Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 March 27

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March 27

grammatical term

I'm looking for a grammatical term or expression. In the phrase red car, red is an adjective. In the phrases portrait paintings, leadership styles, assault battalion, portrait, leadership, battalion are nouns but they have a function similar to an adjective. There is a term or a grammatical expression for this kind of words or function? Also, the present principle can be a gerund: "typing techniques", with the same function. Thanks--Pierpao (talk) 09:24, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

That's called an attributive noun or noun adjunct. --76.71.6.254 (talk) 09:30, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict):This use of a noun as an adjective is called "attributive" use of the noun, and the word retains its designation as a noun. It does not become a genuine adjective if the comparative and superlative forms do not exist. See Noun adjunct. Dbfirs 09:31, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

That's the best and simplest explanation of them I've ever seen. Thanks. Turns out that was somewhat simplistic. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 10:03, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks a lot User:Dbfirs and in typing techniques or walking paths, typing and walking are what? Attributive verbs or attributive gerunds?--Pierpao (talk) 10:36, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

That's a good question! "Walking" has been used as a noun since the fourteenth century, and "typing" (with an older meaning) since the seventeenth century, so I'd say that they were well-established as nouns to be used attributively. Dbfirs 11:17, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

I'd say they always were nouns. The participial usage replaces a lost older participle form (represented by German –end); the archaic a-walking is eroded from on walking. Or so I misunderstand. —Tamfang (talk) 03:20, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

@Dbfirs: "It does not become a genuine adjective if the comparative and superlative forms do not exist" — that is only one of several criteria used to test whether a given word is an adjective. None of the criteria is satisfied by all adjectives, although many adjectives satisfy all criteria. See UCL.ac.uk or Herbst p.162-3. jnestorius^(talk) 14:34, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

@Jnestorius:: My test was for nouns used attributively, and I believe it is an accurate test for the question asked by the OP. I agree that not all adjectives have a comparative and a superlative. Dbfirs 14:44, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

In short, every word having a comparative/superlative is an adjective, but not vice versa (i.e. not every adjective etc.). HOTmag (talk) 17:57, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

No: adverbs often have comparative/superlative. jnestorius^(talk) 09:11, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Colloquial Arabic imperatives

How is the imperative of w-initial verbs like "wiṣil/yūṣal" (arrive) or "wiqiʿ/yūqaʿ" (fall) formed in Levantine and/or Egyptian? --Lazar Taxon (talk) 22:59, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

The only thing in Arabic that I was taught in the IDF, is that the imperative for "stop" (waqaf/yaqif, MSA imperative qif) in the Palestinian Arabic is waqef. --31.168.166.163 (talk) 08:52, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

@Lazar Taxon: Syrian, Egyptian.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 19:14, 31 March 2017 (UTC)