1
Adjective Classes in
Typological Perspective
R. M. W. Dixon
This chapter is concerned with adjectives in the narrow sense—that is, descrip-
tive adjectives such as 'red', 'heavy', and 'loyal'—leaving aside other types of noun
modifier, demonstratives, and interrogatives. I suggest that a distinct word class
'adjectives' can be recognized for every human language. In some languages, ad-
jectives have similar grammatical properties to nouns, in some to verbs, in some to
both nouns and verbs, and in some to neither. I suggest that there are always some
grammatical criteria—sometimes rather subtle—for distinguishing the adjective
class from other word classes.
In the present chapter, §1 discusses the three major word classes and their typ-
ical semantic content; §2 outlines basic clause types and core arguments, with a
warning of the importance of using the term 'predicate' with a narrow meaning.
After a mention of criteria for distinguishing between noun and verb, in §3, there
is a profile of the adjective class, in §4, and then, in §5, comment on Eurocentric
attitudes towards the label 'adjective'. Subsequently, §6 deals with the four types
of adjective—similar to verbs in their grammatical properties (with criteria for
distinguishing between the classes), similar to nouns (again, with relevant distin-
guishing criteria), similar to both verbs and nouns, and different from both classes.
In §7 there is a brief discussion of languages whose adjectives have restricted func-
tional possibilities, and in §8 of languages with two adjective classes. A correlation
between types of adjective class and head/dependent marking is explored in §9.
Semantic overlap between the three major word classes, and how the overlaps dif-
fer between languages, are discussed in §10. The following chapters in the volume
are introduced in §11. Finally, a set of conclusions is given in §12.
- Word classes
The main function of a language is to communicate meaning from speaker to ad-
dressee. Basic concepts are encoded as words, which are related together within
the grammar. Three word classes are, I maintain, implicit in the structure of each