The writers use adjectives to describe, modify or qualify human beings, animals, objects, places, processes, concepts, etc. These can also be used to classify, i.e., to place a noun into a specific category, type, or class rather than describing its qualities. Thus, the main functions of adjectives are to describe, modify or qualify a noun or pronoun in an expression (Ukpabi, 2014). In whatever perspective an adjective is used, it mostly stays between the determiner and the head of the noun phrase.
1. Features of Adjectives
When adjectives are used to describe entities, their features like modifiability, gradability, form, or type stay along in every context. The details of these features are as follows:
Modifiability: very smart, extremely arrogant, etc.;
Gradability: degrees of comparison [positive (big)], [comparative (bigger)] and [superlative (biggest)];
Form: simple (one word as green) or compound (hyphenated words like well-placed);
Types: descriptive (e.g., broad), quantitative (e.g., two), demonstrative (e.g., this) or possessive (e.g., our).
2. Classes of Adjectives
On the basis of their functions, adjectives can be put into three classes i.e., attributive, predicative and post-positive adjectives.
a. This sad story frightened him.
b. The passengers looked tired.
c. The selection board found the candidate capable.
d. The birds made the walls dirty.
In example (a), the adjective sad is an attributive adjective and in (b) and (c) tired and capable are predicative adjectives. Finally, in (d), dirty is a postpositive adjective.
As the examples given above indicate that the two types of adjectives can be distinguished on the basis of their position in the phrases or clauses. An adjective is attributive if it precedes the head noun and modifies head noun in a noun phrase. On the other hand, it is predicative if it follows some linking verb (be, seem, appear, look, etc.) in a clause. Here, its role is to complement the head noun which may be the subject or the object of the verb (Al-Nuaimi and Izreji, 2022). When a predicative adjective complements the subject or object, it denotes a new state, condition or quality rather than just an attribute.
2.1 How to Recognize an Adjective Class
It is important to note that adjectives are uninflected words in terms of gender, number, person or case. However, these can be recognized on the basis of their role of modification or predication which are the basic features of adjectives. It is important to note that all adjectives cannot be used attributively (Al-Nuaimi, and Izreji, 2022). The adjectives that start with the letter a cannot stay as attributive adjectives. Their role is predicative only. The examples of these adjectives include ablaze, afraid, alive, awake, asleep, etc. Similarly, some adjectives cannot perform predicative role, e.g., principal, main, genuine, etc. (Ukpabi, 2014). For example:
a. The pile of dry wood is ablaze.
b. *The ablaze wood is on the roadside.
c. The main reason of this accident is broken road.
d. *The reason is main.
The example (b) indicates that adjective ablaze cannot be used attributively and (d) indicates the adjective main cannot be used predicatively.
3. Attributive Function of Adjectives
When an adjective precedes the head noun in a noun phrase, it performs an attributive function. In other words, it highlights specific characteristics of the head noun, e.g., size, colour, quality, age, etc. The role of these characteristics is to specify (narrow down or limiting) or describe the head noun directly. For example, in the phrase “a costly dress” costly specifies quality, in “a fast computer”, fast describes quality and in “tall trees”, tall specifies height of trees. In noun phrases, adverbs may precede adjectives. All these elements of a noun phrase become combined to produce an endocentric expression (Raskin and Sergei Nirenburg,1995).
4. Predicative Function of Adjectives
A predicative adjective can stay as subject complement or object complement in sentences.
4.1 Predicative Adjectives as Subject Complement
When adjectives are placed after linking verbs (e.g., be, seem, appears, looks, etc.), they are known as descriptors or complements of the head noun. For example:
a. These trees are tall.
b. This question is interesting.
In the examples (a) and (b) the adjectives tall and interesting describe the nouns trees and question respectively. Since the nouns trees and question are in the subject position, the adjectives tall and interesting are in the role of subject complements.
4.2 Predicative Adjectives as Object Complement
Sometimes, adjectives can stay after their head nouns. However, such adjectives are not always post-modifying. This happens when adjectives follow an object of the verb instead of the subject. Herein, adjectives function as an object complement. For example:
a. They considered him capable.
b. The writers feel tea invigorating.
In these examples, capable and invigorating follow verb objects him and tea and do the function of object complements as these describe him and tea. It needs be remembered that these are the post-modifiers of him and tea.
5. Postpositive Adjectives
When adjectives are in attributive role, they mostly precede the nouns they modify or describe. However, in special expressions, they can be postposed, i.e., placed after the noun they modify or classify (Al-Nuaimi and Izreji, 2022). For example:
a. The Postmaster General ensured the quick delivery of consignments.
b. They are constructing a tower 500 feet high.
6. Functions of Qualifying Descriptive Adjectives
The qualifying descriptive adjectives attribute qualities, traits, or characteristics to nouns or pronouns. In other words, as modifiers, they describe, qualify, or specify (i.e., limit the meanings of) nouns and pronouns. Further, these adjectives function by answering certain questions, e.g., what kind (e.g., a black citizen), etc. (Al-Nuaimi and Izreji, 2022). The writers employ them for the vividness of their expressions (a fair, rosy face), expression of opinions (pointless, excellent, awful, or disgusting) and novelty in communication (unprecedented, innovative, ingenious, or striking). Further, these adjectives can be used attributively (i.e., before noun) or predicatively (i.e., after linking verbs, e.g. be, seem, appear, look, etc.)
The importance of these adjectives is that they help writers make their language richer and more expressive. Thus, the writers become able to realize a clear image of their meaning. On the other hand, they help readers as well to visualize the described objects or scenes correctly.
7. Functions of Classifying Descriptive Adjectives
The information that is furnished by an adjective about its head noun is not always of the same kind and level. Mostly, adjectives play a classificatory role, i.e. an adjective and its following noun represent a subdivision of what the noun would represent by itself. For Instance, ‘intelligent students’ are a smaller group than students; ‘fresh fruit’ is a smaller amount than fruit; and ‘the green area’ stays as a part of a whole area. Classifying descriptive adjectives are the linguistic resource that indicates a subdivision; however, their use is very common.
Some subdivisions have further subdivision, such as ‘cattle’, a subdivision of vertebrates. On the other hand, there are other adjectives that are an individual (i.e., they do not have further subdivisions). They are themselves a subdivision. For example, Iran, a subdivision of countries.
At times, when a name carries an adjective-containing subdivision, it remains unclear regarding which of the possibilities it marks. If we focus the phrase, a white individual, it can give two meanings. One, it is “a person that is white” without representing other white people. Another, it is “an individual belonging to the white group”, representing that white people were a definite subgroup. Herein, the uncertainty indicated can be removed by placing comma between two pre-modifying adjectives. For instance, when we write a tall, white individual, it does not indicate any special group meaning to white. On the other hand, a tall white individual indicates is a special group meaning.
Classificatory adjectives also highlight a key feature of a group instead of a subdivision. For example, life-giving words does not refer to something less than words. It relates to a special situation always existing in words. Similar to this phrase is the high-profile individual.
In this post, the features and functions of adjectives in academic writing have been presented keeping in view the various perspectives of their use. First the features of adjectives such as modifiability, gradeability, form and types have been detailed. Next, the functions of adjectives like attribution, predication, and postposition have been discussed. In the end, the functions of qualifying and classifying adjectives have been presented. Learning how to employ all these features and functions of adjectives is indispensable for effective written communication in academic texts. This is indispensable because adjectives help writers to keep their texts simple and direct, particularly in science articles. Thus, the scientific knowledge can be shared with non-specialist readers successfully (Jitpranee, 2017).
Sources cited:
Jitpranee, J. (2017). A Study of Adjective Types and Functions in Popular Science Articles. International Journal of Linguistics, Vol. 9, No. 2, 57-69.
Al-Nuaimi, H. S. S. and Izreji, A.S. (2022). On English Order of Adjectives. Journal of Language Studies.Vol.5, No. 4, Pages (78-88)
Raskin, V. and Sergei Nirenburg, S. (1995). Lexical Semantics of Adjectives: A Microtheory of Adjectival Meaning
Ukpabi, B. O. (2014). Adjectives and Vagueness. A seminar on Adjectives and vagueness presented in partial fulfilment for the requirement of the course: Semantics (EST 802.2)
