attributive
English
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editAdjective
editattributive (comparative more attributive, superlative most attributive)
- (grammar, of a word or phrase) Modifying another word, typically a noun, while in the same phrase.
- Antonym: predicative
- In "this big house", "big" is attributive, whereas in "this house is big", it is predicative.
- In "this tiger is a man-eater," "man" is an attributive noun.
- 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 197:
- Since both Attributes and Adjuncts recursively expand N-bar into N-bar, it seems clear that the two have essentially the same function, so that Attributes are simply pronominal Adjuncts (though we shall continue to follow tradition and refer to attributive premodifiers as Attributes rather than Adjuncts).
- 2005, Thomas Burns McArthur, Tom McArthur, Roshan McArthur, Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language[1]:
- ATTRIBUTIVE NOUN. A noun that modifies another noun: steel in steel bridge; London in London house.
- 2013, Sebastian Loebner, Understanding Semantics[2]:
- Grammatically, three ways of using adjectives can be distinguished: the attributive use, the predicative use and the adverbial use. We will only deal with the attributive and the predicative use here. In the attributive use, the adjective, within an NP, is attached to the head noun, e.g. a dubious company, a red balloon, the stupid driver.
- Attributing; characterized by attributing; effecting attribution.
- 1806, Benjamin Dawson, Philologia Anglicana: or, a Philological and synonymical dictionary of the English language ["A-Adornment"], page 36:
- To hate, &c.] Or thus, To be affected with hatred and horrour at. For abhor, though arranged in our dictionaries among verbs active, attributes an affection rather than an act of the mind. As the mind however is an active principle, all verbs attributive of what passes in the mind, even those we call neuter, attribute at the same time some mental act or operation. To grieve is reckoned a verb neuter; yet in grieving at some misfortune, the mind is not less active than it is in abhorring or loathing an object; which latter verbs are called verbs active.
- 1808, Charles Wilkins, A Grammar of the Sanskrita Language, page 516:
- * 947 आल and आट put after वाक् Speech, with it form adjectives attributive of much bad or improper speaking; as वाचाल, or वाचाट Who utters much bad language.
* 948 […] affixed to nouns, with them form adjectives attributive of detraction, […]
- 2007 November 21, Robert E. MacLaury, Galina V. Paramei, Don Dedrick, Anthropology of Color: Interdisciplinary multilevel modeling, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 201:
- Notably, along with being attributive of color, some of those adjectives are used to characterize sound or intensity of sensation (e.g. pain may behele 'shrill' or tume 'dull'), cognitive abilities (such as hearing, vision and acumen), […]
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editof, or being an attributive
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having the nature of an attribute
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
editattributive (plural attributives)
- (grammar) An attributive word or phrase (see above), contrasted with predicative or substantive.
- In "this big house," "big" is an attributive, while in "this house is big," it is a predicative.
Translations
edita word or phrase that modifies a noun and is part of the noun's noun phrase
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Further reading
edit- “attributive”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
French
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editAdjective
editattributive
German
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editAudio: (file)
Adjective
editattributive
- inflection of attributiv:
Italian
editAdjective
editattributive
Anagrams
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- English terms suffixed with -ive
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
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- English terms with usage examples
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- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French 4-syllable words
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- German non-lemma forms
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