at least, to print, an irony or a limy soil. We might say a soil containing iron, or in which lime is a large ingredient. But for compactness of expression, borrowing from the Latin, we say a ferruginous soil, and a calcareous stratum. In the same way, instead of saying a message by word of mouth, we say a verbal message.

Some adjectives of English form and origin have fallen into disuse in modern times, as Latin radicals and termina

tions have become more familiar. This process, however, like most of those which occur in the progress of Language, seems to have gone on very capriciously. We use fatherly, motherly, brotherly, as readily as paternal, maternal, fraternal. Sisterly has no Latin equivalent. Sonly is never used, though filial does not fully represent it. Daughterly

is not common.

4. Adjectives are not derived from substantives only, but from other words, and especially from verbs. Of this kind we have but few English Adjectives, unless we consider participles as such. In most cases we have the alternative between a Latin adjective and an English participle. We speak of hereditary rights, and of rights inherited from our ancestors; of native talents, or of talents born with a man; of derivative claims, or claims flowing from others; of striking or of impressive descriptions; of a radiant or a beaming countenance. Words like these, in pairs, of which one is of Latin and the other of Saxon origin, are not exactly synonymous. Thus, terrestrial is not precisely equivalent to earthy, nor silvan to woody, nor feminine to womanly, nor timely to temporary. In a language which so much borrows its adjectives from another, their meaning is naturally liable to be mistaken by those whose learning does not extend beyond their mother tongue.

§ 181. Adjectives have also been divided into, I. DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES, which express some quality or condition of the noun; as, "A good man;""an open book." II. DEFINITIVE ADJECTIVES, which define or limit the meaning of the noun to which they are applied; as, "Several men ;" "those books."

§ 182. 1. A PROPER ADJECTIVE, in distinction from a common adjective, is one that is derived from a proper name; as, Roman, from Rome; English, from England.

2. A NUMERAL ADJECTIVE is one that is used to express a definite number. There are three kinds of numeral adjectives, namely, Cardinal; as, One, two, three; Ordinal; as, First, second, third; Multiplicative; as, Single, double or two-fold, triple or three-fold. See § 193.

3. A PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVE is one that partakes of the

nature of a Pronoun and an Adjective, being sometimes used as the one, and sometimes as the other. The following have been called pronominal adjectives: This, that, these, those; each, every, either; much, many, few, several; all, none, any, one, other, another, such, some, both, &c.

4. A PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE is one that has the form of a participle without the idea of time; as, A pleasing person.

§ 183. Those Adjectives which denote VARIABLE QUALITIES have three degrees of Comparison: the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative. See § 179.

1. The POSITIVE degree of the quality is expressed by the adjective in the Simple Form; as, wise, cold.

The COMPARATIVE degree of the quality is expressed by adding r or er to the Positive Form; as, wiser, colder.

The SUPERLATIVE degree of the quality is expressed by adding st or est to the Positive Form; as, wise-st, cold-est. The Comparative refers to two persons or things, and denotes a greater degree of a quality in the one than in the other. The Superlative refers to more than two persons or things, and denotes the utmost degree of a quality.

All monosyllables admit of r, st or er, est, and dissyllables when the addition may be easily pronounced. This mode of comparison may be called SIMPLE or TERMINATIONAL Comparison. When adjectives end in y after a consonant, the y is dropped and i substituted before er and est; as, lofty, loftier, loftiest.

2. Every adjective susceptible of Comparison may also be compared by more and most; as, more wise, most wise. This mode of comparison may be called COMPOUND Comparison.

3. DIMINUTION of quality, whether the adjective is of one syllable or more than one syllable, is formed by less and least; as, happy, less happy, least happy.

The termination -ish expresses a slight degree of a quality; as, reddish. More, most, less, or least, prefixed to an adjective, forms with it virtually a compound adjective.

4. In the Sanscrit language, one form for the comparative was tara; as, Punya pure; punya-tara=purer.

=

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