> Cf.: be fond of -love, like; be envious of - envy; be angry with - resent; be mad for , about - covet; be thankful to - thank.
Alongside of other complementive relations expressed with the help of prepositions and corresponding to direct and prepositional object-relations of verbs, some of these adjectives may render relations of addressee. Cf .: grateful to, indebted to, partial to, useful for . p> To the derivational features of adjectives belong a number of suffixes and 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). p> Among the adjectival affixes should also be named the prefix a -, constitutive for the stative sub-class which is to be discussed below.
As for the variable (demutative) morphological features, the English adjective, having lost in the course of the history of English all its forms of grammatical agreement with the noun, is distinguished only by the hybrid category of comparison.
Qualitative and relative.
All the adjectives are traditionally divided into two large subclasses: qualitative and relative . p> Relative adjectives express such properties of a substance as are determined by the direct relation of the substance to some other substance. p> E.g .: wood - A wooden hut; mathematics - mathematical precision; history - a historical event;
table - tabular presentation; colour - coloured postcards;
surgery - Surgical treatment; the Middle Ages - mediaeval rites. br/>
The nature of this "relationship" in adjectives is best revealed by definitional correlations. Cf .: a wooden hut - a hut made of wood; a historical event - an event referring to a certain period of history; surgical treatment - treatment consisting in the implementation of surgery; etc.
Qualitative adjectives, as different from relative ones, denote various qualities of substances which admit of a quantitative estimation, ie of establishing their correla-tive quantitative measure. The measure of a quality can be estimated as high or low, adequate or inadequate, sufficient or insufficient, optimal or excessive. Cf .: an awkward situation - a very awkward situation; a difficult task - too difficult a task; an enthusiastic reception - rather an enthusiastic reception; a hearty welcome - not a very hearty welcome; etc.
In this connection, the ability of an adjective to form degrees of comparison is usually taken as a formal sign of its qualitative character, in opposition to a relative adjective which is understood as incapable of forming degrees of comparison by definition. Cf .: a pretty girl - a prettier girl; a quick look - a quicker look; a hearty welcome - the heartiest of welcomes; a bombastic speech - the most bombastic speech.
However, in actual speech the described principle of distinction is not at all strictly observed, which is noted in the very grammar treatises putting it forward. Two typical cases of contradiction should be pointed out here.
In the first place, substances can possess such qualities as are incompatible with the idea of ​​degrees of comparison. Accordingly, adjectives denoting these qualities, while belonging to the qualitative subclass, are in the ordinary use incapable of forming degrees of comparison. Here refer ad-jectives like extinct, immobile, deaf, final, fixed , etc.
In the second place, many adjectives considered under the heading of relative still can form degrees of comparison, thereby, as it were, transforming the denoted relative property of a substance into such as can be graded quantitatively. Cf .: a mediaeval approach- rather a mediaeval approach - a far more mediaeval approach; of a military design - of a less military design - of a more military design;
a grammatical topic ~ a purely grammatical topic - the most grammatical of the suggested topics.
In order to overcome the demonstrated lack of rigour in the definitions in question, we may introduce an additional linguistic distinction which is more adaptable to the chances of usage. The suggested distinction is based on the evalua-tive function of adjectives. According as they actually give some qualitative evaluation to the substance referent or ...
