Issues in the Logic of Adjectives

Abstract

The classification of adjectives into determining (…) and modifying (…) adjectives is well known. The former, when joined to a noun, add either a positive or a negative characteristic to its meaning (a ‘learned man’, an ‘inexperienced person’); the latter, when joined to a noun, take away its original meaning. But, while losing its original meaning, a noun, when combined with a modifying adjective, becomes a name of an object to which the noun, taken in its original meaning, may no longer be applied (an ‘artificial limb’, a ‘forged banknote’, a ‘former minister’, etc.). Furthermore, like adjectives, adverbs and adverbial phrases may also be classified into those that determine and those that modify.