(R.L. Stevenson, in Shorter Oxford English Dictionary ) (1) At first the silence of the night was utter. Most “ attributive only ” adjectives had a predicative function in the past, which may even reappear occasionally: (Huddleston & Pullum )ģ In reality, few adjectives are restricted to a single function. Phrases like a child who was asleep do not have attributive paraphrases: * an asleep child is strongly ungrammatical. We list them (excluding some like abed and afire that are rather archaic) in : One group of very clearly non-attributive adjectives comprises those formed with the prefix a‑ that originates in the Middle English preposition an “in, on”. Huddleston and Pullum’s Cambridge Grammar of the English Language is typical in this regard:Īdjectives that do not normally occur except as (heads of) attributive modifiers include: mere, utter ) or ‘predicative only’ (e.g. ![]() Dixon, Baker, Henkel ).Ģ There is tendency, among grammars of English, to describe certain adjectives as ‘attributive only’, (e.g.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |