Lecture Two

1. Lecture Two Noun and Noun Phrase

2. Classification of nouns • concrete pig, toy • count • common abstract difficulty • concrete butter, gold • non-count • abstract education • Noun • proper

3. individual teacher, book • Common noun collective crowd, family • material iron, paper

4. Functions of noun phrases • Children at play seldom remember what time it is. (subject) • That was an attractive little black chair. (subject complement) • In the hall I saw some extremely valuable pictures. (object) • They elected him chairman of the board. (object complement) • Mr Brown, director of the coal mine, should be responsible for the accident. (appositive) • Teahcers should be concerned about the students’ moral culture. (prepostional complementation) • He retured last night. (adverbial) • A photo is taken each time this button is pushed. (conjunction)

5. Gender • A grammatical distinction in which words such as nouns, articles, adjectives, and pronouns are marked according to a distinction between masculine, feminine, and sometimes neuter. • In French: une/la table a/the table • un/le cheval a/the horse

6. Number • A grammatical distinction which determines whether nouns, verbs, adjectives in a language are singular or plural. • Regular plural: add –s or –es to the base • Irregualr plural • e.g. basis – bases, criterion – criteria • a deer – ten deer one fish – several fish • a Japanese – a group of Japanese

7. Singular invariables • Proper nouns • e.g. The United States has two official languages: English and Spanish. • The Netherlands is/are famous for two things: tulips and football. • The Philippines is/are an island country. • Exceptions: the Alps, the Rockies, the Highlands, the Balkans, Niagara Falls, etc names of people referring to a family • Mass nouns • Nouns in –ics denoting sciences: acoustics, mathematics, physics, etc • Nouns in –s dentoing diseases: appendicits, arthritis, shingles, etc • Nouns in –s denoting games: billiards, bowls, darts, etc

8. Plural invariables • Nouns of tools and articles of dress consisting of two equal parts • e.g. compasses, jeans, trousers • Some collective nouns: callte, clergy, etc • Geographical names of mountain ranges, water falls, groups of islands • Other nouns ending in –s: archives, customs, earnings, minutes, etc

9. partitives • General partitives: piece, bit, article, item. • Partitives related to the shape of things • e.g. a cake of soap, a bar of chocolate, a block of ice, a drop of blood • Partitives related to volume • e.g. a bottle of ink, two bowls of rice, a cup of coffee • Partitives related to the state of action • e.g. a fit of laughter/temper, a display of courage, a flash of hope/light/lightning • Partitives denoting pairs, groups, flocks, etc • e.g. a pair of shoes/trousers, a group of children, a pack of hounds/cards • Partitives referring to measurement • e.g. a foot of cloth, a kilo of flour, a gallon of wine

10. Case • A grammatical category sharing the function of a noun or noun phrase in a sentence • The form of the noun or noun phrase changes to show the different functions. • In Latin there are six cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative. • In English we have common and genitive cases.

11. Genitives • Forms: • e.g. my mother’s arrival • women’s clothes • the girls’ dormitory • my mother-in-law’s death • Mary’s and Bob’s books • Cf. Mary and Bob’s books • Basel the bookseller’s or Basel’s, the bookseller’s • Dickens’/Dickens’s novels

12. Meanings of genitive nouns • Possessive genitive • Subjective genitive • e.g. The Prime Minister’s arrival was reported in the morning paper. • Objective genitive • e.g. The enemy’s defeat brought the war to an end. • Genitive of origin • e.g. I haven’t received my sister’s letter yet. • Descriptive genitive • e.g. I first met her on a summer’s day. • Genitive of time, distance, measure, value, etc • e.g. two hours’ delay

13. Genitive vs. of-phrase • John’s house • the size of the newspaper • three years’ time • the opinion of those present at the meeting

14. Independent genitive • Genitives without a following noun • Mary’s is the largest apartment in the building. • I’m going to dine at my brother’s. • John lives near St. Paul’s (Cathedral) in London. • Chinese toys are sold at Smith’s.

15. Double genitive • A combination of the genitive and the of-phrase • He is a friend of my father’s. • * a window of the house’s • some friends of that doctor’s • * the friend of the doctor’s • that friend of my brother’s • the friend of Bob’s who was here last night