The system of parts of speech

1. Proceeding in the usual order, we start with the noun, or substantive.³

Its characteristic features are the following.

(1) Meaning: thingness. Thus, nouns include not only chair and iron, etc., but also beauty, peace, necessity, journey, and everything else presented as a thing, or object.

¹ We do not consider here the functions of the infinitive, participle, and gerund.

² Some scholars took a different view of the problem. Thus, Academician A. Shakhmatov held that parts of speech should be treated in Syntax. (See A. A. Шахматов, Синтаксис русского языка, 1941.)

³ In the prevailing Modern English terminology the terms " noun" and " substantive" are used as synonyms. According to an earlier view, the term " noun" was understood to cover all nominal parts of speech, including substantives, adjectives, pronouns, and numerals, thus corresponding to the Russian term имя.

The System of Parts of Speech 29

(2) Form. Nouns have the category of number (singular and plural), though some individual nouns may lack either a singular or a plural form. They also, in the accepted view, have the category of case (common and genitive); see, however, p. 42 ff.

(3) Function. (a) Combining with words to form phrases. A noun combines with a preceding adjective (large room), or occasionally with a following adjective (times immemorial), with a preceding noun in either the common case (iron bar) or the genitive case (father's room), with a verb following it (children play) or preceding it (play games). Occasionally a noun may combine with a following or a preceding adverb (the man there; the then president). It also combines with prepositions (in a house; house of rest). It is typical of a noun to be preceded by the definite or indefinite article (the room, a room). (b) Function in the sentence. A noun may be the subject or the predicative of a sentence, or an object, an attribute, and an adverbial modifier. It can also make part of each of these when preceded by a preposition.

2. Next, we come to the adjective.

(1) Meaning. The adjective expresses property.¹

(2) Form. Adjectives in Modern English are invariable. Some adjectives form degrees of comparison (long, longer, longest).

(3) Function. (a) Adjectives combine with nouns both preceding and (occasionally) following them (large room, times immemorial). They also combine with a preceding adverb (very large). Adjectives can be followed by the phrase " preposition + noun" (free from danger). Occasionally they combine with a preceding verb (married young). (b) In the sentence, an adjective can be either an attribute (large room) or a predicative (is large). It can also be an objective predicative (painted the door green).