Semantic features of the noun

The noun is the central lexical unit of language. It is the main nominative unit of speech. It is the main nominative unit of speech. As any other part of speech, the noun can be characterised by three criteria: semantic (the meaning), morphological (the form and grammatical catrgories) and syntactical (functions, distribution).

The noun denotes thingness ore substance in a general sense. Thus nouns name things, living beings, places, materials, processes, states, abstract notions and qualities.

According to different principles of classification nouns fall into several subclasses:

1. According to the type of nomination they may be proper and common (Fig. 28).

Fig. 28

2. According to the form of existence they may be animate and inanimate. Animate nouns in their turn fall into human and non-human (Fig. 29).

3. According to their quantitative structure nouns can be countable, uncountable and collective (Fig. 30).

Fig. 29

Fig. 30

MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE NOUN

According to their morphological composition nouns can be divided into simple, derived, and compound (Fig. 31).

Fig. 31

Simple nouns consist of only one root-morpheme.

Derived nouns (derivatives) are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes or suffixes).

Compound nouns consist of at least two stems. The meaning of a compound is not a mere sum of its elements. The main types of compound nouns are:

Ø Noun stem + noun stem: e.g. airmail

Ø Adjective stem + noun stem: e.g. blackbird

Ø Verb stem + noun stem: e.g. pickpocket

Ø Gerund + noun stem: e.g. dancing-hall

Ø Noun stem + prepositions + noun stem: e.g. mother-in-law

Ø Substantivised phrases: e.g. forget-me-not

Categories of the Noun

Morphologically nouns are characterized by the grammatical categories of number and case. Some scholars admit the existence of the category of gender and the category of article determination (Fig. 32).

Fig. 32

Category of Number

The grammatical category of number is the linguistic representation of the objective category of quantity. The category of number is expressed by the opposition of the plural form of the noun to its singular form (Fig. 33).

Fig. 33

The semantic difference of the oppositional members of the category of number in many linguistic works is treated traditionally: the meaning of the singular is interpreted as “one” and the meaning of the plural – as “many” (“more than one”).

In modern linguistics the categorial meaning of the plural is interpreted as the denotation of “the potentially dismembering reflection of the structure of the referent’ (correspondingly, the categorial meaning of the singular is treated as “the non-dismembering reflection of the structure of the referent”).

The grammatical meaning of number may not coincide with the notional quantity: the noun in the singular does not necessarily denote one object while the plural form may be used to denote one object consisting of several parts (Fig. 33).

The names of abstract notions e.g. peace, love, joy	Objects consisting of two halves e.g. trousers, scissors, tongs
The names of the branches of professional activity e.g. chemistry, architecture, mathematics	The nouns expressing some sort of collective meaning e.g. supplies, outskirts, clothes
The names of mass-materials e.g. water, snow, steel	The nouns denoting some diseases and abnormal states of the body and mind e.g. measles, rickets, mumps
The names of collective inanimate objects e.g. foliage, fruit, furniture

Fig. 34

The category of number in English is restricted in its realization because of the dependent implicit grammatical meaning of countableness/uncountableness. The number category is realized only within subclass of countable nouns.

The grammatical meaning of number may not coincide with the notional quantity: the noun in the singular does not necessarily denote one object while the plural form may be used to denote one object consisting of several parts.

All English nouns may be subdivided into three groups (Fig. 34):

1. The nouns in which the opposition of explicit discreteness/indiscreteness is expressed;

2. The nouns in which this opposition is not expressed explicitly but is revealed by syntactical and lexical correlation in the context. There are two groups here: Singularia tantum and Pluralia tantum.

3. The nouns with homogenous number forms. The number opposition here is not expressed formally but is revealed only lexically and syntactically in the context.