MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY …library.ziyonet.uz/uploads/books/49959/538c5e5e26174.d… ·...
Transcript of MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY …library.ziyonet.uz/uploads/books/49959/538c5e5e26174.d… ·...
MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY SPECIALIZED
EDUCATION OF REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Andizhan State University named after Z.M.Bobur
Department of Grammar and Practical Course of the English Language
Alijonova Madina
Group 404
THEME: EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING THE
SUBSTANTIVIZED ADJECTIVES IN MODERN ENGLISH AT UZBEK
SCHOOLS
Graduation paper
Scientific supervisor: doctor of philology, professor
G.M.Hoshimov
Andizhan – 2013
1
CONTENTSIntroduction ………………………………………………………………….4-8
1. Actuality of the topic of the graduation paper…………………………..……….52. Aim of the research………………………………………………………………….53. Tasks of the research……………………………………………………............5-64. Object of the research ………………………………………………………………65. Subject matter of the research……………………………………………………..66. Methods of the research…………………………………………………………….67. Scientific novelty of the research………………………………………………….68. Materials for the research………………………………………………………….79. Methodology of the research……………………………………………………….710. Theoretical value of the research………………………………………………….711. Practical value of the research………………………………………………….…712. Field of application…………………………………………………………….……713. Structure of the graduation paper………………………………………….…..7-8
Chapter 1: Theory of adjectives in Modern Linguistics…………………..…9-36
1.1. Theory of adjectives in Modern Linguistics…………………………....9-26
1.2. Theory of the substantivized adjectives in Modern
Linguistics…………………………………………………………………...27-36
Chapter 2: Comparative study of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek for
linguadidactic purposes………………………………………37-59
2.1 Types of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek…37-54
2.2. Isomorphic and allomorphic features of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and
Uzbek……………………………………………….…55-59
Chapter 3: Effective strategies for teaching the substantivized adjectives in Modern English at
Uzbek (higher) schools…………………………………..60-81
3.1. Effective strategies for teaching the substantivized adjectives in Modern English at Uzbek
(higher) schools…………………………............................60-77
3.2. System of exercises on the substantivized adjectives for
drilling………………………………………………………………….……...78-81
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………....82-89
Bibliography……………………………………………………………….....90-92
2
INTRODUCTION
During the 21 years of independence an enormous number of successful reformations
have been carried out by our government under the leadership of the president of our republic
Islam Abduganievich Karimov. Although this is a rather short period of time for a young state to
develop, our motherland has been able to overcome many difficulties and began to prosper again
in many fields of life. Today Uzbekistan is a world-known mighty and peaceful country that
stands at the same rank with the world’s independent democratic nations. We think that the
following data can illustrate the practical evidence of our opinion:
Over the 21 year period of time our economy has grown 3.7 times, the life expectancy
rates have increased to 7 years, monthly wages have grown nearly 18 times and the number of
families owning a car has tripled as a contrast to the years before independence when only a
tenth of Uzbek families had their own car.
Moreover, it is an amazing fact that today, Uzbek economy has proved to be growing for
around 8 per cent over the last 7 years whereas literally all the developed countries have been
suffering from world economic crisis since the latter started. [2]
The educational system of the republic of Uzbekistan is also advancing at a high speed.
“As far as spirituality and enlightenment enter the number of major factors of the people’s
upbringing, we must display the state’s care of the matters in this sphere and create all necessary
conditions for their development” [1, 52] – that is how our president expresses his intensive care
of educating the youth of our republic. Our government allocates more than the half of the state
budget every year for cultivating the system of education. At present, Uzbekistan is among the
leading countries of the world where 99% of the population is literate and 12 years of education
including primary and secondary general schooling, vocational and academic education is
compulsory and is under state financing.
Educating the young generation has always been a top priority and the cardinal focus of
social development in our republic. Our Constitution ensures that every citizen of Uzbekistan
receives equitable education irrespective of their nationality, sex, language, age, ethnic origin,
religious views, cultural background and social status.
Along with that, the National Program of Personnel Training is an all-important factor in
the realization of the republic’s educational goals. Improved system of academic lyceums and
vocational colleges which are indispensable in further development of 9 th formers can be
regarded as efficient outcomes of the work fulfilled by the above-mentioned organization and the
laws on education.
3
In due course, training highly qualified specialists is in the centre of attention in
Uzbekistan. Referring to the following data one can realize how tremendous efforts our
government puts in on improving the system of higher education of the youth of Uzbekistan:
there are 59 institutions of higher learning function 39 of which are teacher training institutes.
Since the independence of the republic, the number of such institutions has grown by 30 per cent
to date. [2]
Furthermore, the Department of Organization of Education and Improvement of
Educational Skills has made it possible for young teachers of Uzbekistan to enhance their skills
by cooperating with the world’s prominent organizations such as DAAD (Germany), JICA
(Japan), CNOUS (France) and a multitude of other recognized universities.
Besides, educational programs supported by the embassies of English speaking countries
in Uzbekistan have positive implications on teaching the English language. English ACCESS
Micro-scholarship Program, for instance, has given the chance to underprivileged schoolchildren
to learn English extensively. The English speaking countries’ embassies in Uzbekistan organize
teacher training programs, which is, assuredly, very advantageous for training language teaching
specialists. Obviously, the cooperation is and will be of long-term benefit for the development of
our young pedagogues.
It goes without saying that in strengthening the bonds of friendship and in building
mutually beneficial diplomatic ties with foreign states, languages, the English language in
particular, has a vital role to play. With this regard, our republic has made notable attempts to put
the emphasis on developing the techniques of teaching foreign languages. In the very recent
Decree by President I. A. Karimov on December 10, 2012 it is stated that from the upcoming
year on English would be taught to schoolchildren as early as when they are in their first form
and that the salaries of English language school teachers in urban areas would be increased by 15
per cent and that of village school teachers by as much as 30 per cent. [23]
This Decree has been a great stimulus for all the English language learners and teachers
to work diligently and do their best to contribute to the well-being of the people of our young
independent country. Being a potential teacher of English to Uzbek students, I have resolved that
I will conduct my research on one of the provocative topics of grammar– the theory of adjectives
and the substantivized adjectives in Modern Linguistics.
Actuality of the topic of the graduation paper: The study of the substantivized
adjectives is important for a number of reasons: This topic has been learned by several linguists,
they gave different definitions on it. However, after having studied the existing data on this
topic, we have found out that our knowledge on the comparative analysis of the substantivized
adjectives in the Uzbek and English languages is largely based on the very limited data, the
4
hypotheses regarding the substantivized adjectives appear to be disputable and modern
techniques to teach the theme have not yet been established. Consequently, there arises the need
for in-depth research into this topic.
Aim of the research: The aim of the research is to work out an effective methodology
for teaching the English substantivized adjectives at Uzbek schools on the basis of comparative
study of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek for linguodidactic purposes.
Tasks of the research: The present paper seeks to identify and justify the actuality of the
topic of the research, to further broaden the current knowledge of the chosen topic, to disclose
similar and dissimilar features of the substantivized adjectives in the compared languages and to
create cutting-edge methods of teaching them to Uzbek learners.
Object of the research: The research focuses on structural-semantic features of the
substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek for purpose of creating effective
strategies for teaching the English substantivized adjectives at Uzbek schools.
Subject matter of the research: The subject matter of the research is to create effective
strategies for teaching the English substantivized adjectives basing on the comparative linguistic
study of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek for linguodidactic purposes.
Methods of the research: The methods we have put forward to conduct a detailed
research into our chosen topic are as follows:
i. Comparative method;
ii. Oppositional method;
iii. Parts of sentence method;
iv. Distributional method;
v. Contextual method;
vi. Statistical method;
vii. Componential method;
viii. Transformational method;
ix. Method of modeling, etc.
Scientific novelty of the research : The paper sheds a new light on a number of problem
areas on current theory of the substantivized adjectives in Modern linguistics: In this study we
tried to summarize the definitions given in the subject area, to carry out the linguodidactic
comparison of the phenomenon in Modern English and Uzbek, to work out a detailed qualitative
and quantitative analysis of the substantivized adjectives in the compared languages and to offer
useful strategies and methodological recommendations for teaching the substantivized adjectives
in English at Uzbek schools.
5
Materials of the research: In order to back-up the theories of the research we have
employed a number of works on methodology of teaching based on solid empirical examples of
the substantivized adjectives from fiction and non-fiction works by Uzbek and English writers.
Methodology of the research: The data we have collected from the well-known linguists
listed below have been indispensable in performing our research: Abdurahmonov G. A. [3],
Barhuadarov L.S. [5], Brown G. [8], Buronov J. [9], Eastwood J. [13], Hoshimov G., M. [14],
Siddiqova M [22], Kaushanskaya V.L. [18], etc.
Theoretical value of the research: This research has gone some
way towards enhancing our understanding of the comparative analysis of the substantivized
adjectives in the two non-related languages. Along with that, the certain helpful methodological
recommendations for teaching the subject at Uzbek schools we have worked out could,
conceivably, represent a further step toward the development of studying this special field of
linguistics.
Practical value of the research: The end result of this research work can be conducive
to teaching the special area of linguistics, in the theory and practice of translation processes, and
in giving lectures on theoretical grammar. Additionally, these observations have several
implications for extensive research into the other various aspects of the chosen topic.
Field of application: We believe that our marginal findings present promising
applications in the process of teaching the substantivized adjectives at secondary schools,
lyceums, colleges and universities. Besides, our research can be taken advantage of in translation
processes as well.
Structure of the graduation paper: The graduation paper consists of the following
sections: introduction, 3 chapters, conclusion and the list of the used literature.
In the introductory part, the timeliness and the actuality of our research are pointed out,
the reason why we have chosen the special topic is explained, the practical and the theoretical
value of the research, the field of application as well as several other crucial points are presented.
The first chapter is devoted to the theory of adjectives and the substantivized adjectives
in Modern linguistics. Here, we have summarized the given theories on the adjective and the
substantivized adjective and offered our own theories as an addition.
In the second chapter, we have had a look at types and the isomorphic and allomorphic
features of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek.
The third chapter concentrates on the effective strategies for teaching the
substantivized adjectives in Modern English at Uzbek schools.
The outcome of our research which is the comparative analysis of the adjective and the
substantivized adjective in Modern English and Uzbek as well as methodological
6
recommendations and several applicable strategies for teaching the adjective and the
substantivized adjective are presented in the concluding part of our research paper.
1. THE THEORY OF THE ADJECTIVE AND THE SUBSTANTIVIZED ADJECTIVE IN
MODERN LINGUISTICS
1. 1. The theory of the adjective in Modern linguistics
The importance of languages in people’s lives is so great that it does not need much
explanation. From very early ages, mankind has tried to learn about languages and made
contributions to their development at every stage of life. Although language was perceived to be
the way of only speaking and listening in the past, after the invention of letters, its significance
doubled: there are now spoken and written types of language. In our age, much headway has
been made so far in the sphere of linguistics. As language learning is an ongoing process,
linguists will continue to investigate various aspects of Modern linguistics.
One of the integral parts of linguistics called grammar attracts special attention of almost
every linguist. According to Gould Brown, “Grammar, as an art, is the power of reading, writing
and speaking correctly. As an acquisition, it is the essential skill of scholarship. As a study, it is
the practical science which teaches the right use of language.” [8.144]
Modern linguists divide grammar into two subgroups: morphology and syntax.
Morphology deals with the study of word forms and word classes, i.e. parts of speech, whereas
syntax deals with phrases and sentences. As our research is devoted to the study of one of the
parts of speech, we found it preferable to give some explanations to the other parts of speech as
well in short details. The division of parts of speech by grammarian professor G. M. Hoshimov
7
seems to be well-supported and complete. As the professor suggests, there are the following
parts of speech in Modern English theoretically:
1) Noun;
2) Pronoun;
3) Adjective;
4) Verb;
5) Numeral;
6) Adverb;
7) Modal word;
8) Word of category of state;
9) Interjection;
10) Article;
11) Particle;
12) Conjunction;
13) Preposition,
14) Responsives (yes/no);
15) Requestive (please);
16) Approximative.
In the first place, it is advisable to define what, adjective, itself is in Modern English and
Uzbek.
According to the definition given by Kaushanskaya and others the adjective in Modern in
English is a word expressing a quality of a substance. It has the following morphological
characteristics:
Most adjectives have degrees of comparison: the comparative degree and the superlative
degree. Some adjectives have no degrees of comparison (they are called non-gradable
adjectives).
The comparative degree denotes a higher degree of a quality and the superlative degree
denotes the highest degree of a quality.
The adjective has the following syntactical characteristics: In a sentence the adjective
may be used as an attribute or as a predicative.
A little fat chap thrust out his underlip and the tall fellow frowned.
(Mansfield) (Attribute)
Laura was terribly nervous. (Mansfield) (Predicative)
The air was motionless... (Mansfield) (Predicative) [18. 46]
Structurally, adjectives are divided into simple, derivative and compound.
8
1. Simple adjectives are adjectives which have neither prefixes nor suffixes. They are
indecomposable: e. g. good, red, black.
2. Derivative adjectives are adjectives which have a root/stem + derivative elements, suffixes or
prefixes or both: beautiful, foolish, hopeless, unkind, unimportant.
Compound adjectives are adjectives built from two or more stems.
The main types of compound adjectives are as follows:
(a) noun-stem + adjective-stem: snow-white.
(b) noun-stem + participle-stem: life-giving, smoke-dried.
(c) adjective-stem + adjective-stem: deaf-mute.
(d) adjective-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: cold-hearted.
(e) noun-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: lynx-eyed.
(f) numeral-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: four-wheeled.
(g) adverb-stem + noun-stem + suffix -ed: over-peopled. [47]
Semantically, adjectives fall under two classes: (1) qualitative adjectives, (2) relative
adjectives.
Qualitative adjectives denote qualities of a substance directly, not through its relation to
another substance, as size, shape, colour, physical and mental qualities, and qualities of
general estimation:
Below is the list of examples for qualitative adjectives provided in Collins Cobuild English
Grammar:
active
angry
anxious
appropriate
attractive
bad
beautiful
big
brief
bright
broad
busy
calm
careful
cheap
effective
efficient
expensive
fair
familiar
famous
fast
fat
fine
firm
flat
frank
free
fresh
friendly
lovely
low
lucky
narrow
nervous
new
nice
obvious
odd
old
pale
patient
plain
pleasant
poor
silly
simple
slow
small
soft
special
steady
strange
strong
stupid
successful
suitable
sure
surprised
sweet
9
clean
clear
close
cold
comfortable
common
complex
cool
curious
dangerous
dark
dear
deep
determined
different
difficult
dirty
dry
easy
frightened
funny
good
great
happy
hard
heavy
high
hot
important
interesting
kind
large
late
light
likely
long
loose
loud
popular
powerful
pretty
proud
quick
quiet
rare
reasonable
rich
rough
sad
safe
sensible
serious
sharp
shocked
short
sick
significant
tall
terrible
thick
thin
tight
tiny
tired
typical
understanding
useful
violent
warm
weak
wet
wide
wild
worried
young
Relative adjectives denote qualities of a substance through their relation to materials
(silken, woollen, wooden), to place (Italian, Asian), to time (monthly, weekly), to some action
(preparatory, rotatory). The term “classifying adjectives” is also common.
Here is a list of classifying adjectives:
absolute
active
actual
agricultural
alternative
annual
apparent
available
basic
central
chemical
double
due
east
eastern
economic
educational
electric
empty
external
female
financial
industrial
inevitable
intellectual
internal
international
legal
local
magic
male
medical
mental
official
open
original
personal
physical
political
positive
possible
potential
private
professional
rural
scientific
separate
single
social
solid
sooth
southern
standard
straight
sufficient
10
civil
commercial
communist
conservative
cultural
daily
democratic
direct
domestic
foreign
free
full
general
golden
historical
human
ideal
independent
military
modern
moral
national
natural
negative
north
northern
nuclear
proper
public
raw
ready
real
religious
right
royal
theoretical
traditional
urban
west
western
wooden
wrong
Some adjectives can be either qualitative or classifying depending on the meaning that we
want to convey. For example, in 'an emotional person', 'emotional' is a qualitative adjective
meaning 'feeling or expressing strong emotions'; it has a comparative and superlative and it can
be used with submodifiers. Thus, a person can be 'very emotional', 'rather emotional', or 'more
emotional' than someone else. However, in 'the emotional needs of children', 'emotional' is a
classifying adjective meaning 'relating to a person's emotions', and so it cannot be submodified.
Here is a list of adjectives frequently used both as qualitative adjectives and as classifying
ones:
academic
conscious
dry
educational
effective
emotional
extreme
late
modern
moral
objective
ordinary
regular
religious
revolutionary
rural
scientific
secret
similar
When we want to say what colour something is, we use a colour adjective.
Here is a list of the main colour adjectives:
black
blue
brown
cream
green
grey
orange
pink
purple
red
scarlet
violet
white
yellow
If we want to specify a colour more precisely, we can use a submodifier, such as 'light',
'pale', 'dark', 'deep', or 'bright', in front of a colour adjective.
...light brown hair.
...a pale green suit.
...a dark blue dress.
...deep red dye.
...her bright blue eyes.
These combinations are sometimes hyphenated.
11
...a light-blue suit.
...her tight, pale-green felt cape. [11]
Submodifiers such as 'light' and 'dark' are not used to submodify the colours 'black' and
'white', because we cannot have different shades of black and white.
If we want to talk about a colour which does not have a definite name we can
• use a colour adjective with '-ish' added to the end:
...greenish glass.
...permed yellowish hair. [11]
Here, we have to add the information that this adjective forming suffix –ish has the
following 3 meanings as is stated in Cambridge Advanced Learners’ Dictionary:
1. used to form adjectives and nouns which say what country or area a person, thing or
language comes from. Spanish dancing (= dancing from Spain.
Are you English (= someone from England)?
I've always liked the Irish (= people from Ireland).
Do you speak Swedish (= the language of Sweden)?
2. used to form adjectives which say what a person, thing or action is like.
foolish, childish.
3. used to form adjectives to give the meaning to some degree; partly; quite.
He had a sort of reddish beard.
She was oldish - about 60, I'd say.
We'll start at sevenish (= about 7 o'clock). [11]
Interestingly enough, the first example in point 3 represents exactly the same usage of the
adjective forming suffix –ish in the Uzbek language as well. That is, the suffix –ish, when it
means more or less of a certain colour, is identical in the two compared languages both in form
and meaning. For example:
In English:
blue-bluish, brown-brownish, yellow-yellowish, pink-pinkish, red-reddish, etc.
in Uzbek:
ko’k-ko’kish, sariq-sarg’ish, oq-oqish, qizil-qizg’ish, etc.
This is a striking similarity between Uzbek and English as the two languages are not
related.
• combine two colour adjectives, often with '-ish' or '-y' on the end of the first one
...greenish-white flowers.
...a greeny blue line.
...the blue-green waves. [11]
12
We can mix colours in these ways to produce whatever new colour we are trying to
describe. This is a productive feature of English.
Colour adjectives such as 'blue' and 'green' occasionally have comparatives and superlatives
ending in '-er' and '-est'.
His face was redder than usual.
...some of the greenest scenery in America. [11]
The colours can also be headwords, i.e. substantivized, and the main colours can also be
plural headwords.
The snow shadows had turned to a deep blue.
They blended in so well with the khaki and reds of the landscape.
...brilliantly coloured in reds, yellows, blacks, and purples.
We generally use an emphasizing adjective only when the noun indicates our opinion about
something. Because they are used to show strong feelings, these adjectives are called
emphasizing adjectives.
Here is a list of emphasizing adjectives:
absolute
complete
entire
outright
perfect
positive
pure
real
total
true
other
A small group of adjectives ending in '-ing' are used in very informal spoken English for
emphasis, usually to indicate disapproval or contempt.
Everybody in the whole stinking town was loaded with money.
The flaming car's locked.
Here is a list of adjectives used informally for emphasis:
blinking
blithering
blooming
blundering
crashing
flaming
freezing
piddling
raving
scalding
stinking
thumping
thundering
whopping
The word 'very', which is normally a submodifier, is sometimes used to emphasize a
noun, in expressions like 'the very top' and 'the very end'.
...at the very end of the shop.
...the very bottom of the hill.
These molecules could have formed in the seas of the earth at the very beginning of its history.
There is a small group of adjectives which are used in a very similar way to determiners
to make the reference more precise. These are called postdeterminers, because their place in a
noun group is immediately after the determiner, if there is one, and before any other adjectives.
...the following brief description.
13
...certain basic human qualities.
...improvements in the last few years.
...further technological advance.
He wore his usual old white coat.
...the only genuine Russian prince he ever met. [11]
Here is a list of adjectives which are post determiners:
additional
certain
chief
entire
existing
first
following
further
last
main
next
only
opposite
other
particular
past
present
previous
principal
remaining
same
specific
usual
Some of these adjectives can also be ordinary classifying adjectives.
He had children from a previous marriage.
There are two main reasons for this.
Here is a list of postdeterminers which can also be classifying adjectives:
additional
chief
existing
further
main
other
particular
past
previous
principal
remaining
specific
Adjectives which are used to indicate the position of something are also used for precise
reference.
...the middle duff on of her black leather coat.
...the top 100 British companies.
Here is a list of adjectives sometimes used to indicate the position of something as well as
for precise reference:
left
right
upper
lower
lop
bottom
middle
end
front
back
Most adjectives can be used both attributively and predicatively but there are some which
can only be used in one position or the other.
There are a few adjectives which are always or almost always used in from of a noun and
are never or rarely used as the complement of a link verb. These adjectives are called attributive
adjectives. Examples are 'atomic' and 'outdoor'. We can talk about 'an atomic explosion', but we
do not say, 'The explosion was atomic'. We can talk about 'outdoor pursuits', but we do not say
'Their pursuits are outdoor'.
Here is a list of qualitative adjectives always used attributively:
14
Adoring
belated
chequered
choked
commanding
fateful
flagrant
fleeting
knotty
paltry
punishing
ramshackle
scant
searing
thankless
unenviable
Most adjectives which can only be used attributively are classifying adjectives. Here is a
list of classifying adjectives used attributively:
Atomic
bridal
cardiac
countless
cubic
digital
east
eastern
eventual
existing
federal
forensic
indoor
institutional
introductory
investigative
judicial
lone
maximum
nationwide
neighbouring
north
northern
occasional
orchestral
outdoor
phonetic
preconceived
remedial
reproductive
smokeless
south
southern
subterranean
supplementary
underlying
west
western
woollen
There are no colour adjectives that are restricted to the attributive position. Emphasizing
adjectives are usually used attributively. Some adjectives are normally used only as the
complement of a link verb and not in front of a noun. These adjectives are called predicative
adjectives. For example, we can say 'She felt glad', but we do not normally talk about 'a glad
woman'.
Here is a list of adjectives usually used predicatively:
afraid
alive
alone
apart
asleep
aware
content
due
glad
ill
likely
ready
safe
sorry
sure
unable
unlikely
well
Here, we take into account the fact that the word ‘asleep’ can also be used attributively as
in the phrase “a fast asleep boy”.
Because their meaning would otherwise be unclear or incomplete, some adjectives are
usually followed by a prepositional phrase. For example, we cannot simply say that someone is
'accustomed'. We have to say that they are 'accustomed to' something.
There are a few adjectives which are followed by the preposition 'to' when they are used
predicatively.
I was allergic to the serum they used.
He was impervious to fact or logic. [11]
15
Here is a list of adjectives which are usually or always used predicatively and are
followed by 'to':
accustomed
adjacent
allergic
attributable
attuned
averse
close
conducive
devoted
impervious
injurious
integral
prone
proportional
proportionate
reconciled
related
resigned
resistant
similar
subject
subservient
susceptible
unaccustomed
There are a few adjectives which are followed by the preposition 'of' when they are used
predicatively.
He was aware of the danger that faced him.
Here is a list of adjectives which are usually or always used predicatively and are
followed by 'of':
aware
bereft
capable
characteristic
desirous
devoid
fond
full
heedless
illustrative
incapable
indicative
mindful
reminiscent
represents
There are a few adjectives which are followed by the preposition 'with' when they are
used predicatively.
His surprise became tinged with just the smallest suspicion of disbelief.
The plastic has to be compatible with the body tissues that make contact with it.
This way of life is fraught with danger. [11]
Here is a list of adjectives which are usually or always used predicatively and are
followed by 'with':
compatible
consonant
conversant
Tilted
fraught
riddled
tinged
Some adjectives are followed by other prepositions when they we used predicatively.
These ideas are rooted in self-deception.
Didn't you say the raid was contingent on the weather?
Darwin concluded that people were descended from apes. [11]
Here is a list of adjectives which are usually or always used predicatively and are
followed by the preposition indicated:
contingent on
descended from
inherent in
lacking in
rooted in
steeped in
swathed in
unhampered by
In some cases, there is a choice between two prepositions.
16
Many of their courses are connected with industry.
Such names were arbitrarily given and were not connected to any particular event.
Here is a list of adjectives which are usually or always used predicatively and which can
be followed by the prepositions indicated:
answerable for
answerable to
burdened by
burdened with
connected to
connected with
dependent on
dependent upon
immune from
immune to
inclined to
inclined towards
incumbent on
incumbent upon
insensible of
insensible to
intent on
intent upon
parallel to
parallel with
reliant on
reliant with
stricken by
stricken with
To complete the meaning of some adjectives which are used predicatively, we need to
follow with a clause beginning with a 'to'-infinitive. For example, we cannot just say 'He is
unable'. We have to add a clause beginning with 'to'-infinitive such as 'to do': 'He is unable to do
it'.
They were unable to help her.
I am willing to try.
We are liable to find ourselves in a mild state of conflict.
I am loath to dwell so long on the poor fellow.
Here is a list of adjectives always or nearly always followed by 'to'-infinitive clauses:
able
bound
doomed
due
fated
fit
inclined
liable
likely
loath
prepared
unable
unwilling
willing
We can also use a clause beginning with a 'to'-infinitive after many other adjectives to
give more information about something.
I was afraid to go home.
I was happy to see them again.
He was powerless to prevent it.
I was almost ashamed to tell her.
The path was easy to follow.
When adjectives which refer to someone's beliefs or feelings are used predicatively, they
are often followed by a 'that'-clause. The subject of the 'that'-clause is not always the same as the
subject of the main clause, and so we need to specify it.
She was sure that he meant it.
He was frightened that something terrible might be said.
I'm aware that I reached a rather large audience through the book.
17
Most qualitative adjectives have degrees of comparison. Some qualitative adjectives such
as greenish, darkish, incurable, unsuitable, chief, principal, have no degrees of comparison.
Relative adjectives have no degrees of comparison. They do not usually form adverbs with
the suffix -ly. They have certain typical suffixes, such as -en, -an, -ist, -ic, -ical: wooden,
Italian, socialist, synthetic, analytical.
Relative adjectives are chiefly used as attributes.
...she was a fair example of the middle American class... (Dreiser)
(Attribute)
She had noticed a pretty wooden chain upon Gretel’s neck. (Dodge)
(Attribute)
“Certainly,” answered Hilda, looking kindly into the two earnest faces, and wishing from her
heart that she had not spent so much of her monthly allowance for lace and finery. (Dodge)
(Attribute)
The morning was windy and sharp. (Saxton) (Predicative) [18.45-48]
As Gould Brown suggests “An Adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and
generally expresses quality: as, A wise man; a new book. You two are diligent.” In his point of
view, adjectives may be divided into six classes; namely, common, proper, numeral, pronominal,
participial, and compound.
I. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation; as good,
bad, peaceful, warlike, eastern, western, outer, inner.
II. A proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper name; as American, English,
Platonic, Genoese.
III. A numeral adjective is an adjective that expresses a definite number; as one, two, three, four,
five, six.
IV. A pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its noun, or
represent it understood; as, "All join to guard what each desires to gain."--Pope. That is, "All men
join to guard what each man desires to gain."
V. A participial adjective is one that has the form of a participle, but differs from it by rejecting
the idea of time; as, "An amusing story”, "A lying divination."
VI. A compound adjective is one that consists of two or more words joined together, either by
the hyphen or solidly: as nut-brown, laughter-loving, four-footed; threefold, lordlike, lovesick.
[8.297]
Here we should point out that his division bears some drawbacks, such as “numeral
adjectives” and “pronominal adjectives” cannot be accepted as correct because there already are
some parts of speech in Modern English which are called “numerals” and “pronouns”.
18
Ilyish affirms that the only morphological problem concerning adjectives is that of
degrees of comparison. He thinks so because English adjectives are not as complicated as those
of French, German or Russian in which case, number and gender bear a lot of difficulties for
learners. As to the degrees of comparison, he points out that the two degrees, comparative and
superlative, are made up in three ways, by adding –er, -est to the stem as in monosyllabic and
disyllabic words (basic form), adding more and most to polysyllabic words (analytical
formation) and changing the stem of the adjective which is called suppletive formation of
adjectives: good-better-the best. He also touches upon the problem of degree of comparison in
relative adjectives in his book “The Structure of Modern English”.
We can see that the English and the Uzbek linguists define the adjective in much or less the
same way: the adjective is an independent part of speech that indicates the quality, colour,
size, shape, taste, character and feature, measure, smell and relations with time and space
of the substance in Uzbek. Semantic types, main peculiarities, denotative and connotative
meanings of the adjective are widely studied in the Uzbek language as well. Adjectives may
define the quality and features of a substance from different angles; these features may belong to
people, animate or inanimate things. [25.62]
The adjective in the Uzbek language answers the questions What? What kind of? Which?
Adjectives may be used in different degrees: yahshi (good), yahshiroq (better), eng yahshi (the
best); there are also non-gradable adjectives: sariq (yellow), sarg’ish (yellowish).
One peculiarity of Uzbek adjectives is that they define not only the noun, but also the
verb in the sentence, for example: Sobir rus tilida yaxshi gapira oladi. (Sobir can speak well in
the Russian language). In such a case, adverbs are used instead of adjectives in the English
language, i.e. good-adjective, well-adverb.
There are the following semantic types of adjectives in the Uzbek language:
1. Adjectives denoting character and feature: badjahl (bad-tempered), toshbag’ir (cruel),
dabdabali (luxurious), ajoyib (wonderful), chidamli (tolerant).
2. Adjectives denoting physical and emotional state: go’zal (beautiful), soqov (dumb),
baquvvat (robust), sergak (alert), badavlat (wealthy), iliq (warm).
3. Adjectives denoting colour: oq (white), qizil (red), qora (black), yashil (green).
4. Adjectives denoting size and shape: dumaloq (round), tekis (straight), qiyshiq (slant).
5. Adjectives denoting measure: keng (wide), tor (narrow), uzun (long), chuqur (deep), yirik
(large).
6. Adjectives denoting taste/flavour nordon (sour), sho’r (salty), achchiq (bitter).
7. Adjectives denoting smell: hushbo’y (fragrant), qo’lansa (stinking).
19
8. Adjectives denoting relations between time and space: tonggi (of dawn), kuzgi
(autumnal), avvalgi (previous).
9. Adjectives denoting weight: og’ir (heavy), yengil (light). [22.51]
Structurally, Uzbek adjectives are also divided into simple, derivative and composite
types.
The syntactical functions of adjectives in the Uzbek language are as follows:
ATTRIBUTE: Shodon qiyofada kirib keldi. (He came in with a happy expression on his
face).
ADVERBIAL MODIFIRE: Yahshi bola yahshi o’qiydi. (A good boy does well at school).
PREDICATE: Eshik ochiq. (The door is open)
When substantivized, adjectives also function as:
SUBJECT: Dono bir joyda, dangasa har joyda. (The wise man is at one place, the lazy
man is everywhere).
OBJECT: Yomnonni ko’rmaguncha yaxshining qadriga yetmaysan. (It is when you meet
the bad that you appreciate the good). [26]
Having analyzed the theories of the above mentioned grammarians, we can summarize
their main points on the types of adjectives and say that adjectives in English and Uzbek are
divided into two groups semantically:
Qualitative adjectives (small- kichik, bright- yorqin, difficult- qiyin, etc) and Relative adjectives
(social- ijtimoiy, western- g’arbiy, professional- kasbiy, etc).
As the structural classifications by the grammarians differ in several ways, we have
worked out one that is equally applicable for both the English and the Uzbek languages.
Structurally, adjectives are divided into three groups:
Simple (one word, e.g. void, able, good, etc),
Derivative (stem + affix, e.g. joyous, deserted, interesting, accused, etc) adjectives and
Composite adjectives (two or more words). Composite adjectives, in their turn, fall into
the following 3 subgroups:
Compound adjectives, they contain words of equal rank, e.g. a primary part of speech +
another primary part of speech, or a secondary part of speech + another secondary part of speech
(nut-brown, laughter-loving, ice-cold, all-round, poverty-stricken, terror stricken, panic-
stricken, high-profile, low-budget ,blue-green, ice-cold, greenish-white, etc).
The second subgroup is called Complex adjectives; they contain two or more parts of
speech one of which may not be equal to the other, e.g. a primary part of speech + a secondary or
vice versa (drive-by, in-service, in-depth, in-store, switched on, tie-in, built-in, odds-on, on-
screen, on-board, bound-up, beat-up, fed up, dial-up, etc).
20
The third one is the mixed type in which there may be two or more primary pats of
speech and a secondary, or two or more secondary parts of speech and a primary part of speech
(down-at-heel, tongue-in-cheek, just-in-time, in-your-face, one-to-one, fly-by-night, blow—by-
blow, part-of-speech (characteristics), fly-by-wire, face-to-face, etc).
The data we have provided on the theory of the adjective in Modern linguistics will be
helpful to continue our research with the next important paragraph that is devoted to the theory
of a set of adjectives which are called the substantivized adjectives.
21
1. 2. The theory of the substantivized adjective in Modern English and Uzbek
Substantivization is the process of forming nouns from other parts of speech. That is,
parts of speech such as numerals, pronouns, verbs, participles, adjectives, etc. act as nouns in
certain cases. Substantivization is a universal linguistic phenomenon. In English, as well as in
Uzbek and many other languages, the adjective is the part of speech that is most frequently
substantivized. Up until this time numerous grammarians have investigated the process of
substantivization of adjectives and came up with their conclusions. Here, in this paragraph, we
shall have a look at the findings of English and Uzbek linguists on the substantivization of
adjectives in the Uzbek and English languages.
Sometimes adjectives function just like nouns in the sentence, and this process is generally
called substantivization of adjectives. Substantivization of adjectives is regarded as adjectives
functioning as heads of noun phrases in ‘A University Grammar of English’ and ‘A Reference
Grammar for Students of English’.
In ‘The Structure of Modern English’ it is stated that the process in which adjectives
become nouns under certain circumstances is called substantivization of adjectives. [15. 63]
As Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English states some adjectives can serve as
the head of a noun phrase. As the examples below illustrate, this conversion from adjective to
noun is not complete, in that the adjective head does not ordinarily take a plural –s inflection,
even when it has plural reference. In addition, as with adjectives (but not with nouns) these
forms can be modified by adverbs, as in 3 below. However, example 6 illustrates how they can
also be premodifiers typical of nouns. Definite determiners are the norm for adjectives as noun
phrase heads, although 5 illustrates an exception, where the determiner is a quantifier.
1. Everyone picks on the Welsh, don’t they? (Conv)
2. Why he was in Panglin with the lazy and the lame, the fat, the indifferent, the leaning
and the halt. (Fict)
3. I think the contrast between the very rich and the very poor in this country is
disgusting. (Fict)
4. But in politics the unlikely can happen. (News)
5. the policy which would require many unemployed either to find a job or to accept full-
time training or higher education.(News)
6. These people may be the real working poor, the elderly, the very young, the
unemployed or the transient. (Acad)
22
In most cases, as these examples show, the adjective headed noun phrase generically refers
to people with the characteristics named by the adjective, thus the elderly refers to ‘elderly
people in general’.
T.A. Barabash, in his book ‘English Grammar’, points out that the substantivization of
adjectives is one of the forms of conversion when the adjective loses its peculiarities and
expresses the full or partial features of the noun. [6.87]
According to the statement given in ‘English Grammar’ by J. Boronov and others,
adjectives becoming nouns as a result of change in their adjectival meaning into that of nouns, is
called substantivization of adjectives. [9.55]
We have also applied internet sources on the substantivization of adjectives in order to
make our research more informative. Here are what we gained by the help of those materials:
There are two types-of adjectives that can function as nouns. The first type includes
adjectives that refer to groups of people by specifying some quality, including nationality, that
they have in common, e.g.:
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
This wing of the hospital is reserved for the critically ill.
The British and the French do not always understand each other. [37]
These adjectives functioning as nouns always have generic reference, do not inflect for
number or the -s genitive, and require a singular verb.
There are other cases where adjectives may be said, function as nouns at a superficial level,
but it would be more accurate to say that they represent or substitute nouns (i.e. as pronouns),
e.g.:
Do you prefer Irish coffee or Turkish (coffee)?
We ordered mashed potatoes, but he served us boiled (potatoes).
The red dress is prettier, but the green (dress) suits her better. [37]
The noun head in such sentences is elliptic, i.e. retrievable from context (most often in the
preceding clause); it can have specific or generic reference and be singular or plural. These cases
of ellipsis can thus be distinguished from the adjective-nouns described above. With the first
type, referring to groups of people, only a noun such as people or human beings could be
inserted:
Rich people get richer and poor people get poorer.
This wing of the hospital is reserved for people who are critically ill.
British people and French people do not always understand each other. [37]
With the second type, although it is sometimes possible to insert a vague word like thing,
there is often no corresponding noun:
23
The best (thing) is yet to come.
In science one sometimes has to distinguish the unknown (facts, things) from
the unknowable (facts, things) but
It's not always good to venture into the unknown.
He went from the sublime to the ridiculous. [37]
Merriam-Webster editor Neil Serven gives an explanation on the substantivization of
adjectives in this way:
The words poor and sick are easily recognizable as adjectives:
We were too poor to afford a car.
He was sick with a head cold.
As with most adjectives, poor and sick can be used before a noun to modify that noun:
poor artists, a sick patient
But what happens when such an adjective is preceded by the but not followed by a noun?
She gives money to the poor. Nurses care for the sick.
The words poor and sick here are used to refer to poor people and sick people, respectively,
with the nouns they modify omitted. While they function like nouns here, they are not defined as
nouns because they do not meet any of the other criteria that typically distinguish a word as a
noun.
A lot of adjectives are used this way, many referring to classes of people: a shelter
for the homeless a word
to the wise the meek shall inherit
the earth tax breaks for the insure. [30]
A lot of these kinds of adjectives can
be found in titles of works. The title of Norman Mailer’s novel The Naked and the Dead contains
two adjectives that are essentially functioning as nouns. The same goes for Stendhal’s The Red
and the Black and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and the Damned. Besides, the Martin
Scorsese film The Departed or the American TV soap opera The Young and the Restless are also
vivid examples for adjectives functioning as nouns. [30] Gould Brown treats
some substantivized adjectives as “proper adjectives” and expresses his opinion in the following
way: “The Proper Adjectives are, in many instances,
capable of being converted into declinable nouns: as European, a European, the Europeans;
Greek, a Greek, the Greeks; Asiatic, an Asiatic, the Asiatics. But with the words English, French,
Dutch, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish and in general all such as would acquire an additional syllable in
their declension, the case is otherwise. The gentile noun has frequently fewer syllables than the
adjective, but seldom more, unless derived from some different root. Examples: Arabic, an Arab,
24
the Arabs; Gallic, a Gaul, the Gauls; Danish, a Dane, the Danes; Moorish, a Moor, the Moors;
Polish, a Pole, or Polander, the Poles; Swedish, a Swede, the Swedes; Turkish, a Turk, the Turks.
When we say, the English, the French, the Dutch, the Scotch, the Welsh, the Irish, meaning, the
English people, the French people, and many grammarians conceive that English, French, etc are
indeclinable nouns. But in my opinion, it is better to reckon them adjectives, relating to the noun
men or people understood. For if these words are nouns, so are a thousand others, after which
there is the same ellipsis; as when we say, the good, the great, the wise, the learned. The
principle would involve the inconvenience of multiplying our nouns of the singular form and a
plural meaning, indefinitely. If they are nouns, they are, in this sense, plural only; and, in
another, they are singular only. For we can no more say, an English, an Irish, or a French, for an
Englishman, an Irishman, or a Frenchman; than we can say, an old, a selfish, or a rich, for an old
man, a selfish man, or a rich man. Yet, in distinguishing the languages, we call them English,
French, Dutch, Scotch, Welsh, Irish; using the words, certainly, in no plural sense; and preferring
always the line of adjectives, where the gentile noun is different: as, Arabic, and not Arab;
Danish, and not Dane; Swedish, and not Swede. In this sense, as well as in the former, Webster,
Chalmers, and other modern lexicographers, call the words nouns; and the reader will perceive,
that the objections offered before do not apply here. But Johnson, in his two quarto volumes,
gives only two words of this sort, English and Latin and both of these he calls adjectives. [8.298]
As it has been suggested by most of the
grammarians, proper nouns are also substantivized when they denote nationality. The table
below illustrates how country names, their adjectival forms and substantivized adjectives differ
from one another:
COUNTRY ADJECTIVE NOUN
Africa African an African
America American an American
Argentina Argentinian an Argentinian
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Autralia Australian an Australian
25
Bangladesh Bangladesh(i) a Bangladeshi
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain British a Briton/Britisher
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Chile Chilean a Chilean
China Chinese a Chinese
Colombia Colombian a Colombian
Croatia Croatian a Croat
the Czech Republic Czech a Czech
Denmark Danish a Dane
England English an Englishman/Englishwoman
Finland Finnish a Finn
France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman
Germany German a German
Greece Greek a Greek
Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman
Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian
26
Iceland Icelandic an Icelander
India Indian an Indian
Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian
Iran Iranian an Iranian
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi
Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman
Israel Israeli an Israeli
Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican
Japan Japanese a Japanese
Mexico Mexican a Mexican
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian
Peru Peruvian a Peruvian
the Philippines Philippine a Filipino
Poland Polish a Pole
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese
Rumania Rumanian a Rumanian
Russia Russian a Russian
27
Saudi Arabia Saudi, Saudi Arabian a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian
Scotland Scottish/Scotch a Scot/Scotch
Serbia Serbian a Serb
the Slovak Republic Slovak a Slovak
Sweden Swedish a Swede
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss
Thailand Thai a Thai
The USA American an American
Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian
Turkey Turkish a Turk
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese
Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman
Yugoslavia Yugoslav a Yugoslav
Here, we should keep it in mind that the nationality adjectives given in the table above
which end in –ss, -iss, -sh, -ish, -ch, -tch and –ese do not accept the plural affix –s. Instead, they
are always preceded by the definite article: The Irish, the Scotch, etc.
The list of the nationality names that end in –ese, -ss, -ish, -sh, -tch, -ch which are used
always used with the definite article “the” in the plural when substantivized:
-ish -ss -sh
Turkish Swiss Welsh
English
Spanish
28
Polish
British
Finnish
-ese -ch -tch
Japanese French Scotch
Vietnamese Dutch
Taiwanese
Beninese
Chinese
Burmese
Congolese
Gabonese
Guyanese
Lebanese
Maltese
Marshallese
Portuguese
Senegalese
The same definitions on the substantivization of adjectives apply in the Uzbek language.
Uzbek linguists define substantivization as the process in which the noun of the sentence is
ellipted and, as a result, the syntactic functions of it pass on to the adjective. Substantivization of
adjectives is very frequent in Uzbek. As mentioned in Uzbek Practical Grammar, most of the
Uzbek national proverbs contain substantivized adjectives. Unlike English, there is still
considerable uncertainty with regard to substantivization of adjectives in Uzbek. Many of the
books which are dedicated to the study of morphology fail to explain the reason why
substantivization of adjectives occurs in our speech. However, if we examine Uzbek
substantivized adjectives, we can get to know the fact that this process is less complicated in our
language. For instance, there is no usage of the definite article before the substantivized
adjectives, because we do not have any article in Uzbek at all. Besides, the plural ending –lar
can be added to whichever adjective that is substantivized. Examples are:
Yaxshi bir tavba qilar, yomon yuz.
(A good person repents once only, but a bad person repents a hundred times)
Yaxshining nasihatiga kirmagan, yomonning yo’liga yurar.
29
(Those who do not heed advice of the good follow the way of the evil)
Yaxshining tilagi ham yahshi, yomonning niyati ham yomon.
(A good person has a good will, and a bad person has an evil will)
Qari bilganni pari bilmas
(The old are wise). [26.31-36]
Another example is the name of a popular Uzbek show “Quvnoqlar va Zukkolar” in
which two qualitative adjectives become nouns and take the plural form with the suffix “-lar”.
As it can be seen from the examples, Uzbek substantivized adjectives have acquired
almost all the features of nouns. What is more, all of the adjectives in Uzbek can be
substantivized.
Summarizing the above given definitions, we can say that substantivization of adjectives is
the process in which adjectives function as nouns. The question why adjectives get
substantivized can be answered by the following reasons: Substantivization of adjectives
emerges under the influence of language economy and with a purpose of adding more stylistic
effect to our speech. As a well-known grammarian O. Jespersen puts it “The substantivization of
adjectives is a necessity of language usage. “You are a dear" is more affectionate than "You are
dear," which is hardly ever said. The explanation is obvious: these substantives are more
vigorous because they are more special than the adjectives, though seemingly embodying the
same idea”. [16.77]
Now that we have been introduced to the theory of the substantivized adjectives in
Modern English and Uzbek, we found out that the English substantivized adjective bears much
striking resemblance to that of Uzbek. Further information on similarities and dissimilarities of
the substantivized adjectives in the two compared languages will be given in the following
chapter.
30
2. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SUBSTANTIVIZED ADJECTIVES IN MODERN
ENGLISH AND UZBEK FOR LINGUODIDACTIC PURPOSES
2. 1. Types of the substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek
There are various cases in which different types of the substantivized adjectives are used in our
speech. A number of grammar books we referred to treat the types of the substantivized adjective
in their own way.
J. Boronov divided the substantivized adjectives into the following two groups:
1 Substantivized kernel adjectives (blind, blunt, blue, bitter, black, dark, dear, grey, brown, red,
wild, white, fat, best, cold) and
2 Substantivized derivative adjectives (aboriginal, absorbent, academic, acting, beloved,
bimonthly, dependent, demonstrative, designing).
Substantivized derivative adjectives can function both as adjective and noun at the same
time.
He distinguished the following semantic types of substantivized adjectives:
1) Words denoting certain quality, feature or concrete object: bimonthly, grey, white, blind.
Не was afraid to look at the eyes. They were hideous now, only the whites showing, and the
blood running to them (D. H. Lawrence):
2) Substantivized adjectives expressing abstract notions: boring, bitter, dark, abstract.
3) Words denoting persons: individual, dear, beloved, academic. For this type, these examples
are given:
It was a crowd and a big, a busy, and a funny one of clearly differentiated individuals (W'.
Caitie). Individual after individual passed him, nearly all well dressed almost all indifferent (T.
Dreiser). A little strip of sunshine ran along the breast from a chink between the legs. The
orderly sat by it for a few moments (D. H. Lawrence).
4) Words expressing representatives of nationalities, countries, continents, parties or groups:
Canadians, Americans, Conservatives, Liberals, natives, Asiatics.
The Egyptians were an ancient race of Caucasians residing in one of the northern sections of
Africa. The latter as we all know is the largest continent in the Eastern Hemisphere.
31
5) Adjectives denoting nationalities that end in –sh, -ish, -ch, -tch: the English, the French, and
the Irish. The singular form of these adjectives are formed by them a singular noun, e.g. An
Englishman, A Frenchman.
6) Adjectives ending in –ss, -ese: the Japanese, the Sudanese, the Swiss, the Vietnamese. Words
like ‘Chinese’ and ‘Japanese’ express not only the nationality of the country, but also the
language.
7) Substantivized adjectives: collective nouns: drinkables, eatables, foods, greens, sweets,
vegetables. These are the nouns of pluralia tantum.
8) Certain grammatical and judicial terms: the passive (voice), the past (tense), the accused (man).
Famous grammarians Kobrina and Korneeva’s approach to the types of substantivized
adjectives is based on substantivized adjectives’ meaning and the nominal features they possess.
According to their theory some substantivized adjectives have only the singular form. They
may have either the singular or plural agreement, depending on their meaning. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting generalized or abstract notions.
They are used with the definite article and have singular agreement:
The fabulous, the unreal, the invisible:
The fabulous is always interesting.
There are, however, certain exceptions. Substantivized adjectives denoting abstract notions
may sometimes be used in the plural. Then no article is used:
There are many variables and unknowns.
b) substantivized adjectives denoting languages are used without a determiner, but are often
modified by a pronoun. They also have singular agreement.
My Spanish is very poor.
He speaks excellent English.
We should also note the following exceptions in such cases as
(1) It is a translation from the English (the French etc.), (2) What is the English (the French
etc.) for …?
The definite article is used if the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute:
The English of America differs from the English of England.
When the noun language is mentioned the definite article is used: the English language, the
German language. [18.42]
c) substantivized adjectives denoting groups of persons or persons of the same nationality are
used with the definite article the and admit only of plural agreement the old, the poor, the rich,
the blind, the dumb and deaf, the mute, the eminent, the English.
He did not look an important personage, but the eminent rarely do.
32
The poor were robbed of their lands.
Some substantivized adjectives have the category of number, that is, they can have two
forms - the singular and the plural. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting social rank or position, military ranks, party, creed,
gender, nationality, race, groups of people belonging to certain times or epochs, etc. In the plural
the use of the article is not obligatory: nobles, equals, superiors, inferiors, commercials,
domestics, privates, regulars, ordinaries, marines, Christians, primitives, moderns, ancients,
contemporaries, liberals, conservatives, Europeans, Asiatics, Eurasians, Indians, Easterns,
blacks, whites, etc.
When denoting an individual such words are used in the singular and are preceded by the
indefinite article: a noble, a private, a regular, an ordinary, a Christian, a primitive, a liberal,
etc.
There were a few deads missing from the briefing.
- How many have you killed?
- One hundred and twenty two sures. Not counting possibles.
He’s been working like a black.
b) substantivized adjectives denoting animals and plants: evergreens, thoroughbreds
(about horses).
3. Some substantivized adjectives have only the plural form. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting studies and examinations. They have either the
singular or plural agreement depending on whether they denote one notion or a collection of
notions: classics, final (final examinations), midsessionals, etc.
Finals were approaching.
b) substantivized adjectives denoting collection of things, substances and foods. Some of
these admit either of both the singular and plural agreement (chemicals, movables, necessaries,
valuables, eatables, greens), others admit only of a singular agreement (bitters).
c) substantivized adjectives which are the names of the parts of the body are used with the
definite article the and admit of the plural agreement: the vitals, the whites (of the eyes).
d) substantivized adjectives denoting colours are used in the plural without any article: greys,
reds, purples, greens.
B. Ilyish also underlines that the substantivisation of adjectives is a very common case in
English. He suggested that one should find the answers to the following questions so as to be
able to elicit whether an adjective is substantivised or not.
(a) what criteria should be applied to find out if an adjective is substantivised or not?
(b) is a substantivised adjective a noun, or is it not?
33
“As to the first question, we should recollect the characteristic features of nouns in
Modern English and then see if a substantivised adjective has acquired them or not. These
features are, (1) ability to form a plural, (2) ability to have a form in -'s if a living being is
denoted, (3) ability to be modified by an adjective, (4) performing the function of subject or
object in a sentence. If, from this point of view, we approach, for example, the word native, we
shall find that it possesses all those peculiarities, e. g. the natives of Australia, a young native,
etc.
The same may be said about the word relative (meaning a person standing in some degree of
relationship to another): my relatives, a close relative, etc. A considerable number of other
examples might be given. There is therefore every reason to assert that native and relative are
nouns when so used, and indeed we need not call them substantivised adjectives. Thus the
second of the above questions would also be answered.
A familiar example of a different kind is the word rich. It certainly is substantivised, as
will be seen, for example, in the title of a novel by C. P. Snow, "The Conscience of the Rich". It
is obvious, however, that this word differs from the words native and relative in some important
points: (1) it does not form a plural, (2) it cannot be used in the singular and with the indefinite
article, (3) it has no possessive form. Since it does not possess all the characteristics of nouns but
merely some of them, it will be right to say that it is only partly substantivised. The word rich in
such contexts as those given above stands somewhere between an adjective and a noun.
The same may be said of the poor, the English, the Chinese, also the wounded, the
accused (which were originally participles), and a number of other words. We might even think
of establishing a separate part of speech, intermediate between nouns and adjectives, and state its
characteristic features as we have done for parts of speech in general. However, there would
appear to be no need to do so. We shall therefore confine ourselves to the statement that
these words are partly substantivised and occupy an intermediate position.
Sometimes the result of substantivisation is an abstract noun, as in the following
examples: The desire for a more inward light had found expression at last, the unseen had
impacted on the seen. (Forster) Her mind was focused on the invisible. (Idem) Nouns of this type
certainly have no plural form.” [15.63-64]
A Reference Grammar is rather brief in the division of the substantivized adjectives. The
first type is a small set of adjectives with the meaning ‘class of people’. To this belong some
adjectives like the blind, the injured, the young, the sick, etc.
The second type includes a few adjectives referring to abstractions: the evil, the good, the
unexpected, the unknown.
Another small group of adjectives are the English, the French.
34
Besides, additional cases of the usage of adjectives as nouns are also given. They are the
cases of ellipsis of particular nouns, which occur mainly in informal speech: medical
(examination), possible (candidate), spare (tyre).
I’m having my medical tomorrow.
John is a possible.
Have you got a spare? [12.165]
‘A University of Grammar of English’ also has a clear approach as to the types of
substantivized adjectives:
Adjectives having personal reference: the old, the young, the wise, the rich.
Adjectives denoting nationalities: the English, the British, the Dutch, the Swiss.
The Irish (who live) in America retain sentimental links with Ireland. The Polish, who are very
rebellious, resisted strongly.
Adjectives having abstract reference (mainly superlatives): the latest, the best, the
unknown, the sublime, the ridiculous.
Moreover, as it is stated in the book, the substantivized adjectives may be found within
some set phrases like “for good”, “to the full”, “in short”. [20.111-112]
As to the opinion expressed in A Grammar of the English Language by Kaushanskaya
and others, the following decision of substantivization of adjectives is reached: Substantivized
adjectives have acquired some or all of the characteristics of the noun, but their adjectival origin
is still generally felt.
Substantivized adjectives are divided into wholly substantivized and partially
substantivized adjectives.
Wholly substantivized adjectives have all the characteristics of nouns, namely the plural
form, the genitive case; they are associated with articles, i. e. they have become nouns: a native,
the natives, a native’s hut.
Some wholly substantivized adjectives have only the plural form: eatables, valuables,
ancients, sweets, greens.
Partially substantivized adjectives acquire only some of the characteristics of the noun;
they are used with the definite article. Partially substantivized adjectives denote a whole class:
the rich, the poor, the unemployed. They may also denote abstract notions: the good, the evil, the
beautiful, the singular, the plural, the future, the present, the past.
Substantivized adjectives denoting nationalities fall under wholly and partially
substantivized adjectives.
Wholly substantivized adjectives are: a Russian — Russians, a German — Germans.
Partially substantivized adjectives are: the English, the French, the Chinese. [18.49]
35
What deserves a special remark in this book is the fact that the general division of
substantivized adjectives into fully substantivized and partially substantived types offers
perceptive insights into the knowledge of substantivized adjectives.
Below is information on the substantivization of adjectives that we gained from internet
sources: When
adjectives are used as nouns, the specific cases are: Ellipses of Noun Phrases: Ellipsis is
the shortening of a phrase or a sentence. In this case, here, we specifically look at noun phrases.
Adjectives can act as nouns and can be a subject, object, or complement in a sentence.
'The intelligent are not arrogant'
‘The meek shall inherit the earth.'
‘The old and the young were evacuated from the building.’
‘The rich are privileged.’
‘The rich’, the intelligent’, the meek’, ‘the old’, and ‘the young’ are adjectives acting as nouns.
The full noun phrases could be:
‘The intelligent (people) are not arrogant’.
'The meek (humans) shall inherit the earth.’
‘The old (men) and the young (children) were evacuated from the building.’
‘The rich (people) are privileged.’
In the examples illustrated above, the adjectives acting as nouns form a part of the subject.
Further using the above examples as objects:
‘He is a lover of the intelligent’.
‘She has an eye for the rich’,
‘He is a veteran amongst the young.’ [44]
The complete sentences could be:
‘He is a lover of the intelligent (being)’.
‘She has an eye for the rich (men) ’,
‘He is a veteran amongst the young (students).’ [44]
The definite article ’the’ is combined with these adjectives so that they can be used as nouns.
These adjectives are always plural and take a plural verb.
Nouns Formed by Conversion
Adjectives can be used as proper nouns, common nouns, and abstract nouns. When a word is
used as a different part of speech without introducing any change to the form of the original
word it is known as conversion. Let us look at some examples:
36
‘He kept the fast for a week.’ (Noun)
‘Reena and Sheena are fast friends’ (Adjective)
‘This is my right!’ (Noun)
‘He is the right man for this position.’ (Adjective)
‘Mahatma Gandhi is his ideal.’ (Noun)
‘The ideal king is expected to be wise and generous. [44]
The above sentences make it clear how the same word can be used as a different part of speech.
Other Cases
Proper nouns like Indian, American, and
African are words that can act as adjectives as well as nouns. It totally depends on the usage of
the word that is whether it is in the plural form or the singular form. If the word is in the plural
form it is acting as a noun and in the singular form it could be acting as an adjective or a noun.
Let us look at some examples:
'The Indian brass work is popular in the west.' (Adjective)
'The Indians are going for elections.' (Noun)
'The African nations are taking cogent steps to fight apartheid'. (Adjective)
'The Africans are hardworking people'. (Noun)
'The American tourist visited the museum.' (Adjective)
'The American shopped in the market.' (Noun)
Words like Indian and African have been used in the sense of ‘of India, of Africa. The
usage of the word determines what part or speech the word belongs to. [44]
Substantivized adjectives which are
always preceded by the definite article “the” may have two meanings:
1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense
(e.g. the poor = poor people, the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural in meaning
and take a plural verb.
e.g. The old receive pensions.
The young are always romantic, aren’t they?
The blind are taught trades in special schools.
If we wish to denote a single person we must add a noun.
e.g. The old man receives a pension.
37
If we wish to refer to a particular group of persons (not the whole
class), it is also necessary to add a noun.
e.g. The young are usually intolerant.
The young men are fishing.
Some adjectives denoting nationalities (e.g. English, French, Dutch) are used in the same way.
e.g. The English
are great lovers of tea.
There were a few English people among the tourists.
2) Substantivized adjectives may also indicate an abstract notion. Then they are singular in meaning and take a singular verb.
e.g. The good in him overweighs the bad.
My mother never lost her taste for extravagant. [37]
The division of substantivized adjectives according to their semantical types by T. A.
Barabash in ‘English Grammar’ seems to be well-grounded.
Having divided adjectives into 2 big groups - fully substantivized adjectives and partially
substantivized adjectives, he suggested that there existed the following types of substativized
adjectives in the English language:
1. Fully substantivized adjectives:
o Words classifying people into certain groups (a native, a conservative, a relative, a
criminal, a black, a white, a revolutionary).
o Name of natioalities (a German, a Russian, an American, an Uzbek, a Czech).
o Words denoting periodical edition (a daily, a monthly, a weekly, a bimonthly, etc).
2. Partially substantivized adjectives:
o Words describing a group of people (the good, the rich, the sick, the poor, the dead, the
living, the injured, the wounded).
o Name of nationalities (the French, the Scotch, the Irish, the Welsh).
o Words expressing abstract notions (the good, the beautiful, the inevitable, the opposite,
the unexpected, the unknown, the impossible, the unlikely).
o Words of ‘pluralia tantum’ (goods, sweets, valuables). [6.87-88]
38
We have focused our attention on the substantivization of adjectives. In many languages
including English and Uzbek, the opposite phenomenon also exists. That is, likewise, nouns can
also be used as adjectives, and this process is called “adjectivization of nouns”.
A noun may stand before another noun and modify it: speech sound, peace treaty, business
contract. The observation that these nouns lose the ability of forming plural and have articles
proves that they possess the features of adjectives. They also have the meaning of property, not a
substance, and they function as attributes. This can also be illustrated by the difference between
such combinations with proper nouns as “Moscow’s theatres”, “Repin’s pictures” and Moscow
region, the Tretyakov Galery. The second type clearly lost their substantival features.
In Collins Cobuild English Grammar, adjectivized nouns are called “noun modifiers”. Nouns
can be used as modifiers in front of other nouns when we want to give more specific information
about someone or something.
Sometimes, when nouns are used like this they become fixed expressions which are called
compound nouns.
When the nouns used in front of other nouns are not in fixed expressions, they are called
noun modifiers.
the car door.
tennis lessons.
a football player.
cat food.
the music industry.
a surprise announcement. [11]
We normally use the singular form of a count noun as a noun modifier, even when we are
referring to more than one thing. For example, we refer to a shop that sells books as 'a book
shop', not 'a books shop', even though it sells a large number of books, not just one.
Many plural nouns lose their '-s' endings when used in front of other nouns.
my trouser pocket.
pyjama trousers.
paratroop attacks. [11]
However, some plural nouns keep the same form when used in front of other nouns.
arms control.
the arms race.
clothes pegs. [11]
39
If we want to be even more specific, we can use more than one noun modifier. For example,
a 'car insurance certificate' is a certificate which indicates that a car has been insured, and a 'state
pension scheme' is a scheme that is run by the state and concerns workers' pensions.
a Careers information Officer.
car body repair kits.
a family dinner party.
a school medical officer.
If we want to give more information about a noun that has a modifier in front of it, you can
put adjectives in front of the noun modifier.
a long car journey.
a new scarlet silk handkerchief.
complex business deals.
...this beautiful morning sunlight.
...the French film industry. [11]
Proper nouns can also be used as noun modifiers. For example, if we want to show that
something is connected with a place, organization, or institution, we put the name of the place,
organization, or institution in front of all other noun modifiers. We also put them in front of
classifying adjectives.
Brighton Technical College.
the Cambridge House Literacy Scheme.
As the above mentioned examples demonstrate, the use of noun modifiers in English is
very common indeed. And the use adjectivized nouns is one of the productive features of English
just like the use of substantivized adjectives.
In order to make a comparative analysis of substantivized adjectives, we continue our
research with studying the work done on substantivization of adjectives in the Uzbek language.
As is stated in Practical Uzbek Grammar, in our speech the process of substantivization, i.e.
adjectives becoming nouns is very common. This is most often the case with proverbs: Yahshi
topib gapirar, yomon qopib.
Yoshni mehnat, qarini ovqat saqlaydi. (Labour saves the young, food saves the elderly).
When substantivized, adjectives function as
Subject: Yahshilar ko’paysin. (May the number of good people increase);
Object: Eskisini kiyib ol. (Put on the old one);
Attribute: Bahilning bog’i ko’karmas.(Greedy people never succeed?)
40
Adjectives function as attribute, predicate and adverbial modifier in the sentence: Shahrimizda
ulkan binolar, go’zal istirohat bog’lari, tarixiy yodgorliklar ko’p. (There are a lot of high
buildings, beautiful amusement parks and historical monuments in our city).
Shahrimizning ko’chalari juda go’zal. (The streets in our city are very beautiful).
U gimnastika mashqlarini yahshi va chiroyli bajaradi. (She does gymnastic activities well and
beautifully).
Adjectives can also function as other parts of sentence when they are substantivized:
Subject - Yahshilar hamma joyda el hurmatiga sazovor bo’ladi. (Good people gain respect from
public everywhere).
Object - Ilg’orlarga mukofotlarni topshirish uchun hokim tashrif buyurdi. (The city council came
to award the leaders).
Attribute - Yahshinng sharofat tegsa, yomonning kasifati tegadi. (Good people bring happiness,
bad people bring gloom).
Direct Address - Yahshilar, bechoralarga yordam qilishni unutmang. (Good people, do not
forget to do good to the poor). [43]
Grammar of the Uzbek Language points out that it is most often the case that adjectives
function as the subject of a sentence when they are substantivized: Mard maydonda bilinadi
(Proverb). When substantivized, the adjectives acquire the grammatical characteristics of the
noun and modify the thing or the person denoted by their quality. Yaxshi – yaxshi, a’lo – a’lo.
[3,125]
Here are some more examples for the substantivized adjectives from Uzbek national
proverbs:
Bir yaxshi bilan bir yomon kelishar, ikki yomon kelishmas.
(A good person gets along well with a bad person, but not with two)
Dutorsiz baxshi bo’lmas, yomonsiz yaxshi.
(There is no musician without an instrument, no good people without bad people)
Yomon bilan yaxshi qotishmaydi.
(The good cannot blend with the evil)
Yomonni yuborsang, bildirib kelar,
Yaxshini yuborsang, tindirib kelar.
(Send a good person; he will fulfill the job,
Send a bad person; he will expose you)
Yomonning yaxshisi bo’lguncha,yaxshining yomoni bo’l.
(It is better to be the bad among the good, than to be the good among the bad)
Yomonga bosh bo’lguncha, yaxshiga yo’ldosh bo’l.
41
(Better being a friend to the good, than being a leader to the bad)
Yomonga tun ham, kun ham qorong’u.
(Both day and night are dark for the bad)
The studies by the grammarians regarding the types of the substantivized adjectives have
suggested that there are fully substantivized and partially substantivized adjectives. While
many grammarians would agree on this division, unfortunately, their theories neglect to explain
the reason for calling certain adjectives fully substantivized, and some others – partially
substantivized. Basing on the opinions of B. A. Ilyish and V.L. Kaushanskaya we have worked
out the following criteria for an adjective to become fully substantivized. To get fully
substantivized an adjective must:
1. have all the functions of the noun (subject, object, predicative, adverbial modifier,
attribute, and parenthesis).
2. be able to form plural.
3. be able to be modified by determiners such as adjectives, articles, pronouns, etc.
4. be able to accept the possessive form with apostrophe s.
The word criminal meets the above given criteria, and thus considered to be a fully
substantivized adjective. For instance:
1. Many of the country's toughest criminals are held in this prison. (Subject);
Many people argue that allowing a criminal to go free is better than imprisoning an innocent
person. (Object);
Today's problem child may be tomorrow's criminal. (Predicative);
He saw fear in the criminal’s eyes (Adverbial Modifire); [11]
… deeds of the criminal (Attribute)
“Criminals, you will soon be arrested!” (Direct Address)
2. a criminal – criminals.
3. a lot of criminals/ that criminal/ a criminal/ the criminal/ an old criminal.
4. criminal’s confessions.
We hope that it is now made clearer why the adjectives like a German, a republican, a
relative, a native are called the fully substantivized adjectives as a contrast to the adjectives like
the opposite, the wounded, goods, the Welsh that have acquired only some of the features of the
nouns are considered to be partially substantivized.
As far as the semantic classification is considered, the substantivized adjectives can be of
the following types:
Monosemantic substantivized adjectives: the educated, the old, the weak, etc.
Polysemantic substantivized ajectives:
42
Greens 1-food; 2-things green in colour;
Bitter/bitters 1- a strong bitter alcoholic drink made from spices and plant products that is mixed
with other alcoholic drinks; 2- (UK) a type of dark brown beer with a bitter taste a pint of bitter.
Sweet 1- candy; 2- any food with a lot of sugar in it.
Blues 1- a type of slow, sad music, originally from the southern US, in which the singer
typically sings about their difficult life or bad luck in love; 2- things blue in colour;
The dark/be in the dark 1-a place with little or no light; 2-not to know about something that
other people know about.
Polysemantic substantivized adjectives may have metaphorical meanings, as in the
second meanings of the words ‘blues’, ‘the dark’.
The works that are dedicated to the study of the substantivized adjectives maintain that
adjectives, in the same way as nouns, may be pluralia tantum or the singularia tantum when they
are substantivized. We have developed this hypothesis and created a new classification of
adjectives in this research of ours. The scheme below illustrates these types of the substantivized
adjectives. The term ‘substantivized adjectives of the singularia tantum’ means the
substantivized adjectives that are used in the singular form only. And the ‘substantivized
adjectives of the pluralia tantum’ refers to those that are always plural in form. We have also
divided the two groups into proper and improper types; Proper singularia tantum adjectives are
the ones that agree with the main verb of the sentence in the singular, and the improper ones
have plural agreement. The same rule applies to the substantivized adjectives of the pluralia
tantum proper and improper.
Substantivized Adjectives
Substantivized Adjectives of the
Singularia Tantum
Substantivized Adjectives of the Pluralia
Tantum
Substantivized Substantivized Substantivized Substantivized
43
adjectives of the
singularia
tantum proper
Abstract
notions: the
latest, the best,
the extravagant,
the unreal, the
extraordinary.
Language:
Spanish,
Turkish, Dutch,
German.
adjectives of the
singularia
tantum
improper
People: the poor,
the elderly, the
injured, the
super-rich, the
cautious, the
privileged.
Nationalities: the
French, the
Lebanese, the
Polish, the
Finnish.
adjectives of the
pluralia tantum
proper
Parts of body:
the vitals, the
whites.
adjectives of the
pluralia tantum
improper
Certain terms:
classics,
midsessionals,
drinkables,
movables, finals,
greens, bitters.
Another limitation in the theories formulated on the substantivized adjectives is the usage
of articles before the substantivized adjectives. In our research, we have addressed this issue as
well.
The Usage of Articles before the Substantivized Adjectives
The definite article “The”
The definite article is obligatorily used before the substantivized adjectives of singularia
tantum denoting
a. a class of people (the old, the young, the literate, the illlterate, etc).
b. abstract notions (the present, the extravagant, the ridiculous, etc).
c. nationality adjectives ending in –ss, -iss, -sh, -ish, -tch, -ese (the Chinese, the Dutch, the
Portuguese, the Benines, etc). The function of the definite article here is to generalize
the meaning of the people, nationalities and abstract notions. Hence, when we say ‘the
educated’- we mean educated people in general, ‘the good’ – goodness in general and
‘the Irish’ – people form Ireland in general.
Zero articles
44
We do not normally use any article before the substantivized adjectives of the pluralia
tantum. They are the collective nouns (eatables, goods, thoroughbreds, greens, valuables,
credentials, initials, etc), and colour nouns (greys, greens, reds, whites, etc).
The definite and the indefinite articles can be used accordingly in their usual functions
before the substantivized adjectives that are neither pluralia no singularia tantum. (an Indian, the
Indian, Indians, a conservative, the conservative, an individual, individuals, the individuals, etc).
2. 2. Isomorphic and allomorphic features of the substantivized adjectives in Modern
English and Uzbek
The following paragraph is devoted to the isomorphic and allomorphic features of the
substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek. Through our research, we have
discovered both similar and dissimilar features between the English and the Uzbek
substantivized adjectives. The two compared languages belong to different language families:
English – an Indo-European language, and Uzbek – a Turkish language. That is why it stands to
reason that the two compared languages differ widely in their structure and meaning. Besides,
the people speaking the compared languages have quite different world views. These two
reasons are the grounds for the discrepancies. Thus, they are the focal concern of our research as
they cause interlanguage interference. But at the same time, there are certain features of the
substantivized adjectives that are typical of both English and Uzbek. The similarities are
accounted for by the universal rules of language evolution. That is, however distant the
languages compared might be, they undergo the same processes of development.
Having studied the works carried out by the well-known grammarians on the
substantivized adjectives, we have summarized their opinions and achieved the following:
There are the following structural types of substantivized adjectives.
1. Substantivized kernel adjectives
2. Substantivized derivative adjectives
45
1) Substantivized kernel adjectives
blind (Noun: a cover for a window made of a single piece or strips of cloth, paper or plastic that
is pulled up or down by a string. a roller blind a Venetian blind),
blunt (describes a pencil, knife, etc. that is not sharp, and therefore not able to write, cut, etc.
well),
bitter (Noun: a type of dark brown beer with a bitter taste),
black (Noun: a black person)
dear (Noun: used to address someone you love or are being friendly to, not used between men.
Here's your receipt, dear. Would you like a drink, dear? Lovely to see you, my dear),
wild (Noun: an area which is far from where people usually live and difficult to get to, and that
is not considered easy to live in. She lives somewhere in the wilds of Borneo),
best (Noun: the most excellent in a group of things or people. He wanted the best for his children
- good schools, a nice house and trips abroad)
cold (Noun: a common infection especially in the nose and throat which often causes a cough, a
slight fever and sometimes some pain in the muscles. I've got a cold),
white (Noun: 1-a colour like that of snow, milk or bone. In some countries it is traditional for a
bride to wear white),
2-a person who has skin that is pale in colour The neighbourhood is populated mainly by
whites)
2) Substantivized derivative adjectives
aboriginal ( adj/noun: describes a person or living thing that has existed in a country or
continent since the earliest time known to people),
academic (1-adj: relating to schools, colleges and universities, or connected with studying and
thinking, not with practical skills.
2-noun: someone who teaches at a college, or who studies as part of their job),
bimonthly (happening or appearing every two months or twice a month),
dependent (1-adj: needing the support of something or someone in order to continue existing or
operating
2-noun: someone who depends on you for financial support, such as a child or family member
who does not work),
designing (1-adj: describes someone who tries to get what they want for themselves, usually
dishonestly.
2-noun: (the art of making plans or drawings for something). [11]
The similar substantivized adjectives in Uzbek:
Otlashgan tub sifatlar:
46
Ko’r (odam) - blind
Oq (ko’zning oqi, oq tanli odam) - white
Qora (qora tanli odam) – black
Achchiq (qalampir va h.k.) – bitter (pepper)
Yovvoyi (odam) - wild
Sovuq (iqlim holati) - cold
Haq (huquq) - right
Otlashgan yasama sifatlar:
Akademik (olim) - academic
Oylik (maosh) - monthly (wage)
Qaram (xalq) - dependent
Kanadalik (ayol) - Canadian
Shaharlik (qiz) - civic
Ichimlik (suv) -drink
Semantic types of substantivized adjectives.
Fully substantivized adjectives (they have all the features of nouns).
1. words denoting a class of people
a native, words a relative, a criminal, a black, a white.
2. names of nationalities
A German, a Russian, an Uzbek.
3. words describing periodical editions
A daily, a monthly, a weekly, a bimonthly.
Partially substantivized adjectives (they have some of the features of nouns)
1. words describing a group of people
the elderly, the poor, the rich
name of nationalities ending in –sh, ch, -ish, -tch, -ese, -ss.
2. abstract notions
the good, the unlikely, the enexpected
3. words of pluralia tantum
goods, sweets, valuables, greens
Semantic types of Uzbek substantivized adjectives
To’la otlashgan sifatlar:
1. Odamlar guruhini bildiruvchi otlashgan sifatlar: Konservativ, qora, oq (shahmat donalari),
yerlik (aholi), boylar, kambag’allar, tiriklar, yaxshilar, yomonlar.
2. Millatlar nomlari: Rus, nemis, ingliz, chex, fransuz, Amerikalik, Avstraliyalik, Avtriyalik.
47
3. Davriy nashriyotni bildiruvchi otlashgan sifatlar: Kunlik, haftalik, oylik.
Qisman otlashgan sifatlar (Partially substantivized adjectives) do not exist in the Uzbek
language.
Basing on the material provided above, we have worked out the following table which
compares the types of substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek:
Fully substantivized
adjectives
English Uzbek
1. denoting a class of people + +
2. name of nationalities + +
3. describing periodical
edition
+ +
Partially substantivized
adjectives
English Uzbek
48
1. describing a group of
people
+ -
2. name of nationalities + -
3. denoting abstract
notions
+ -
4. words of the pluralia
tantum.
+ -
3. EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO TEACHING THE SUBSTANTIVIZED
ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH AT UZBEK SCHOOLS
3. 1. Effective strategies to teaching the substantivized adjectives in English at Uzbek
schools
One of the prerequisites of any teacher is the ability to adopt effective methods in
education. In our century, teachers have many options to choose from different teaching
techniques designed specifically for teaching foreign languages. We, as educators, should
manage enormous tasks of offering learning experiences to our students in the way that they
meet their needs. We should have the assurance that we put forward our best efforts to prepare
learning opportunities so that our students acquire the knowledge of the foreign language easily.
We should be flexible enough to a variety learning styles such as visual, kinesthetic, verbal,
logical and auditory. We should teach our students placing strong emphasis on the use of the
effective strategies to help them succeed.
This chapter considers a number of useful strategies to teach the English language.
49
In order for a language learner to be acknowledged as a successful student, the following
requirements should be met by him/her: 1) to use English to
communicate in social settings, 2) to use English to achieve
academically in all content areas, and 3) to use English in socially and culturally
appropriate ways. Several strategies are offered to develop competency in
social use of English. The use of seating arrangements (such as round tables or pairs) to
encourage social interaction is suggested. Teachers can also try to structure opportunities for
students to use English outside of the classroom. Cooperative learning encourages the use of
language in a social manner. Positive social interaction can help students perceive the classroom
as a comfortable and friendly place, where they will feel safe using their new language skills and
where they may find intrinsic motivation for communicating in English.
To enhance academic achievement, teachers can: create a language learning atmosphere
in the classroom; provide students with advanced technologies; label everything in the classroom
to build vocabulary and help students make connections to their native language; and have
different sources available for student use (books, magazines, newspapers, audio and video
tapes, computer software) to address different learning styles and also help build good
connections. To help students to use English in appropriate ways, teachers should teach what
language is appropriate in what conditions so that students can determine when to speak and in
what way to speak (for example, formal speech or slang). Teachers should also recognize
diversity and sameness in their classrooms and incorporate multicultural literature into the
curriculum in order for students to develop an understanding of and appreciation for others.
Another point to be considered in the sphere of teaching is the ways to
motivate students to learn and to encourage them to get involved in the activities. One possible
avenue to doing this can be achieved by the appropriate use of humour. Humour in educational
settings serves a variety of positive functions beyond simply making people laugh because it
builds group cohesion. Students respond more positively to each other and to the teacher when
humor is present. It brings them together and can facilitate cohesion by softening criticism. And
one thing about humor in learning is well-supported: Humor positively affects levels of attention
and interest. When students are interested, chances are they remember the information of the
lesson for a relatively longer period of time. Incorporating humour especially into grammar
lessons and lectures where teachers speak more than the students by explaining the rules, humour
will be a sure way to keep students engaged and involved in the course material.
Today various methods are used in different countries. It is worthy to
acknowledge the fact that the present teaching methods go to prove how much teaching has
changed over the years. Despite being old, the methods that proved to be right for certain
50
teaching conditions are still being applied in modern pedagogy. To get to know more about
teaching methods, we provide some information on several well-known methods that are used
worldwide. Grammar translation method: supposedly
the oldest language teaching method of the list, this would be rules-based, grammar focused,
vocabulary list language learning method. Wikipedia assures us that: “the goal of this method is
to be able to read and translate literary masterpieces and classics… little attention was placed
on pronunciation or any communicative aspects of the language.” For years and years, the
Grammar Translation Method served as the primary means to teach a foreign language. Students
memorized vocabulary in isolated lists and grammar rules in order to translate sentences,
passages, and even larger amounts of text from the foreign language into their mother tongue.
Exactly as the title implies, translation served as the focus.
Audio-lingual method: similar to the direct method but with the emphasis on drilling
students in grammar rather than having them acquire more vocabulary. Oral recitation of target
drills, which are supposed to contain the sentence patterns and grammatical structures to be
learnt. Oral approach: a more formalized
version of the direct method which tries to take into account the idea that the majority of
language production uses a core vocabulary—a couple of thousand words—and a core set of
grammar structures. Teachers using this method first present the new material in context, then
lead a practice period before having the students try and produce their own phrases using the
structures and vocabulary learnt. It is
becoming increasingly clear that interactive methods suit present-day teaching very well.
Interactive methods comprise the following approaches to language teaching:
community language teaching,
direct method, language immersion, natural approach, proprioceptive language learning method, silent way, storytelling, suggestopedia, teaching proficiency through reading and total physical response (TPR).
Communicative approach: A focus on language production, aural comprehension, early
speech production and speech activities encouraging ‘natural’ language acquisition, “much as a
child would learn his/her native tongue”. Only use the target language in class, don’t correct
errors in speech. No deliberate study of grammar. This approach to language teaching is
51
becoming popular as it creates intriguing atmosphere for language learners and teachers. Below
are the characteristics of communicative approach listed in ‘An A-Z of ELT [45]:
purposefulness: speakers are motivated by a communicative goal (such as getting
information, making a request, giving instructions) and not simply by the need to display the
correct use of language for its own sake;
reciprocity: to achieve this purpose, speakers need to interact, and there is as much need to
listen as to speak;
negotiation: following from the above, they may need to check and repair the
communication in order to be understood by each other;
synchronicity: the exchange – especially if it is spoken – usually takes place in real time;
unpredictability: neither the process, nor the outcome, nor the language used in the
exchange, is entirely predictable;
heterogeneity: participants can use any communicative means at their disposal; in other
words, they are not restricted to the use of a pre-specified grammar item.
contingency: the speakers’ utterances are connected, both to one another, and to the context
(physical, social, cultural, etc) in which they are uttered;
investment: the speakers have a personal commitment to the communication and are
invested in making it work. As John
Dewey, American philosopher and educational reformer once said, we should “give the students
something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking;
learning naturally results”. We believe that the success of the interactive methods can be well
supported by the application of this suggestion in practice.
We have cited several out of many teaching approaches in this chapter. However, today
we live in such a condition that the best approach to any language teaching must be eclectic, i.e.
we should use a multitude of techniques choosing and adapting the materials to our own
classrooms. Particular students, particular classrooms, and particular schools vary too greatly for
one approach to be appropriate for every condition. For this reason, we think that it is wise to
incorporate elements from many different approaches to reach our aim of high quality teaching.
There are quite a lot of
factors that ensure the success of teaching foreign languages. In our research paper, we would
like to suggest several strategies that are suitable for teaching the substantivized adjective
efficiently.
52
Explaining
Sometimes the experiences can also be shared as a part of knowledge that would work as
a source of inspiration for the students. While adopting this method the teacher should give an
introduction and a proper summary to the process of substantivization and make sure that the
information is clear to the students.
The explanation should be accompanied with suitable examples for the better
understanding of the students. For example, after explaining the usage of the definite article with
qualitative adjectives, it is advised to give such examples as “The old receive pensions”, “The
blind are taught trades in special schools”. The teacher can also ask students to make up their
own examples after the explanation. It is like a discourse on a particular subject or topic that is
for the entire class or public. Explaining can be accompanied with the modeling process to be
more effective and to have a long-lasting effect on the pupils’ memory.
Modeling
Modeling is a type of visual aid for teaching as well as learning. It is a known fact that
human brain absorbs more and understands better when visual aid supports explanation. The
following models will probably be very efficient when teaching the substantivized adjectives:
Model
#1
The +
Adjective
The invisible, the underprivileged, the employed, the unemployed,
etc to mean a class of people.
Model
#2
The +
adjective
The unlikely, the unexpected, the inevitable, the good, the bad, etc
to mean abstract notions.
Model
#3
The +
adjectives ending in -ss, -iss, -sh, -ish, -ch, -tch, ese
The Finnish, the Welsh, the Chinese, etc, to mean nationalities.
Choral drills
Choral drills offer students the chance to listen to and practice accent, intonation, and the
lesson's target language. The teacher reads, for instance, a substantivized adjective and everyone
repeats the same word or sentence. Because choral drills focus on accuracy, it's important to aim
for a high standard. Poor pronunciation, for example, or incorrect use of the target language limit
the drill's effectiveness and purpose.
Too much listen-and-repeat activities can prove boring, repetitive, and require little
thought on the students' part. But choral drills remain an important part of language acquisition,
especially in the early stages of a lesson, with limited use, and when made meaningful. As well
53
as improving the students’ pronunciation, choral drills help them to remember well the grammar
rules concerning the theme of the lesson. For example, students repeat the most frequent
substantivized adjectives after the teacher. In this way, they get to know about the common
constructions and the ways that the substantivized adjectives are used.
Games
Properly selected games and activities are significantly helpful as they attract students’
attention immediately. And, at the same time, games allow students to practice language skills.
In this paper, as additional sources for teaching the English substantivized adjectives to Uzbek
students, we have presented some games such as ‘ball toss’ and ‘tic tac toe’ that are particularly
useful and enjoyable for students.
Before we get to the next section of this chapter, we would like to offer a lesson plan we
have conducted to teach the substantivized adjectives at Uzbek higher schools.
Lesson Plan
This lesson is designed to teach the English substantivized adjectives to Uzbek high
school students who have prior knowledge of the adjective.
Teacher: __________
Date: __/__/__/
Group: __________
Subject: English Grammar
Theme: The substantivized adjectives
Time: 80 minutes
Objectives of the lesson:
o To help students revise their knowledge of the adjective;
o To let students be creative and increase their vocabulary and use adjectives that they
normally do not use;
o To get students introduced to the substantivized adjectives;
o To raise students’ awareness of the different types of the substantivized adjectives;
o To encourage students to use the substantivized nationality adjectives and language
adjectives appropriately in their speech;
o To enhance students’ speaking and writing skills.
54
The equipment: world map, board, handouts, dictionary, pictures, soft ball, felt pens, sheets of
paper, scissors, computer and projector.
This lesson plan consists of language exercises and conditional and free speech activities.
The activities are to be performed successively and the teacher needs to monitor the participation
of each student.
The course of the lesson:
I. The preliminaries of the lesson:
a) Greeting
b) Calling the register
c) Checking up the homework
Written homework
Oral homework
Exchange of questions and answers on the homework
Assessment / Evaluation of the homework.
II. Presentation of the new material
1) Preactivities:
a) Revision of the students’ knowledge on adjectives: On a
piece of paper, I have students write words that describe them and their personality. It helps if it
requires students to come up with a specific number of describing words. For example, students
use 30 words to describe themselves as this requires the students to really involve some higher-
order thinking skills and be creative to find words that they may not use every day. I allow
students to decorate their shapes and allow them to make their project as representative of their
individuality as possible. Once the students are through with their project, they are asked to
present it to the group. The benefit of this activity is that it helps students revise their background
knowledge and easily get engaged in the main topic of the lesson - the substantivized adjectives.
b) Brainstorming on the substantivized adjectives: I
write sentences containing the substantivized adjectives in English on the board and ask the
students to give examples for the substantivized adjectives in Uzbek as well.
c) Presentation of the material, exchange of questions and answers, and reactions to them:
For this stage of the lesson, I use the following description as a slide show by the help of
a projector to teach the English substantivized adjectives more effectively in an illustrated way.
55
The substantivized adjectives are used:
(1) As Plural Nouns denoting a class of persons; as shown in the below slide:
(2) As Singular Nouns denoting some abstract quality; as shown in the below slide:
56
(1) Some Adjectives actually become Nouns, and are hence used in both numbers:-
(a) Those derived from Proper Nouns
(b) Some denoting persons
(c) A few denoting things generally
Some adjectives are used as Nouns only in the plural; as, valuables, eatables.
57
In certain phrases; as:
In general; in future; in short; in secret; before long; at present; for good.
58
The use of Nouns as Adjectives is very common in English; as shown in the below slide:
2)While (during) activities:
a) Drilling (exercising)
59
Language exercise:
I arrange students in pairs and hand out the following worksheet and ask them to fill in the gaps in
the sentences with appropriate substantivized adjectives from the box.
The young, the poor, The young, the good, The English, The rich, necessaries, The Indians,
classics, the bad.
Worksheet #1
1. He packed drinks, a map and a compass - all the __________for a day's walking in the
countryside.
2. __________ are usually intolerant.
3. _________ are great lovers of tea.
4. She studied __________ at Cambridge.
5. __________ are hardworking people.
6. __________are privileged.
7. _________in him overweighs 8. ________.
9. _________ are going for election.
10. The organization has set up a special fund for housing for __________.
Teacher’s key: 1. necessaries, 2. The young, 3. The English, 4. classics, 5. The Africans, 6. The
rich, 7. The good, 8. the bad, 9. The Indians, 10. the poor. Note: The substantivized
adjectives The English, The Indians and The Africans can substitute one another. At the
end students discuss their answers with the group.
SPEAKING
Speech exercise – “Hide the word”. This is a good game which aims at improving
students’ speaking skills by stimulating their imagination. For this activity students need to sit in
pairs and take turns to tell each other a free-form story about whatever topic they choose. In their
stories they should hide a substantivized adjective that I have earlier distributed to them. The
other person listening to their partner should guess the word, here a substantivized adjective, that
is hidden in the story.
3) Postactivities
1) Consolidating.
READING
a) Contextualizing the use of the substantivized adjectives. To improve the students’
reading, speaking and listening skills, jigsaw activities fit for purpose. I divide the class into
groups of three (A, B and C). Each group reads a separate extract from the text ‘The Ultimate
Intelligent Star – Leonardo da Vinci’. Then, the groups exchange the extracts so that everybody
60
reads the whole text. After that, group A prepares 4 questions for group B from extract #2,
Group B- for group C from their extract, and group C – for group A from extract #1. After
discussing the answers to the questions, I ask each group to identify substantivized adjectives
from their extracts.
Group A. Extract #1.
Leonard was astonishingly creative. He created immortal works of art, sculpture
and countless other original ideas. In addition to his artistic skills, Leonardo was
also an exceptionally accomplished musician. If you gave him any stringed
instrument, even one that he had not seen before, he could very quickly ‘work it
out’ and play both known and original music on it. Leonardo was known for
exuding a deep self-confidence. He loved his own company, and cared for and
looked after himself as only a best friend or lover would. He was masterful at
playing the fool, could mesmerize audiences with his story telling, and used his
vast musical ability to entertain his fellow guests -spontaneously composing and
playing songs while they stood amazed.
61
Group B. Extract #2.
Leonardo da Vinci is regularly given as the best example of the ‘all round
genius’; in other words, as the individual who has most dramatically
demonstrated the use of all his intelligences. Leonardo’s genius was so great that
some people rate him the greatest genius of all time in many of the individual
intelligences too. He was almost entirely self-taught, and provides a tremendous
example to us of just what someone can achieve with the determination to expand
and develop all of his intelligences.
Contrary to many assumptions, Leonardo was not from a wealthy, well-to-do
family, and his formal education was very basic. When he was a boy, he was
apprenticed to a painter/sculptor, in whose workshop he learned his craft of
drawing and painting.
Group C. Extract #3.
Leonardo particularly developed his sensual intelligence (obviously important to
an artist), and he used to exhort those around him to develop all of their senses too.
He developed his visual powers to such an extent that at times his observations
bordered on the miraculous. It is reported that he was the first person to see, with
his naked eye, the
moons of planet Jupiter, and in his Codex on the Flight of Birds, he
recorded details which remained unconfirmed until the invention of photography
350 years later proved him to be right!
b) Competitive activity.
LISTENING
62
Peer Correction: I distribute several sentences containing the substantivized adjectives in
separate strips of paper and divide the class into two teams on opposite sides of the room. I tell
the students that some of the words highlighted in the sentences are wrong. A student from the
first team comes to the front of the class and selects a strip, reads the strip aloud, and decides if
the sentence is correct. If it is incorrect, I tell the student he or she must correct it. If the sentence
is correct and the student says so, the team receives one point. If the sentence is incorrect and the
student correctly identifies it as such, the team receives one point. The team receives one more
point for correcting it. If the student/team identifies a sentence as incorrect but fails to provide an
accurate correction, the other team can “steal” a point by correcting the sentence. That team then
goes on to draw its own sentence.
For example:
He has dedicated his life to helping wretched of the earth. (Incorrect. Correct form-the wretched)
It is better for sicks to be cared for at home rather than in hospital. (Incorrect. Correct form-the
sick)
She developed an innovative system of microcredit for the needy. (Correct)
These cuts in services will particularly affect the old. (Correct)
When changed into passive, 'The dog chased the cat' becomes 'The cat was chased by the dog'.
(Incorrect. Correct form-the passive)
2) Merry moment
Tic Tac Toe
I make a tic tac toe grid on the board with expressions as adjective + noun form. Then I
ask teams to take turns coming to the board and writing in one substantivized adjective form
under the expression of their choice. If a student from team X writes a correct form, he/she then
marks a large X over that space. When team O writes a correct response, it marks a large O over
the space. The first team that succeeds in having three of its marks in a row is the winner.
Sample Grid:
63
Old people
The old
The best items
The best
Invisible things
The invisible
Beautiful things
The beautiful
Young students
The young
Meek women
The meek
Final exams
finals
Medical tests
medicals
Initial letters
Initials
Ball Toss
This is a whole class game aimed at practicing the special substantivized adjectives
denoting to nationality the plural of which is formed by placing the definite article ‘the’ before
the word. I have students stand in a circle and begin the game by tossing the ball to a student and
saying the plural nationality word. The student catching the ball must say the singular form of
the word. The student then throws the ball to another student and says a new noun.
Example: Me: the French
Student A: a Frenchman
the British
Student B: a Britisher/Briton
the Finnish
Student C: a Finn
the Dutch, etc.
3) Home task:
WRITING
I tell the students that for home work I want them to write an essay of 100 words on the topic
“People of the world”. In their essays they should try to include as many substantivized
adjectives as possible.
4) Assessment: I tell students the marks they scored.
At the end of the lesson I receive students’ feedback on the topic learned, thank them for
active participation and bade good bye. The
lesson plan we have presented above can be adapted to teaching many other grammar topics of
this kind as well; integration of the language skills and the various interaction modes in the
lessons may indeed improve the quality of teaching the foreign language at Uzbek schools.
64
3. 2. System of exercises on the substantivized adjectives for drilling
Exercise # 1. As it has
earlier been mentioned, the names of nationalities and languages are also substantivized. To
introduce new vocabulary on nationality and language adjectives to students I use the world map
or flashcards with people in national costumes. Example 1: "Look at the map. This is Italy.
Italians live in Italy. They speak Italian".
Example 2: "Look at this picture. This is Pedro. He is from Spain. He is Spanish. He speaks
Spanish". I stick flashcards on the board and write key words under it. In this way I introduce
both the spoken and the written form of the vocabulary.
Exercise # 2.
Pointing to different flashcards I ask the students to answer the questions. For example:
T: Where is this man from? S: He is from China.
T: What is his nationality? S: He is Chinese.
65
T: What language does he speak? S: He speaks Chinese. T: What
are the people of China called? S: The Chinese.
Exerise # 3. I
ask the students to complete the sentences. For example:
They live in Madrid. They are …
These girls are from China. They are…
They are from Tokyo. They are …
My friends live in Russia. They are …
Exercise # 4. I
show the difference between the nationality adjectives and substantivized adjectives denoting
nationality and explain that we should use an indefinite article with a noun when we mean a
person. I also mention that substantivized nationality adjectives ending in –ss, -iss, -ish, -sh, -ch,
-tch and –ese are preceded by the definite article when we mean people. This is because it would
be odd to add plural affix –s at to them; the students understand that it would be incorrect to do
so when they try adding –s to such adjectives: Chineses, Japaneses, Englishes would sound
strange. It is also important to draw their attention to capitalization of these words in English, as
in Uzbek, such words are not capitalized. I divide the students into 2 groups and give them the
handout with such nationality adjectives and nouns. For example: Spanish –the Spanish, Swiss –
the Swiss, English-the English, Swedish – the Swedish, etc.
Exercise # 5. Competitive activity
I divide the students into two groups and ask them to fill in this form categorizing the
substantivized adjectives into following groups:
The + a Substantivized Adjective for PEOPLE The + a Substantivized Adjective for
ABSTRACT NOTIONS
Example: the homeless Example: the supernatural
66
Exercise # 6. Substantivized Adjective Bingo (Substantivized Adjectives and their opposites)
Students review the selected substantivized adjectives and check their meanings in the
dictionaries and choose nine of the adjectives and write them on their bingo card.
The old/the young
The seen/the unseen
The best/the worst
The living/the dead
The visible/the invisible
The former/the latter
The educated/the uneducated
The rich/the poor
The likely/the unlikely
Then I randomly call out substantivized
adjectives from the list and write them down. If the student has the opposite of that
substantivized adjective, he/she can cross the word off their bingo card. The winner is the student
who gets three opposite adjectives in a row. The adjectives must be in a row vertically,
horizontally or diagonally. As soon as the winner has a winning sequence he/she shouts out
“Bingo!” I check the bingo card by going through their written down substantivized adjectives.
Many rounds can be played.
Exercise # 7. Grammar game: “What/who does it remind you of?”
I divide the students into groups of four and give each student a copy of the handout and
have everyone fill in the chart under “you” with a place, person, or thing that the adjectives
remind him/her of. And I have each student take turns asking the other three members of the
group what or who
the substantivized adjectives remind them of. The students then record this information on their
charts. Then we compare charts as a class by asking who had the same ideas in their group, who
gave an unusual or funny answer, etc. Sample worksheet:
a. For each substantivized adjective, write in a place, thing, or person that that the
substantivized adjective reminds you of.
b. Now, ask the members of your group and write in their answers.
Substantivized YOU STUDENT 1 STUDENT 2 STUDENT 3
67
ADJECTIVE
The dark
finals
The reds
The best
The passive
The unemployed
The future
Initials
greens
The above given exercises for drilling should be regarded as supplementary sources for
teaching the substantivized adjectives. When extension is needed, they can well be subsumed
into the lesson plan for teaching the substantivized adjectives we have offered earlier in the first
section of the chapter.
CONCLUSION
Our beloved independent republic of Uzbekistan is boldly facing any challenges of the
time as a sovereign successful state, equal member of the world community, having its own
model of economic, political and spiritual development and worthy place on the international
arena.
68
Our republic is developing and prospering in various fields of life, and the educational field
is no exception here, for the latter is being paid special attention to by our President and the
Government of Uzbekistan in order to successfully meet the requirements of the world
standards of teaching various school and university subjects. In this connection, foreign
languages, especially English is made a special accent on as a key language to modern science,
technology, culture, etc. This is still more accentuated on in the recent decree of historical
importance by our President Islam Abduganievich Karimov “On the Measures for Further
Improving Learning Foreign Languages”
The ever-increasing demand for learning the English language in Uzbekistan is
demonstrative of the great need for comparative studies of the two typologically different
languages in contact (Uzbek and English) and creating effective methodologies for teaching
English at Uzbek schools.
My graduation paper is devoted to creating effective strategies for teaching the English
substantivized adjectives at Uzbek schools on the basis of the typologically relevant data of the
two languages in their subsystems of the adjectives.
Although the substantivized adjectives have been investigated separately in the two
languages, namely, English and Uzbek, the comparative analysis of the substantivized adjectives
which is useful to work out effective strategies for teaching them at Uzbek schools has not yet
been conducted. Thus, the topic of our research proves to be one of the actual ones in Modern
English and Uzbek linguistics and especially in methodology of teaching English.
In introduction to our research we have stressed the positive changes taking place in the
various fields of the life in our country, particularly, those in the educational system, here we
have also verified the actuality of the topic of our graduation paper and highlighted the
theoretical and practical value and several main, key points of our research work that surely
underlie the theoretical fundamentals and the strategy for the teaching we have targeted.
In the first chapter of our work we have concentrated our attention on the theory of the
adjectives and of the substantivized adjectives in particular. The substantivized adjective is a
very controversial but interesting linguistic phenomenon in both English and Uzbek. The
adjective, being one of the notional parts of speech, expresses the quality, quantity, degree, state
or a kind of other feature that nouns or other nominal parts of speech usually possess, whereas
the substantivized adjectives incorporate the features of only the nouns having the
abovementioned features.
In our research we have pushed off from the following definition worked out by us: A
substantivized adjective is a sometime adjective (of a simple or derivative, or composite
structure) which has become nominalized acquiring (all) the features of the nouns.
69
The process of substantivization is a universal phenomenon and considered to be a
productive means of word-building, word-composition and even a word-coinage, thus enriching
the vocabulary of any language.
In our graduation paper we have analyzed the problem of the substantivized adjectives
being fully or partially substantivized.
In order for an adjective to become fully substantivized, that is, to become a noun the
following strict criteria should work:
1) Ability to form a plural;
2) Ability to have possessive form in -'s;
3) Ability to be modified by determiners such as adjectives, pronouns, articles, etc;
4) Ability to have all the functions of the noun (a subject, predicative, object (attribute,
apposition), adverbial modifiers (in combination with prepositions), tertiary parts of sentences,
that is, parenthesis (expressed by a substantivized adjective functioning as direct address, etc).
Depending on all those factors we have introduced the notions and terms of a:
1)substantivized adjective of the singularia tantum (always have a singular form);
2) substantivized adjective of the pluralia tantum(always have a plural form) in Modern
English. What concerns Uzbek it has all the substantivized adjectives that can have both singular
and plural forms. These are the most relevant typological features of the compared languages
which really might cause interlanguage interference. Such features are to be dealt with in
teaching English (or Uzbek), for they cause some typical mistakes in constructing sentences and
operating with them.
Structurally in the compared languages we have distinguished the following types of the
substantivized adjectives: 1) simple;
2) derivative;
3) composite (of compound and complex types);
4) mixed types of substantivized adjectives.
Adjectives having all the features of nouns are traditionally referred to as “fully
substantivized adjectives”, “wholly substantivized adjectives”, “nouns formed by
conversion or just nouns”.
In our view the most appropriate term for such adjectives is “fully substantivized
adjectives”. So, adjectives like lunatic, relative, conservative, native have acquired all the
morphological features of the nouns.
There is also another big group of the substantivized adjectives that do not bear all the
features of nouns; thus, they are called partially substantivized adjectives. Here by
70
“partially” we don’t mean that they are not fully substantivized, they really are, but we mean
that they can’t demonstrate all the features of the nouns in their functions.
Semantically we distinguish such types and subtypes of the substantivized adjectives in
Modern English and Uzbek as the ones expressing:
1) abstract notions;
2) quality;
3) quantity;
4) state;
5) degree;
6) languages;
7) certain terms (of professional character)
8) nationalities, etc. (As there does not exist a complete list of such names of the
nationalities expressed by the substantivized adjectives in linguistics, neither have they been
presented in English and Uzbek grammar books, we found it useful to make up the list of such
(partially) substantivized adjectives that denote nationalities in the Target language (See p-34)
As we can see from the bulk of the examples provided for the substantivization of
adjectives, the use of articles in the English language needs to be given special attention to as it
may cause interlanguage interference, for Uzbek has no articles at all. Taking this into
consideration, we have worked out the cases that require the usage of a particular article in
Modern English that Uzbek never uses (see p-54).
In the second chapter, we have revealed the isomorphic and allomorphic features of the
substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek for linguodidactic purposes, that is, we
have discovered the typological data of the substantivized adjectives in the two compared
languages for creating an effective methodology of teaching the English substantivized
adjectives at Uzbek schools. Our findings have indicated that the adjectives and the
substantivized adjectives in Modern English and Uzbek bear certain similarities and
dissimilarities both structurally and semantically.
Isomorphic (similar) features exist in many languages of the world because of the
universal laws of language evolution and development. That is, human languages develop under
more or less the same circumstances and the same communicative needs. Here it is noteworthy
that the similarities between English and Uzbek are good because they facilitate easier language
acquisition by Uzbek students, whereas dissimilarities mainly cause typical mistakes.
As regards allomorphic features of languages, they represent divergent mindsets of the
speakers of different languages i.e. people of the world in general have contrasting outlooks and
attitudes to life which results in the dissimilar ways of expressing their thoughts in speech and in
71
different vision of the world. The discrepancies between the two compared languages lead to
considerable language interference amongst learners. In our research paper, we have offered a
number of exercises specifically intended to eliminate such confusions and interlanguage
interferences.
This way the second chapter is a creative part of our research as this section has paved
the way for us to work out effective methodology of teaching the English substantivized
adjectives at Uzbek schools based on the relevant typological features of the substantivized
adjectives in the compared languages for linguadidactic purposes in the next chapter.
So, in the third chapter we have offered several effective strategies and methodical
recommendations for teachers of English to Uzbek learners, and more specifically, we have
made up a system of miscellaneous activities and exercises focusing our attention on the
integration of all the language skills and the use of interactive methods for teaching the topic
under study effectively.
The end product of our contrastive research offers the following perceptive insights into
the knowledge of the adjective and the substantivized adjectives in the languages compared:
The following features of the substantivized adjectives are typical of both the English and the
Uzbek languages ( they are the isomorphic features):
1. The adjectives are substantivized;
2. Structurally, there are simple, derivative and composite types of the substantivized
adjectives;
3. Semantically, there are monosemantic and polysemantic types of the substantivized
adjectives expressing;
4. The use of the substantivized adjectives as nouns is at times quite frequent because of the
communicative needs.
5. Interestingly enough, the suffix “–ish” is exactly the same both in form and meaning in
the two compared languages (Blue – bluish; ko’k – ko’kish, etc). This is regarded as a
coincidental similarity as the two languages are of different typologies and language
families, English being an Indo-European language, and Uzbek a Turkic language.
6. There is a whole system of the substantivized adjectives that are “nouns” expressing
abstract notions, qualities, quantities, states, degrees, nationalities, languages; and certain
notions and terms of professional character.
7. In both languages the substantivized adjectives have the same syntactical functions
(subject, object, predicative, adverbial modifiers (when combined with preposition (in
English) or postpositions (in Uzbek).
72
The features of the English substantivized adjectives uncharacteristic of the Uzbek
substantivized adjectives (they are the allomorphic features);
1. There are the following types of the English substantivized adjectives: Substantivized
adjectives of the singularia tantum proper and improper, and the substantivized adjectives
of the pluralia tantum proper and improper.(see p-52)
2. Some English substantivized adjectives derived from participles(the expected, the unseen, the
injured, etc) are considered to be substantivized adjectives in English whereas in Uzbek
they are still regarded as substantivized participles (kutilgan(lar), jarohatlangan(lar),
o’qigan(lar, va hk.), although we are more inclined to think that any participle in any
language is only then substantivized, when it can function as a subject or an object or even
a predicative and take plural ending “- lar”.
3. Some names of the nationalities which became substantivized have only some of the features
of the noun, i. e. they are partially substantivized (Chinese, Vietnamese) in English,
whereas in Uzbek, such adjectives are fully substantivized (Xitoylikar, Vetnamliklar).
4. In English the names of the nationalities, though expressed by the substantivized adjectives
or not, are always capitalized. But in Uzbek they are not unless they are written at the
beginning of a sentence.
5. The majority of the English substantivized adjectives do not accept the plural -s while all of
the Uzbek substantivized adjectives totally accept the plural forming suffix –lar.
6. In English there exist some adjectives that can not get substantivized as against Uzbek in
which all types of the adjectives can be substantivized.
In the third chapter, which is the main creative one, there has been made an attempt by us
to create an effective strategy for teaching the English substantivtized adjectives at Uzbek high
schools. Departing from the knowledge we have obtained from the various methodical and
methodological research on teaching grammatical phenomena, we have created an effective
strategy fully based on communicative approach to teaching in general and English in particular
which presupposes the extensive use of interactive methods and modern technologies and
advanced means of teaching the language.
First and foremost, we have made a comprehensive and enlarged plan of one lesson as to
the curriculum of the second course of the Department of English in order to realize the strategy
we have worked out. And we have then acted the very plan that helped us to demonstrate our
strategy based on the integrated skills. The strategy offered here is the one that presupposes the
use of advanced methods and procedures in accordance with the requirements of the world
standards of teaching English as an international language, which strictly demands that such
73
methods as interactive ones, requiring all kinds of effective ways of teaching, including
individual work, pair work, group work, team work , clusters, etc.
The whole procedure of applying the strategy worked out by us to the process of
teaching the English substantivized adjectives at Uzbek high schools is based on the three main
phases of any teaching , that is preactivities (brainstorming, warm-up, lead-in, etc), while/during
activities (presentation, acquisition or mastering of the material under study) and postactivities
(consolidation of the covered material by applying communicative approach) with a permanent
focus on the substantivized adjectives. The strategy under use is experimented through a system
of exercises (language, conditional speech and speech exercises) that mutually complete one
another in comprehensive learning of the grammatical material for purely communicative
purposes.
We hope that the strategy we have created in our graduation paper may tend to be useful
assets for working out effective methods and methodologies for teaching certain other
grammatical topics more or less related to the topic of our research work.
We also hope that our research will yield benefits to the comparative study of the Uzbek
and English languages, to the translation processes, and to the development of the theory of the
substantivized adjectives in the languages compared. More importantly, the teaching methods,
strategies and activities for teaching the substantivized we have worked out will hopefully be a
good manual and a methodical reference for the teachers of the English language at Uzbek
higher schools.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
74
1. Karimov I. A. Basic Principles of Social, Political and Economic Development of
Uzbekistan. – Tashkent, “Uzbekiston”: 1995. – 69 p.
2. Address by President Islam Karimov at the festive ceremony dedicated to the 21st
Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Governmental Portal of
the Republic of Uzbekistan – September 1, 2012.
3. Abdurahmonov G. A., Hojiyev A. P., Shoabduramonov Sh. Sh. O’zbek Tili
Grammatikasi. –Toshkent, “Fan”: 1976. – 559 p.
4. Abdurahmonov H., Rafiev A., Shodmonqulova D. O’zbek tilining amaliy grammatikasi.
– Toshkent, O’qituvchi”: 1992. – 253 p.
5. Barhudarov L.S., Shteling D.A. A Grammar of English. - Moscow, “Vysshaya
Shkola”: 1973. – 419 p.
6. Barabash T.A. English Grammar. – Moscow, “Vysshaya Shkola”: 1983. – 239 p.
7. Biber D., Johansson S., Leech G., Finegan E. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written
English. Pearson Education Limited, London: 1999. – 1204 p.
8. Brown G. The Grammar of English Grammars. - Project Gutenberg’s: 2004. – 1456 p.
9. Buronov J., Hoshimov U., Ismatullaev H. English Grammar (Morphology, Syntax). –
“Tashkent”, 1974. – 351 p.
10. Buzan T. The Power of Creative Intelligence. – HarperCollins Publishers: 2001. – 175 p.
11. Cambridge Advanced Learners’ Dictionary. – Cambridge University Press: 2008.
12. Close R.A. A Reference Grammar for Students of English. - “Prosveshenie”: 1979. –
341 p.
13. Eastwood J. Oxford Guide to English Grammar. - Oxford University Press: 1994. - 446
p.
14. Hoshimov G. M. Lectures on The theory of English Grammar (Morphology) – Andijon:
2012.
15. Ilyish B. A. The Structure of Modern English. “Prosveshenie” - Leningrad: 1971. – 365
p.
16. Jespersen O. The Philosophy of Grammar. - George Allen & Unwin Ltd, - London: 1924.
– 358 p.
17. Kachalova K. N., Israelevich E. E. English Grammar. – Bishkek: 2007. – 661 p.
18. Kaushanskaya V. L., Kovner R.L., Kojevnikova O. N., Sirlina F. Y., Prokofeva E. V.,
Raynes Z. S., Skvirskaya S. E. A Grammar of the English Language. P.E.D.G.I.Z. –
Leningrad: 1963. – 316 p.
19. Portal of the Embassy of Uzbekistan to the United States. Science and Education.
75
20. Quirk R., Geenbaum S., Leech G., Svartik J. A University Grammar of English. -
Moscow, Vysshaya Shkola: 1982. – 389 p.
21. Sargeant H. Basic English Grammar. – USA. Saddleback Educational Publishing: 2007.
– 154 p.
22. Siddiqova M., Yunusova Z., Hoshimova M. Amaliy Tilshunoslik va Adabiyatshunoslik. -
Andijon Nashriyot-Matbaa OAJ, Andijon: 2004. – 56 p.
23. Xalq So’zi gazetasi 2012-yil, 11-dekabrdagi soni.
24. O’zbek Tili va Adaboyoti jurnali, 1/2010, “Fan” Toshkent, 2010.
25. O’zbek Xalq Maqollari. - ,,Yangi Asr Avlodi”: 2011. – 215 p.
26. “UZINFOINVEST” the Information Support & Foreign Investments Promotion Agency
76