Noun

NOUN

DEFINITION OF NOUNS Semantic properties

Meaning

Grammatical categories

Morphological information

Gender

Prefixes

Number

Suffixes

Case

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES • Nouns are described as words that refer to a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality, quantity, idea etc. • Classification of nouns: • Proper nouns and common nouns • Countable and uncountable nouns • Concrete, abstract and collective nouns

INFLUENCES IN ENGLISH

WORDS WITH INTERESTING ORIGINS • Biro ‘ball-point pen’, named after László Bíró, its Hungarian inventor • Boycott ‘refuse to deal with’ after a landlord in Ireland who made himself unpopular by his treatment of his tenants and was socially isolated • Braille ‘writing system for blind people’ after Louis Braille, its French inventor • Mentor ‘loyal and wise adviser’ from Mentor, friend of Odysseus • Pamphlet ‘a small leaflet’ from a character Pamphilus, in a 12th century love poem • Tawdry ‘cheap and tasteless’ from St Audrey, at whose annual fair in the town of Ely, near Cambridge, cheap gaudy scarves were sold

trilby

bowler

busby stetson

mackintosh cardigan

leotard

wellington

COUNTABLE – UNCOUNTABLE

container

usually made of

typical contents

bag

cloth, paper, plastic

sweets, shopping, letters

barrel

wood and metal

wine, beer

basin

pottery, metal

ingredients for making a cake

basket

canes, rushes

shopping, clothes, waste paper

bottle

glass, plastic

milk, lemonade, wine

bowl

china, glass, wood

fruit, soup, sugar

box

cardboard, wood

matches, tools, toys, chocolates

bucket

metal, plastic

sand, water

can

tin

coca cola, beer

carton

card

milk, yoghurt, 20 packets of cigarettes

case

leather, wood

jewellery, spectacles

crate

wood, plastic

bottles

container

usually made of

typical contents

glass

glass

milk, lemonade, wine

jar

glass, pottery

jam, honey, olives, instant coffee

jug

pottery

milk, cream, water

mug

pottery

tea, coffee, cocoa

pack

card

cards, six cans of coca cola

packet

card, paper

cigarettes, tea, biscuits, juice, cereal

pan

metal

food that is being cooked

pot

metal, pottery

food, plant

sack

cloth, plastic

coal, rubbish

tin

tin

peas, baked beans, fruit

tub

wood, zinc, card

flowers, rainwater, icecream

tube

soft metal, plastic

toothpaste, paint, ointment

WORDS OF LATIN ORIGIN • Cent, century, centennial, centigrade, centipede – centum ’hundred’ • Pedal, peddler, pedestrian, pedicab, pedicure – pede ’foot’ • Manual, manacle, manicure, manipulate, manuscript – manus ’hand’

WORDS OF GREEK ORIGIN Three Greek words often found in English: • autos ’self’ • bios ’life’ • graphein ’write’

ORIGIN OF THE WORD DISASTER In ancient times, people believed that the stars had an effect on their lives. When something like an earthquake or flood occurred, they were sure it happened because someone disobeyed the will of the stars. As a result, such events became known as disasters (dis ’opposite , against’ + aster ’star’)

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES Inflection Number

Gender

Case

Singular

Masculine

Subjective

Plural

Feminine

Objective

Possessive

1) PLURAL regular

other plurals

-(e)s

irregular

-ves

foreign

compound nouns

SPELLING RULES -s

-es

Most nouns e.g. book – books, rope – ropes

Nouns ending in –s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z e.g. bus – buses, box – boxes

Nouns ending in vowel + y e.g. day – days, guy – guys

Consonant + y e.g. baby – babies

Nouns ending in –o e.g. photo – photos solo – solos

EXEPT cargo – cargoes hero – heroes domino – dominoes potato – potatoes echo – echoes tomato - tomatoes

Nouns ending in –f e.g. belief – beliefs cliff – cliffs roof – roofs

EXEPT -f -ves (12 nouns) calf – calves loaf – loaves half – halves self – selves leaf – leaves shelf – shelves elf – elves thief – thieves knife – knives wife – wives life – lives wolf – wolves

consonant + ies

PLURAL OF COMPOUND NOUNS Most compound nouns form plural by adding –(e)s to the second element • Noun + noun – -s to the second (armchairs, bedrooms) BUT men-servants, men’s clubs, debtors’ prison • Noun + prepositional phrase (mothers-in-law, editors-in-chief) • When only one of the components is a noun, -s is added to it (lookers-on, passers-by) • When there is no noun, -s is added to the last word (forget-me-nots, good-for-nothings)

IRREGULAR PLURALS (1) • Mutation – change of the stem vowel (7 nouns) man – men foot – feet woman – women tooth – teeth mouse – mice goose – geese louse – lice penny – pence • -en plurals (come from OE) ox – oxen, child – children, brother – brethren

IRREGULAR PLURALS (2) • Uninflected plurals (one form for both singular and plural) deer, sheep, swine; cod, mackarel, pike, plaice, salmon, trout • Words that look singular but are plural cattle, clergy, people, police • Mass nouns (mud, music, peace) – have no plural because they name things that can't readily be counted • Nouns that look plural, but are singular news, physics, politics, darts • Pluralia tantum – nouns that show up only in the plural scissors, jeans, congratulations

FOREIGN PLURALS • Latin and Greek plurals • • • • • • •

-um -us -ex, -ix -is -on -a -ies

-a (stratum – strata) -a, -i (corpus – corpora, radius – radii) -ices (appendix – appendices) -es (basis – bases) -a (phenomenon – phenomena) -ae (formula – formulae) -ies (species – species)

• Non-classical • -eau

-eaux (beau – beaux)

DOUBLE PLURALS (SOME DIFFERENCE OF MEANING) • brother • brothers – sons of one mother • brethren – members of one community

• cloth • cloths – kind of cloth • clothes – articles of dress

• die • dies – metal stamps for making money • dices – cubes used in games

• penny • pennies – number of coins • pence – amount of pennies in value

Gender

Masculine

Feminine

Common

Neutral

2) GENDER 1. Masculine gender: It refers to a male character or member of a species. Man, lion, hero, boy, king, horse and actor are nouns of masculine gender. Example: • A boy is playing in the play-ground. • Hero of the movie is not a native of this country. 2. Feminine gender: It refers to a female member of a species. Woman, lioness, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow and actress are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we use. Example: • A girl is playing in the play-ground. • Heroine of the movie is not a native of this country.

3. Common gender: If it refers to a member of species which can be a male or a female: child, student, friend, applicant, candidate, servant, member, parliamentarian and leader are few of the common-gender nouns. Example: • A child is playing in the play-ground. • A Parliamentarian should have command over his language. 4. Neuter gender: It refers to a member of a species which is neither a male nor a female. Normally nouns referring to lifeless objects are in neuter nouns: chair, table, tree, star, mountain, street, book, car, school, paper, pencil and computer Example: • Computer has brought about drastic changes in our lives. • Tree is cleansing the air. • Stars are not visible in the day-time. • Books are our best friends.

GENDER Nyelvtanilag az erős érzelmeket, erőszakos cselekedeteket jelölő főnevek hímneműek:

anger, fury, terror, love, war stb. természeti tényeket, elemeket, jelenségeket, a természetről szerzett benyomásokat jelölő főnevek storm, ocean, thunder, river, sun, danger, law, mountain stb.

Nyelvtanilag azok a főnevek, melyeknek jelentése nőies jelleget sugall (szelíd,

nőneműek:

kedves, gyengéd stb.) illetve termékenységgel függ össze affection, devotion, pity, hope, faith, humility, charity, virtue negatív jellemvonások, tulajdonságok envy, folly, jealousy, revenge, vanity stb.

természeti elemek, jelenségek earth, life, darkness, moon, spring, nature, night, sea stb.

SEX INDICATED BY DISTINCT WORDS masculine

feminine

common

father

parent

son

child

nephew brother

sibling

husband

spose

uncle king gentleman

monk bachelor wizard earl

sovereign

SEX INDICATED BY DISTINCT WORDS masculine

feminine

common

father

mother

parent

son

daughter

child

nephew

niece

brother

sister

sibling

husband

wife

spose

uncle

aunt

king

queen

gentleman

lady

monk

nun

bachelor

maid, spinster

wizard

witch

earl

countess

sovereign

SEX INDICATED BY DISTINCT WORDS masculine

feminine

common

cow

ox

bitch

dog

mare

horse

sow

pig, swine

hen

fowl

duck

duck

bee

bee

goose

goose

ewe

sheep

doe

deer

hind

deer

filly

foal ’csikó’

vixen

fox

MASCULINE FROM FEMININE • bride – (bride)groom – spouse • widow – widower

SEX INDICATED BY DISTINCT WORDS masculine

feminine

common

bull, ox

cow

ox

dog, hound

bitch

dog

stallion

mare

horse

boar, hog

sow

pig, swine

cock

hen

fowl

drake

duck

duck

drone

bee

bee

gander

goose

goose

ram

ewe

sheep

buck

doe

deer

stag

hind

deer

colt

filly

foal ’csikó’

fox

vixen

fox

GENDER SHOWN BY A WORD INDICATING SEX masculine

feminine

common

she-ass

ass

she-bear

bear

hen-bird (female-bird)

bird

cow-calf

calf

cow-elephant (femaleelephant)

elephant

bitch-fox

fox

she-goat (nanny-goat)

goat

doe-rabbit

rabbit

hen-sparrow

sparrow

she-cat (tabby)

cat

female dog, bitch

dog

peahen

peafowl

GENDER SHOWN BY A WORD INDICATING SEX masculine

feminine

common

he-ass (jack-ass)

she-ass

ass

he-bear

she-bear

bear

cock-bird (male-bird)

hen-bird (female-bird)

bird

bull-calf

cow-calf

calf

bull-elephant (maleelephant)

cow-elephant (femaleelephant)

elephant

dog-fox

bitch-fox

fox

he-goat (billy-goat)

she-goat (nanny-goat)

goat

buck-rabbit

doe-rabbit

rabbit

cock-sparrow

hen-sparrow

sparrow

tom-cat

she-cat (tabby)

cat

male dog

female dog, bitch

dog

peacock

peahen

peafowl

GENDERS DISTINGUISHED BY INFLEXION • • • • • • • • • • •

emperor – empress prince – princess duke – duchess mayor – mayoress actor – actress host – hostess poet – poetess heir – heiress manager – manageress tiger – tigress lion – lioness

3) CASE • Inflectional form – indicates grammatical function in a phrase, clause or sentence • I kicked the ball. – subject • John kicked me. – object • That ball is mine. – possessor

• A language is said to "have cases" only if nouns change their form to reflect their case in this way (declination) • Other languages perform the same function in different ways.

THE EIGHT HISTORICAL INDOEUROPEAN CASES Case

Indicates

Example

Nominative

subject of a finite verb

We went to the store.

Accusative

the direct object of a verb

The clerk remembered us.

Dative

the indirect object of a verb The clerk gave us a discount. The clerk gave a discount to us.

Ablative

movement from something, or cause

The victim went from us to see the doctor. He was unhappy because of depression.

Genitive

the possessor of another noun

John's book was on the table. The pages of the book turned yellow.

Vocative

an addressee

John, are you all right? Hello, John!

Locative

a location

We live in China.

Instrumental

an object used in performing an action

We wiped the floor with a mop. and Written by hand.

„THE ENGLISH CASE SYSTEM IS DEAD” • Nouns in Modern English no longer show grammatical case • Instead – word order and prepositions to determine grammatical function • Exception – personal pronoun system

PERSONAL PRONOUNS Nominative case Oblique case (subjective (object pronoun) pronoun) I me you you he him she her it it we us you you they them

Genitive case (possessive pronoun) my/mine your/yours his/his her/hers its/its our/ours your/yours their/theirs

AZ ESET KIFEJEZÉSE • Szórend • • • •

The boy is writing. – nominativus I gave the boy a pen. – dativus Mary sees a boy in the garden. – accusativus Boy, come here! – vocativus

• Viszonyszók • He is a friend of the boy next door. – genitivus • I gave a pen to the boy. – dativus

• Rag • The boy’s pen is in the pencil-box. – Saxon genitive

MORPHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

MORPHOLOGICAL INFORMATION Stem + affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes etc.) • Verbal nouns (writing, organization, discovery) • Agent nouns (actor, worker) • Feminine forms (actress, lioness) • Nouns formed from adjectives (happiness) etc.

Affixes (bound morphemes)

Prefixes reredo

Suffixes -or

editor

Infixes -umfikas (’strong’) fumikas (’to be strong’)

Circumfixes ge- and -t geliebt in German

PREFIXES Root normal normal sphere circle disvover war

Prefix absubhemisemirepre-

New word abnormal subnormal hemisphere semicircle rediscover prewar

New meaning not normal below normal half a sphere half a circle discover again before the war

THE TWO MOST COMMON PREFIXES unkind

not kind

ununhappy

not happy

inactive

not active

inexpensive

not expensive

in-

A N T O N Y M S

VARIATIONS OF IN-

il-

illegal

inimpossible immature

im-

ir-

irregular

SUFFIXES • Prefixes change the meaning of the word • Suffixes change the word from one part of speech to another. • Can we rely on the weather? (verb) • His reliance on my help is obvious. (noun) • Are those ropes reliable? (adjective) • Sean fed the dog reliably. (adverb)

VERB

NOUN

• -er, -or • write + er = writer • act + or = actor • -ment • enjoy + ment = enjoyment • -ion, -ation • donate + ion = donation • admire + ation = admiration

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

• success + ful = successful • child + ish = childish • disaster + ous = disastrous • hero + ic = heroic • care + less = careless • dirt + y = dirty • person + al = personal • profit + able = profitable

VERB

ADJECTIVE

• -ing surprising, disgusting • -able enjoyable, noticeable • -ive • destroy + ive = destructive • persuade + ive = persuasive

ADJECTIVE

VERB

• damp + en = dampen • sweet + en = sweeten

NOUN

VERB

• winter + ize = winterize • terror + ize = terrorize