Nouns Flashcards
Proper noun
A specific name for a particular person, place or thing (always capitalised, sometimes called proper names) -> Buckinghamshire, Peter
Common noun
Generic name for one item in a class/group -> dog, ice cream, dentist
Singular
Noun form indicating-> one object (a book, a boy, snow, friendship), indivisible whole
Plural
Denotes more that one object (books, boys)
Nouns only in plural
Collective meaning (sweepings, belongings, tidings)
Or
Composite objects (scissors, eye glasses, trousers)
Pronouns of -s
/-s/ after voiceless con.(caps, hats)
/-z/ after voiced con.(arms, bags)
/-iz/ after sibilants (horses, noses)
-s,ss,x,ch,sh,tch +es /iz/
Buses, glasses, boxes
-o + -es
Echoes, heroes
Not for foreign origin/abbreviated words -s (autos, radios, zoos
Both s or es (buffalo(e)s, volcano(e)s
Ending -y
After the cons.
y dropped + ie added (babies, flies)
Proper names add s (Henrys, Marys)
Preceded by a vowel add s (boys, days)
Nouns ending in -th
No change in spelling-> cons. before -th >regular Pl ( berths, births, months), vowel before -th > Pl often regular (cloths, deaths, myths)
Pl has voicing (mouths, paths)
Both regular + voiced Pl (baths, oaths)
Noun - f
Pl with voicing -ves (calves, elves, lives)
Regular Pl (beliefs, chiefs, cliffs)
Both regular + voiced Pl (dwarfs/dwarves, hoofs/hooves, scarfs/scarves
Mutation
Involves a change in a vowel (feet, geese, lice, (wo)men, mice, teeth)
Note - woman&women (different pronunciation in both syllables), postman & postmen (pronounce identically
Case (relation of a N to other units)
Common case, genitive case
Genitive (‘s) pronunciation
Voiceless cons(s) -> cat’s, Jack’s
Vowel and voiced cons.(z) -> boy’s, men’s
After s,z,š,ž,tš,dž(iz) -> boys-boys’
Proper nouns ending s
Can both (Charles’s, Charles’
Optional use of genetive
A few weeks’/weeks holiday
Ten years imprisoned
Dollars’ worth vs. pounds worth
An hour’s discussion, a month’s holiday
Specifying genitives
Specify the reference in the same way as a determiner (a,the,that,the girl’s face)
Paraphrased by a postmodifying PP of (the girl’s face x the face of the girl)
Generic reference also possible (specific x generic) -> the clip-clop of a horse’s hoofs x something of a horse’s beauty
Can be substituted for a possessive pronoun
Classifying genitives
Function of some Gs is to classify (the bird’s owner, her two children’s clothes, a bird’s nest)
Classifying g. answer what kind of (similar to adjectives/ premodifier)
Inseparable ( new children’s shoes) can paraphrase by for phase ( shoes for children)
Idiomal meaning ( a bull’s eye, hornet’s nest)
Frequent use with personal Ns (boys’ camp, a women’s clothing)
Generatives of time and measure
Specify location in time (yesterday’s job, Friday’s steep)
Alternating with common case (winter’s day x winter day)
Expression of duration, distance, value, amount (arm’s length, a stone’s throw, fifty pounds’ worth)
Elliptic (independent) genitive
Head noun recoverable, G phase on its own (that’s not my [phone]. It’s Selina’s)
Full NP with G reduced if it reappears ( I don’t fancy sitting in Terry and Linda’s flat. I wasn’t planning on staying at Terry and Linda’s all night.
Conventional Gs -> no need for a head noun ( she’s going to a friend’s)
Group genitives
G suffix -> last word of a G phase (the father of five’s face was bad)
Coordinate construction (Zoe and Lucy’s room)
Group G ( Britain and China’s war ) x 2 coordinated s-Gs ( England’s and Holland’s -> two different group)
Double genitive
Of + s-G ( a good idea of John’s friend)
Usually with demonstratives pronouns( this mansion of her father’s)
Occasionally with wh-determiners ( what business of Winter’s )
Gender
Less important grammatical category, tied to biological sex ( sg pers., possessive and reflexive pronouns)
Not only reflect reality, also convention, speaker’s choice
Strategy to avoid gender refs.
Pronouns for personal/neuter gender (indefinite -> body/thing,interrogative who/what, relative who/which)
Gender lexical pairs
Male x female (dad x mum, king x queen)
Formal markers-> premodification (male/female …), compounding (man/woman), derivational ending (ess/ or,er), some word -> strong masculine overtones ( soldier, labourer)
Masculine for no specific referent ( a Ford spokesman), masculine even for women (Eyeline spokesman Evelyn Johnson), dual gender persons, people ( chairperson, spokesperson)
