Adjectival Noun (Japanese)
An adjectival noun (Japanese: 形容動詞, keiyō-dōshi, which literally means "adjectival verb") or sometimes just adjectival is a noun that functions as an adjective by taking the particle 〜な -na (regular nouns can function adjectivally by taking the particle 〜の -no, which is analyzed as the genitive case). This term is often used in analyses of the Japanese language to refer to members of the word class commonly known as "na-adjectives".
Japanese adjectival nouns function similarly to English noun adjuncts (nouns used attributively), as in "chicken soup" or "winter coat" – in these cases the nouns "chicken" and "winter" modify the nouns "soup" and "coat" (function adjectivally).
Read more about Adjectival Noun (Japanese): Terminology, Characterization, taru Adjectives, Old Japanese, Late Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, Early Modern Japanese (Kamigata), Early Modern Japanese (Edo), Modern Japanese, Etymology
Famous quotes containing the word noun:
“It will be proved to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)