UNIT I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
In
linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members
can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or
the object of a preposition (or put more simply, a noun is a word used to name
a person, animal, place, thing or abstract idea).
Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other
kinds of expressions. The syntactic rules for nouns differ from language to
language. In English, nouns may be defined as those words which can occur with
articles and attributive adjectives and can function as the head of a noun
phrase.
B. Formula of problem
1. What the history of noun ?
2. What the different definitions of noun ?
3. How much classification of noun in English ?
C. Purpose
1. In order to tell the history of noun.
2. In order to know about definitions and classifications of
noun.
UNIT II
Content
A. History
Noun
comes from the Latin nōmen "name", a translation of Ancient Greek
ónoma. Word classes like nouns were first described by Pāṇini in the
Sanskrit language and by Ancient Greek grammarians, and were defined by the
grammatical forms that they take. In Greek and Sanskrit, for example, nouns are
categorized by gender and inflected for case and number.
Because nouns and adjectives share these three categories, Dionysius Thrax does
not clearly distinguish between the two, and uses the term ónoma
"name" for both, although some of the words that he describes as
paragōgón (pl. paragōgá) "derived" are adjectives.
B. Different definitions of nouns
Expressions
of natural language have properties at different levels. They have formal
properties, like what kinds of morphological prefixes or suffixes they take and
what kinds of other expressions they combine with; but they also have semantic
properties, i.e. properties pertaining to their meaning. The definition of a
noun at the outset of this article is thus a formal, traditional grammatical
definition. That definition, for the most part, is considered uncontroversial
and furnishes the means for users of certain languages to effectively
distinguish most nouns from non-nouns. However, it has the disadvantage that it
does not apply to nouns in all languages. For example in Russian, there are no
definite articles, so one cannot define nouns as words that are modified by
definite articles. There have also been several attempts to define nouns in
terms of their semantic properties. Many of these are controversial, but some
are discussed below.
· Names for
things
In traditional school grammars,
one often encounters the definition of nouns that they are all and only those
expressions that refer to a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality,
quantity, or idea, etc. This is a semantic definition. It has been criticized
by contemporary linguists as being uninformative.[6] Contemporary linguists
generally agree that one cannot successfully define nouns (or other grammatical
categories) in terms of what sort of object in the world they refer to or
signify. Part of the conundrum is that the definition makes use of relatively general
nouns (thing, phenomenon, event) to define what nouns are.
The existence of such general
nouns demonstrates that nouns refer to entities that are organized in taxonomic
hierarchies. But other kinds of expressions are also organized into such structured
taxonomic relationships. For example the verbs stroll, saunter, stride, and
tread are more specific words than the more general walk – see Troponymy.
Moreover, walk is more specific than the verb move, which, in turn, is less
general than change. But it is unlikely that such taxonomic relationships can
be used to define nouns and verbs. We cannot define verbs as those words that
refer to changes or states, for example, because the nouns change and state
probably refer to such things, but, of course, are not verbs. Similarly, nouns
like invasion, meeting, or collapse refer to things that are done or happen. In
fact, an influential theory has it that verbs like kill or die refer to
events,[7][8] one of the categories of things that nouns are supposed to refer
to.
The point being made here is not that this view of verbs is
wrong, but rather that this property of verbs is a poor basis for a definition
of this category, just like the property of having wheels is a poor basis for a
definition of cars (some things that have wheels, such as most suitcases or a
jumbo jet, aren't cars). Similarly, adjectives like yellow or difficult might
be thought to refer to qualities, and adverbs like outside or upstairs seem to
refer to places, which are also among the sorts of things nouns can refer to.
But verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are not nouns, and nouns are not verbs,
adjectives, or adverbs. One might argue that definitions of this sort really
rely on speakers' prior intuitive knowledge of what nouns, verbs, and
adjectives are, and so do not really add anything. Speakers' intuitive
knowledge of such things might plausibly be based on formal criteria, such as
the traditional grammatical definition of English nouns a forementioned.
· Predicates
with identity criteria
The British logician Peter Thomas Geach proposed a more
subtle semantic definition of nouns. He noticed that adverbs like
"same" can modify nouns, but no other kinds of parts of speech, like
verbs or adjectives. Not only that, but there also do not seem to be any other
expressions with similar meaning that can modify verbs and adjectives. Consider
the following examples.
grammatical: John and Bill participated in the same fight.
ungrammatical: *John and Bill samely fought.
There is no English adverb samely. In some other languages,
like Czech, however there are adverbs corresponding to samely. Hence, in Czech,
the translation of the last sentence would be fine; however, it would mean that
John and Bill fought in the same way: not that they participated in the same
fight. Geach proposed that we could explain this, if nouns denote logical
predicates with identity criteria. An identity criterion would allow us to
conclude, for example, that person x at time 1 is the same person as person y
at time 2. Different nouns can have different identity criteria. A well known
example of this is due to Gupta:
National Airlines transported 2 million passengers in 1979.
National Airlines transported (at least) 2 million persons
in 1979.
Given that, in general, all passengers are persons, the last
sentence above ought to follow logically from the first one. But it doesn't. It
is easy to imagine, for example, that on average, every person who travelled
with National Airlines in 1979, travelled with them twice. In that case, one
would say that the airline transported 2 million passengers but only 1 million
persons. Thus, the way that we count passengers isn't necessarily the same as
the way that we count persons. Put somewhat differently: At two different
times, you may correspond to two distinct passengers, even though you are one
and the same person. For a precise definition of identity criteria, see Gupta.
C. Classification of nouns in English
Many common nouns, like "engineer" or
"teacher," can refer to men or women. Once, many English nouns would
change form depending on their gender
-- for example, a man was called an "author" while a woman was called
an "authoress" -- but this use of gender-specific nouns is very rare today. Those that are still used
occasionally tend to refer to occupational categories, as in the following
sentences.
David Garrick was a very prominent eighteenth-century actor.
Sarah Siddons was at the height of her career as an actress
in the 1780s.
The manager was trying to write a want ad, but he couldn't
decide whether he was advertising for a "waiter" or a "waitress"
Most nouns change their form to indicate number
by adding "-s" or "-es", as illustrated in the following
pairs of sentences:
When Matthew was small he rarely told the truth if he
thought he was going to be punished.
Many people do not believe that truths are self-evident.
As they walked through the silent house, they were startled
by an unexpected echo.
I like to shout into the quarry and listen to the echoes
that return.
He tripped over a box left carelessly in the hallway.
Since we are moving, we will need many boxes.
There are other nouns which form the plural
by changing the last letter before adding "s". Some words ending in
"f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding
"ves," and words ending in "y" form the plural by deleting
the "y" and adding "ies," as in the following pairs of
sentences:
The harbour at Marble Mountain has one wharf.
There are several wharves in Halifax Harbour.
Warsaw is their favourite city because it reminds them of
their courtship.
The vacation my grandparents won includes trips to twelve
European cities.
The children circled around the headmaster and shouted,
"Are you a mouse or a man?"
The audience was shocked when all five men admitted that
they were afraid of mice.
Other nouns form the plural irregularly. If English is your
first language, you probably know most of these already: when in doubt, consult
a good dictionary.
In the possessive
case, a noun or pronoun
changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else.
Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe
and the letter "s."
You can form the possessive case of a singular
noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and
"s," as in the following sentences:
The red suitcase is Cassandra's.
The only luggage that was lost was the prime minister's.
The exhausted recruits were woken before dawn by the drill
sergeant's screams.
The miner's face was covered in coal dust.
You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that
ends in "s" by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe
and "s," as in the following examples:
The bus's seats are very uncomfortable.
The bus' seats are very uncomfortable.
The film crew accidentally crushed the platypus's eggs.
The film crew accidentally crushed the platypus' eggs.
Felicia Hemans's poetry was once more popular than Lord
Byron's.
Felicia Hemans' poetry was once more popular than Lord
Byron's.
You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does
not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and a "s," as in the
following examples:
The children's mittens were scattered on the floor of the
porch.
The sheep's pen was mucked out every day.
Since we have a complex appeal process, a jury's verdict is
not always final.
The men's hockey team will be playing as soon as the women's
team is finished.
The hunter followed the moose's trail all morning but lost
it in the afternoon.
You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does
end in "s" by adding an apostrophe:
The concert was interrupted by the dogs' barking, the ducks'
quacking, and the babies' squalling.
The janitors' room is downstairs and to the left.
My uncle spent many hours trying to locate the squirrels'
nest.
The archivist quickly finished repairing the diaries'
bindings.
Religion is usually the subject of the roommates' many late
night debates.
When you read the following sentences, you will notice that
a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying
another noun:
The miner's face was covered in coal dust.
Here the possessive noun "miner's" is used to
modify the noun "face" and together with the article
"the," they make up the noun
phrase that is the sentence's subject.
The concert was interrupted by the dogs' barking, the ducks'
quacking, and the babies' squalling.
In this sentence, each possessive noun modifies a gerund.
The possessive noun "dogs"' modifies "barking,"
"ducks"' modifies "quacking," and "babies"'
modifies "squalling."
The film crew accidentally crushed the platypus's eggs.
In this example the possessive noun "platypus's"
modifies the noun "eggs" and the noun phrase "the platypus's
eggs" is the direct object of the verb
"crushed."
My uncle spent many hours trying to locate the squirrels'
nest.
In this sentence the possessive noun "squirrels"'
is used to modify the noun "nest" and the noun phrase "the
squirrels' nest" is the object
of the infinitive
phrase "to locate."
There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you
capitalise some nouns, such as "Canada" or "Louise," and do
not capitalise others, such as "badger" or "tree" (unless
they appear at the beginning of a sentence). In fact, grammarians have
developed a whole series of noun types, including the proper noun, the common
noun, the concrete noun, the abstract noun, the countable noun (also called the
count noun), the non-countable noun (also called the mass noun), and the
collective noun. You should note that a noun will belong to more than one type:
it will be proper or common, abstract or concrete, and countable or
non-countable or collective.
If you are interested in the details of these different
types, you can read about them in the following sections.
You always write a proper noun with a
capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place,
or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents,
institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents
are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun
In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted:
The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to
build the fortifications in Halifax.
Many people dread Monday mornings.
Beltane is celebrated on the first of May.
Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran.
Last year, I had a Baptist, a Buddhist, and a Gardnerian
Witch as roommates.
A common noun is a
noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you
should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common
noun is the opposite of a proper noun.
In each of the following sentences, the common nouns are highlighted:
According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away.
All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetles
this summer.
I don't understand why some people insist on having six
different kinds of mustard in their cupboards.
The road crew was startled by the sight of three large moose
crossing the road.
Many child-care workers are underpaid.
Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as
in the following examples:
The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large
and sudden increase in their rent.
The meals in the Bouncing Bean Restaurant are less expensive
than meals in ordinary restaurants.
Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times.
The Diary of Anne Frank is often a child's first
introduction to the history of the Holocaust.
A concrete noun is a
noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical
senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite
of a abstract noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all
concrete nouns:
The judge handed the files to the clerk.
Whenever they take the dog to the beach, it spends hours
chasing waves.
The real estate agent urged the couple to buy the second house
because it had new shingles.
As the car drove past the park, the thump of a disco tune
overwhelmed the string quartet's rendition of a minuet.
The book binder replaced the flimsy paper cover with a
sturdy, cloth-covered board.
An abstract noun is a
noun which names anything which you can not perceive through your five physical
senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. The highlighted words in the
following sentences are all abstract nouns:
Buying the fire extinguisher was an afterthought.
Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic about childhood.
Justice often seems to slip out of our grasp.
Some scientists believe that schizophrenia is transmitted
genetically.
A countable noun
(or count noun) is a noun
with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that
you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural
verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and
collective nouns.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words
are countable nouns:
We painted the table red and the chairs blue.
Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends every weekend
indexing his books.
Miriam found six silver dollars in the toe of a sock.
The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane.
Over the course of twenty-seven years, Martha Ballad
delivered just over eight hundred babies.
A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural
form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually
count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence.
Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of
countable nouns.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are
non-countable nouns:
Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.
The word "oxygen" cannot normally be made plural.
Oxygen is essential to human life.
Since "oxygen" is a non-countable noun, it takes
the singular verb "is" rather than the plural verb "are."
We decided to sell the furniture rather than take it with us
when we moved.
You cannot make the noun "furniture" plural.
The furniture is heaped in the middle of the room.
Since "furniture" is a non-countable noun, it
takes a singular verb, "is heaped."
The crew spread the gravel over the roadbed.
You cannot make the non-countable noun "gravel"
plural.
Gravel is more expensive than I thought.
Since "gravel" is a non-countable noun, it takes
the singular verb form "is."
A collective noun
is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the
individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole
is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nouns in
order to maintain subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is similar to a
non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is
a collective noun:
The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
The collective noun "flock" takes the singular
verb "spends."
The jury is dining on take-out chicken tonight.
In this example the collective noun "jury" is the
subject of the singular compound
verb "is dining."
The steering committee meets every Wednesday afternoon.
Here the collective noun "committee" takes a
singular verb, "meets."
The class was startled by the bursting light bulb.
In this sentence the word "class" is a collective
noun and takes the singular compound verb "was startled."
UNIT III
Closing
Conclution
Definitions of noun has
a different. Expressions of natural language have properties at different
levels. They have formal properties, like what kinds of morphological prefixes
or suffixes they take and what kinds of other expressions they combine with; but
they also have semantic properties, i.e. properties pertaining to their
meaning. The definition of a noun at the outset of this article is thus a
formal, traditional grammatical definition. That definition, for the most part,
is considered uncontroversial and furnishes the means for users of certain
languages to effectively distinguish most nouns from non-nouns. However, it has
the disadvantage that it does not apply to nouns in all languages. For example
in Russian, there are no definite articles, so one cannot define nouns as words
that are modified by definite articles. There have also been several attempts
to define nouns in terms of their semantic properties. Many of these are
controversial, but some are discussed below.
Classification of nouns are
noun gender, noun plurals, possessive nouns, types of nouns, proper nouns,
common nouns, Concrete Nouns, Abstract Nouns, Countable Nouns, Non-Countable
Nouns, Collective Nouns.
Reference
Loos, Eugene E., et al. 2003. Glossary of linguistic
terms: What is a noun?
nōmen. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin
Dictionary on Perseus
Project.
Jackendoff, Ray. 2002. Foundations of language: brain,
meaning, grammar,
evolution. Oxford University Press. Page
124.
Gupta, Anil. 1980, The logic of common nouns. New Haven and
London: Yale
University Press.
Baker, Mark. 2003, Lexical Categories: verbs, nouns, and
adjectives.
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Croft, William. 1993. "A noun is a noun is a noun - or
is it? Some reflections
on the universality of
semantics". Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual
Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics
Society, ed. Joshua S. Guenter,
Barbara A. Kaiser and Cheryl C. Zoll,
369-80. Berkeley: Berkeley
Linguistics Society.
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