Probably if adjectives suddenly disappeared from our vocabulary, people would still be able to communicate. Other parts of speech would be quite enough to express primitive needs: I need this, I want this! But without the words we use to describe beauty and ugliness, love and sadness, weakness and power, language as such would no longer exist.
About adjectives
An adjective is a part of speech that describes various signs and answers the questions "what?", "whose?" (respectively, "what?", "whose?", etc.). The adjective tells about such properties of an object as color (white, green), smell or taste (floral, s alty, spicy). With the help of adjectives, they characterize a person (kind, nasty), the quality of the material (fragile, hard). You can evaluate someone's activity (good, bad), talk about mental abilities (wise, stupid). In other words, only adjectives make our language precise and capacious, giving it a lot ofvarious shades.
A large section of grammar is devoted to the study of adjectives, their properties and features. Let us dwell on only one type of these parts of speech. Meet Denominative Adjectives!
About denominations
Nominative formations are those that come from the stem of a noun or adjective (not from a verb). There are denominative verbs (to have dinner, to be harmful), there are even denominative prepositions (in view of, due to, about). But there can also be denominative adjectives. Examples of similar words formed on behalf of a noun: businesslike, garden, full of holes, straw, ground, sky-high, as well as many others. Let's talk about it in more detail.
About the properties of adjectives
Denotative adjectives are just a separate type of a large family of these parts of speech. Therefore, the characteristics that apply to all adjectives also apply to nouns. So, according to their lexical meaning, they can be classified into 3 groups: relative, possessive, qualitative.
Qualitative adjectives report various properties of objects, such as weight and size (small, light), color and appearance (white, full), age and character (young, angry), etc. Relative adjectives also describe the features of nouns, but indirectly, in their relation to other objects. The objects of such a relationship can be material (paper, iron), place(rural, urban), time (today's, winter), action (harvest, repair), concept (mathematical), number (double), etc. Possessive adjectives characterize belonging to someone, they answer the questions "whose?" ("whose?", "whose?", "whose?"). Examples of possessive adjectives: hare, paternal, fishy.
As we can see, in each group there are denominative adjectives. Examples: possessive "wolf" from the noun "wolf", relative "straw" (from "straw"), qualitative "golden" (from "gold"). By the way, on the example of the word "golden", we see how the same word can be attributed to different types. In the combination "golden soul" this adjective acts as a qualitative one, and in the expression "golden ring" - as a relative one.
About suffixes
The formation of denominative adjectives occurs by adding prefixes, suffixes, endings to the roots of nouns. Prefixes (prefixes) and endings usually do not raise any special questions, but it is worth talking about suffixes in more detail. The suffixes of denominative adjectives are quite diverse. But in most cases, their correct spelling is easy to remember. In the suffixes "Liv" and "Chiv" only "and" can be present: deceptive, conscientious. In the case of the suffixes “iv” and “ev”, the spelling rule looks like this: “iv” is written in the stressed syllable, “ev” in the unstressed syllable (whiny, but steering). The exceptions to the rule are the words "merciful" and "holy fool". The suffixes "ov", "ovat", "ovit" are written after solid consonants, with the exception of "ts". Examples:artisan, guilty, businesslike. After soft consonants, hissing and “ts”, the variants of the used suffixes, respectively, are “ev”, “evat”, “evit”: clothing, acne, glossy. It makes sense to dwell on those cases when the spelling of suffixes of denominative adjectives raises many questions.
About the sk suffix
Why do we write "German" but "French"? Questions like this are often confusing. The fact is that in the first case there is a suffix "k", and in the second "sk". But how do you know when each of them is written? The spelling of denominative adjectives here is governed by the following rule. If the stem of nouns ends in “k”, “c” or “h”, then the suffix “k” should be used, while the letters “k” and “h” in the base of the word change to “c”: weaver - weaver, fist - kulak, blacksmith - kuznetsk. The suffix "sk" is more often used in relative adjectives. Example: Prague - Prague (here, in the root of the noun, “g” changes to “zh”), sailor - sailor (here, “s” in the root of the noun, together with the suffix “sk”, will double the letter. If the noun itself ends in “sk”, as it happens in a number of old Russian names (Omsk, Yeysk), then denominative adjectives are formed without a suffix at all: Yeisk, Omsk.
It is interesting to write some denominative adjectives formed from foreign geographical terms. We write Welsh (from Wales) omitting the 'c' from the root but adding the 'ck' suffix." At the same time, in the word Daugavpils (from Daugavpils), "s" fromthe root of the noun together with the suffix "sk" will give us double the "s" in the adjective. In the case of the adjective Damascene (from Damascus), the "k" at the end of the noun is lost, so "ss" is written.
What do these examples say? On the ambiguity of the language and on various kinds of exceptions. So, contrary to the rules, we write: Tajik, Uzbek (and not Tajik, Uzbek). These and other adjectives that do not fall under the generally accepted spelling rules should simply be memorized.
Let's not double
The letter "n" in the adjective suffix raises the most questions. When should you use it alone and when should you double it?
The first thing to do is to highlight the root of the nouns from which denominative adjectives originated. The rule is simple: if this root does not end in "n", then in most cases there will be no doubling. Dachny (from dacha) - in such words, even the thought will not arise to double anything. In the suffixes "an", "yan", "in" there will also be no doubling: leather (skin), bee (bee), earthen (earth). True, there are a few words where this rule does not work: glass, wood, tin.
Important! In a number of nouns with the root ending "n", the formation of a denominative possessive adjective occurs without a suffix at all. Examples: wild boar, pig, crow, deer, etc. It is necessary to remember the presence of such words in order not to ask a seemingly logical question: "Why is only one "n" written in them?"
Use "nn" in denominative adjectives
According to the accepted rules, we write a double “n” in the case of denominative adjectives formed with the suffix “enn” or “onn”. For example: cranberry, promotional, excursion. By the way, ordinary quality adjectives with the same suffix, emphasizing the highest degree of characteristic, fall under the same rule: wide, hefty.
The doubling of "n" is also characteristic of those adjectives that originated from nouns with "me": name, seed, banner, tribe. The resulting result will look like this: nominal, tribal, seed, (red) banner.
With two "n" one should also write those denominative adjectives, the original noun for which had the letter "n" at the end of the root. Here, doubling occurs because the "n" of the suffix is added to the already existing letter: valuable (price), long (length), instant (instant).
Look at the root
The Russian language is not easy, and certain solutions do not always seem obvious. Therefore, it is worth recalling once again the need to highlight the root of the noun: this is what often contributes to the correct spelling of the denominative adjective. Why do we write swan, but ancient? Because in the first example we have the suffix "in", where there can be no doubling. In the second case, the “n” from the suffix is added to the “n” from the root of the noun “old times”, which gives us a doubling.
Conclusion
Probably withoutadjectives can live. But what would that language be? Primitive, limited, devoid of precision and beauty. There will be no poetry, no prose, not even signs of civilization. Therefore, the study of adjectives is extremely necessary and at the same time extremely interesting.
