ADJECTIVES, PARTICIPLES AND NOUNS AS CLASSIFIERS
Adjectives as classifiers are frequently derived from nouns and restrict the noun head in relation to another referent. There is a wide variety of relations expressed, including:
(a) affiliations to national, political or religious groups, such as: African, American, British, Buddhist, Canadian, Chinese, Christian, Conservative, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Indian, Liberal, Muslim, Norwegian, Russian, Socialist, Swiss (all written with a capital letter);
(b) related to norms, sequences, sizes, ratings, scales, for example: average, chief, main, standard, regular, top; previous, following, initial, final; personal, particular, external, internal;
(c) related to areas of study, art, science and institutions, as in the following examples:
affiliations: Russian politics, Swedish voters, Danish bacon;
norms, ratings: average age, regular doctor, standard size, top ten, main road, personal
contribution, particular occasion;
time, place: former boss; old friend; previous page; left leg; right hand;
periods: prehistoric remains, modern times, classical music;
institutions: municipal authorities, industrial unrest, metropolitan police;
professions: medical student, social worker, agricultural expert;
devices: atomic energy, digital watch, mobile phone (BrE)/cell phone (AmE);
processes: both -ing and -en participles classify an entity by a process: coming events,
sun-dried tomatoes
Here too, a participle + noun may be a compound: guided missile, leading article. The -ing classifiers mentioned here are different from de-verbal nouns such as boxing as in boxing-gloves, snorkeling gear, reading materials, which belong to the noun class.
When the adjective and noun are written as one word, as in software, hardware, they are compounds, referring to a single class referent, not to a sub-type of a class. The same may happen with separate or hyphenated words: fancy dress, fast-food, first-aid.
Types of noun classifier
simple (apple blossom)
genitive (a girls’ school)
compound (farmyard animals)
short NGs (Social Security contributions)
Nouns as classifiers are not usually pluralized: trouser belt, car production, rebel forces, but certain plural nouns are regularly used, including women drivers; sales campaign. Plural forms are also used when the referent of the classifier has come to be regarded as a collective noun, as in arms race, sports field, Olympic Games medal, the Arts Council.
When the semantic relation between a classifier and a noun is very cohesive, they frequently become fused as a noun compound denoting a single referent, rather than a sub-class of a larger class of referents. The dividing line between a noun modifier + noun and a noun compound is not entirely clear. Punctuation provides only a rough guideline to the degree of integration achieved by the two nouns.
When the combination is written as separate words, it is likely to be a noun with a noun modifier (season ticket); if written as a single word it is more likely to be a noun compound (blackboard, whiteboard, painkiller). Hyphenation signals those elements which form a compound (walkie-talkie) and which otherwise would appear to be separate pre-modifiers. This is a useful guide with units occurring within a larger unit (high-rise block, high-speed bullet train).
Stress-patterning is not always reliable. The preferred stress for compounds is said to have the tonic stress on the first item as in safety belt, hearing aid, hunger strike. However, many compounds do not follow this pattern (cotton wool, head waiter, zebra crossing), while some classifiers do (rose-bush). American English appears to be more regular than BrE in this respect: icecream, vs ice-cream (BrE) The factor that best distinguishes noun classifiers from noun compounds is that classifiers can enter into relations of coordination and modification. Compare:
Coordinated classifiers Modified classifier
new and second-hand stereos brand-new stereos
lunch and dinner menus early Chinese pottery
silk and cotton shirt pure silk shirt
bus and coach stations inter-city coach station
Compound nouns do not admit coordination or modification of their component elements:
*soft and hardware *extremely software
*pain and insect killers *persistent painkiller
*silk and earth worms *pure silkworm
Classification by other classes of units
Certain institutionalized word, group and clausal expressions are sometimes used:
morpheme: pro- and anti-abortionists
adverb: an only child, an away match
PP: over-the-counter sales, on-line editing
NG: a New Year’s Eve party
VG: a stop-and-go policy, a live-and-let-live philosophy
AdjG: a bored-with-life attitude
clause: a couldn’t-care-less attitude.
