The General Properties of a Noun

The Noun

Onomaseological approach

Subcategorization

Field and Periphery

Some scholars hold that major parts of speech have a field-like structure with the nucleus and the periphery. The nucleus embraces constituents with regular features, that is, notional words with full paradigms (the plural form, the singular form, the genitive case form, the categorical forms of tense, aspect, correlation, voice, mood, etc). The periphery comprises deviated words, having defective paradigms.

The trend among linguists is towards subdivision of major parts of speech. By the method of oppositions and the componential analysis classes of words are divided into binary groups. Nouns are divided into concrete / concrete/abstract, animate / inanimate, countable / uncountable, human / nonhuman, person / nonperson, male/female,etc. V erbs indicate actions, processes, states; each of these classes can be divided into binary groups: concrete / abstract actions, processes, states). By subcategorizing words we can improve the Distributional analysis (He reminds me of his father (напоминает отца). He reminds me of his party (напоминает о партии). These are homonymous structures. Semantically they are different, as father is an animate noun (Na), while party is an inanimate noun (Nā).

Onomaseology is concerned with the problems of nomination. This approach is based on the nominative peculiarities of words. Nominatively, words are divided into the following classes. I dentifying words (names) are those which refer to objects or qualities they name. C haracterizing (predicate, qualifying) words are adjectives, adverbs, verbs. They have no reference, they are dependent on identifying words. On the syntagmatic level they develop the meanings of emotiveness, expressiveness, intensiveness, evaluation. D eictic words (pronouns and adverbs) are used anaphorically, they represent something. Technical words (functionals) are prepositions and conjunctions, they are semantically empty.

Nouns constitute the most open class. They have the meaning of thingness as they denote substances, beings, phenomena, abstract concepts. Words of other classes can be easily nominalized (substantivized), even functional words can be nominalized for the given occasion (There are too many ifs and buts in your answer). Analytical forms can also be substantivized (There are too many might-have-beens). Nouns are declinable words: they have inflexions of number and case. They function diversely, even as attributes(He is a space pilot).

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