Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка. Тивьяева И.В. - 61 стр.

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2) restrictive, or particularizing (limiter adjectives).

Intensifying adjectives constitute two groups:

1) emphasizers

;

2) amplifiers

Emphasizers have a heightening effect on the noun (clear, definite, outright,

plain, pure, real, sheer, sure, true); amplifiers scale upwards from an assumed

norm (complete, great, firm, absolute, close, perfect, extreme, entire, total, utter).

Restrictive adjectives restrict the noun to a particular member of the class

(chief, exact, main, particular, precise, principal, sole, specific). They particularize

the reference of the noun.

3. The problem of the category of state

There is a class of words in English with the following morphological,

semantic and syntactic characteristics:

1) The words of this type denote “states” while adjectives denote “qualities”;

2) The words of this type may be characterized by the prefix a- (it derives

from the Middle English preposition an ‘in, on’): alive, asleep, ajar, etc.;

3) The words of this type do not possess the category of the degrees of

comparison;

4) The words of this type are used predicatively only, e.g. He is awake.

Because of the said features, these words are regarded by some grammarians

as a separate part of speech which has been variously referred to as the category of

state words, adlinks, and statives (B. Ilyish; B. S. Khaimovich and B. I.

Rogovskaya). The number of such words does not exceed several dozen. The

traditional view of the stative, which separates temporary adjectives from other

adjectives, does not seem to be convincing: temporary adjectives are part and

parcel of the adjective class as a whole. At the same time, we must admit that these

adjectives have features (meaning, function) that allow us to assign them to a

separate subclass of the adjective. But the features examined are not sufficient for

the distinction of the category of state within the adjective.