3.19 · Learn + reference
Substantivised and Invariant Adjectives
0 of 10 lessons complete
0%
3.19 · Learn + reference
Substantivised and Invariant Adjectives
Adjectives as phrase heads, contextual ellipsis, lexical nouns, and modifiers that do not agree overtly
Adjectives as phrase heads, contextual ellipsis, lexical nouns, and modifiers that do not agree overtly
Before you start
- Prerequisites
- Module 3.18
- Estimated time
- 45 minutes
- Lesson steps
- 10
Deliberately not taught here
- Boundary: The adjective-noun boundary is a continuum in some lexicalised and borrowed expressions. This module teaches reliable behaviour while marking analyses that dictionaries may classify differently.
Small steps
What you will learn
- When an adjective heads the phrase Russian can omit or lexicalise the noun while an adjectival form carries the phrase's grammatical features.
- People and roles Many adjective-shaped lexemes conventionally denote people by state, occupation, relationship, or role.
- Case and animacy without an overt noun Adjective-headed person expressions follow the same animate accusative rule as overt noun phrases.
- Places, rooms, and establishments Feminine adjective-shaped nouns often name rooms, facilities, or establishments through an historically understood head such as ко́мната.
- Neuter abstracts and plural collectives Neuter and plural forms can name abstract domains, time periods, information, or groups.
- Lexical substantivisation versus contextual ellipsis A lexicalised adjective-headed word has a conventional noun-like meaning; contextual ellipsis recovers an omitted noun from the immediate discourse.
- Nationalities and language labels Some nationality words are substantivised adjectives, while others use noun morphology; language names often omit язы́к in educational contexts.
- Invariant borrowed modifiers Modern Russian uses borrowed or clipped modifiers that do not overtly change for gender, number, or case.
- Agreement reveals an invariant head's profile An invariant modifier or noun can coexist with ordinary agreeing adjectives that expose the phrase's grammatical features.
- Substantivised and invariant assessment Recover the referent and syntactic profile, then decide which word overtly carries agreement.
Mastery
Ready means you can...
- use adjective-headed expressions with correct gender, number, case, and animacy
- distinguish lexical substantivisation from context-dependent noun ellipsis
- handle common person, place, abstract, nationality, and language expressions
- recognise invariant borrowed modifiers without pretending that every one has the same part-of-speech analysis