Noun Attribute in English

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1、Noun Attribute in EnglishAbstract: In English, noun can be directly used as attribute to modify another noun and to express many complex meanings without any kind of changes and being added any adjective suffixes. In modern English, using noun attribute is becoming more and more common for noun attr

2、ibute can be used succinctly, precisely, conveniently and vividly; and applying noun attribute has become one feature of the modern English for its obvious advantages of expression. In this paper, lots of examples are displayed, and by using them, the general knowledge of noun attribute is illustrat

3、ed, such as classification, internal relationship, external relationship, grammatical function and pragmatic function of noun attribute. The purpose of this simple research work is to try to make reader understand the general knowledge and frame about noun attribute; to help reader acquire noun attr

4、ibute and have a good command of this simple, flexible, convenient, significant and vivid way of expression. What has been covered in this paper is not the thorough scope of noun attribute and is not very penetrating as well. All in all, noun attribute is the trend of modern English, attention shoul

5、d be paid during our study and work. Key words: noun attribute; classifications; relationships; functions 1. Introduction In English, there is a very common phenomenon noun attribute. Such as “coffee cup”, “book store” and “efficiency expert” are the examples of using noun attribute. In these three

6、examples, “coffee”, “book” and “efficiency”, without any kind of changes and being added any adjective suffixes, are directly applied as attribute to modify “cup”, “store” and “expert”. In modern English, using noun attribute is becoming more and more common for noun attribute can be used succinctly

7、, precisely, conveniently and vividly; and applying noun attribute has become one feature of the modern English for its obvious advantages of expression. Noun attribute is a simple, flexible and handy approach of expression, but the classifications, internal and external relationship, and functions

8、of noun attribute are important and complex. So, general knowledge of noun attribute is covered in this paper. 1.1 Definition Lu (1999) said, “In English, noun can be used as attribute directly to modify another noun without any kind of changes and being added any adjective suffixes. This kind of at

9、tribute is named noun attribute”. Yu (2000) mentioned, “Noun attribute means that one noun modifies another by being the modifier”.Qiang (2004) stated, “Noun attribute is a kind of word formation for it seems like a compounded word that is not connected with hyphen(s)”. Zheng (2005) said, “In Englis

10、h, noun attribute means that one noun, which has no changes, is directly used as attribute to modify the other noun”.In this paper, noun attribute means that one noun or several nouns, being in the position of a modifier, modifies or modify a head word with the function of an attribute. Based on the

11、 opinion, a pattern is drawn from the definition to help better understand the definition. The pattern is “N1N2N3Nn+Nn+1” (“N” means noun, and “n” determines the number of nouns). And this pattern shows that these nouns, “N1N2N3Nn”, are served as attribute, while “Nn+1” is served as the head word.1.

12、2 Reasons of being popular One reason of being popular is its importance. Under some circumstances, noun can be used as attribute to modify other nouns succinctly and precisely; while adjectives can not. The usage of noun attribute can show the compactness of sentence structure, the smoothness of wr

13、iting and the effect of conciseness and comprehensiveness. In modern English, the phenomenon that noun is directly applied as attribute to modify a head word is becoming more and more common just due to the significance of noun attribute. The other reason of being popular is social needs. The whole

14、world is being in a high paced period in which the knowledge is replaced and renewed quickly and frequently, especially since the human beings entered into the information era, science and technology have been always developing with a very high speed. The linguistics of English language has companie

15、d the rapid developing of science and technology. Without being noticed, the linguistics is always moving forward, toward concise and succinct. The application of noun attribute just meets the needs of the world trend; and is accordant to the peoples desire of seeking a handy and vivid approach of e

16、xpression. It becomes a typical feature of English and is a very tough task of English learning.2. Classifications 2.1 Simple noun attribute Simple noun attribute means that there is only one noun served as attribute to modify a head word. It can be explained by using the pattern mentioned above. Wh

17、en there are two nouns (i.e. the “n” is one), “N1N2N3Nn+Nn+1” (“N” means noun, and “n” determines the number of nouns) shows the pattern of simple noun attribute “N1+N2”. In this pattern, “N1” is a noun served as attribute to modify “N2”, while “N2” is a head word which is modified by “N1”.2.1.1 Sin

18、gular form The pattern of simple noun attribute is “N1+N2”, in which “N1” is in its singular form to modify “N2”. This is what singular form noun attribute is. Sun (2001) said, “When one noun is used as adjective and placed before another noun, it is almost being singular form, even it expresses plu

19、ral meaning”. When countable nouns (“man” and “woman” are not covered here) are used as noun attribute, they should be in singular form, even the meanings what they convey are plural. For example,“a match box”; “lady doctors”, “boy friends”; “girl students” “Man” and “woman” should be in singular fo

20、rm, when they are used as attribute, and their head words are in singular form. For example,“man teacher”; “woman doctor” Compounded determiner, which is connected with hyphen(s) and has the meaning of age, type, height, time, weight, size etc., should be in its singular form when it modifies anothe

21、r noun. For example, “a five-year-old girl”; “a ten-dollar bill”; “a five-meter tree” “Year”, “dollar” and “meter”, the three “N1”s are all in singular form, and show the age, type and height of their head words respectively. A noun, which is always used in its plural form, has the concept of a thin

22、g that is made up by two parts. When this kind of noun is applied as attribute, the noun attribute should be in its singular form. For example,“A scissor sharpener” means “a sharpener for scissors”. “A trouser press” means “a press for trousers”.With the concept of a thing, both “scissors” and “trou

23、sers” are made up by two parts, and always in plural form. When “scissors” and “trousers” are used as attribute, they should be in singular form. The noun attribute should be in its singular form, when prepositional phrase, which is used as attribute, is changed into a noun attribute. The following

24、examples can illustrate the point. “A book of pictures” means “a picture book”. “Decay of teeth” means “tooth decay”. “A box for pencils” means “a pencil box”. There is a special kind of noun attribute in the scope of singular form noun attribute. Some nouns end with “-s” and convey the meaning or c

25、oncept of academic subject. This kind of noun is regarded as singular form even it has plural form spelling. When this kind of noun is used as attribute, it should be in its special singular form. For example,“a mechanics course”; “a mathematics teacher”; “an economics degree” Noun attributes “mecha

26、nics”, “mathematics and “economics” all end with “-s” and convey the meaning or concept of academic subject. So, they should be in their special singular form when they are applied as attribute. From these vivid examples above, a simple conclusion can be made that noun attribute should be in its sin

27、gular form when noun attribute is used under these circumstances mentioned above. 2.1.2 Plural form Traditional grammarians think that noun could be used as noun attribute, and plural form can not be applied. But in our daily life, there are some plural nouns that are used as attribute.Since “N1+N2”

28、 is the pattern of simple noun attribute, when “N1” is in its plural form to modify “N2”, this is plural form noun attribute. Some nouns are used as attribute, and have both the singular and plural form, but the plural form and singular form often have their own meaning respectively. So the plural f

29、orm should be used when the noun is applied as attribute, which has particular meaning. For example,“a customs officer”; “arms aid”; “a glasses frame”When being used as attribute, “customs”, “arms” and “glasses” are all have their certain particular meaning; while when “custom, “arm” and “glass” are

30、 applied as attribute, what they express are different. When “man” and “woman” are used as attribute and their head words are in plural form, “man” and “woman” should be in their relevant plural form as well. For example,“men teachers”; “women doctors” When a noun attribute is in the name of some or

31、ganizations, the noun attribute should be in its plural form. Although this type does not accord with general rules, it does exist in real application. For example,“Trades Union Congress”; “United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization”; “The British Museum Prints and Drawings Gallery”; “Examinat

32、ions Board”; “Accounts Department” “Trade”, “nation”, “print and drawing”, “examination” and “account” are in the name of organizations, so they should be in plural form when they are applied as attribute. When a noun, which can be misunderstood when it is in its singular form, is used as attribute,

33、 this noun should be in its plural form. For example, “seconds hand” After the above analysis, a conclusion can be made that some plural nouns can be applied as attribute in our daily expressions. 2.2 Complex noun attribute Complex noun attribute means that two or more than two nouns serve as attrib

34、ute to modify a head word. It also can be explained with the pattern of noun attribute, “N1N2N3Nn+Nn+1” (“N” means noun, and “n” determines the number of nouns). When the number of noun is three or more than three (i.e. “n” is two or more than two), complex noun attribute is formed. With the develop

35、ment of English, noun attribute becomes popular, and is even applied in serious formal contract and agreement. To apply complex noun attribute can make the sentence succinct, economical and well-knit. For example,“The state teacher retirement fund” means “the fund of retirement for the teachers of t

36、he state”. “The income tax rate” means “the rate of tax on income”. “Fruit trees research station” means “the station for the research of fruit trees”.“Friday morning service” means “a service in the morning on Friday”. “State teacher retirement”, “income tax”, “fruit trees research” and “Friday mor

37、ning” are complex noun attributes which modify the head words “fund”, “rate”, “station” and “service”.3. Relationships 3.1 Internal relationship Internal relationship means the semantic relationship between noun attribute and modified head word. It can also be understood as the relationship between

38、“N1” and “N2”, or “N1N2” and “N3”.3.1.1 Subject and object The semantic relation between noun attribute and the modified head word is that noun attribute plays a role of subject, and the modified head word plays a role of object. For example, “School decision” means “school made the decision”. “The

39、volcano eruption” means “the volcano made the eruption”.“Parents suggestion” means “parents made the suggestion”. Attributes “school”, “volcano” and “parents” can be objects, while modified head words “decision”, “eruption” and “suggestion” can function as subject.3.1.2 Adverbial and predicate As in

40、 the following examples, the semantic relation is that noun attribute plays a role of adverbial, and the modified head word plays a role of predicate. In this structure, the majority of nouns which play the role of predicate are gerunds. “Impulse buying” means “buying on impulse”. “Panic running” me

41、ans “running with a panic”. The shown semantic relation is that nouns “impulse” and “panic” are used as attribute and these two noun attributes play a role of adverbial; while head words “buying” and “running” play a role of predicate. 3.1.3 Appositive “Member country” means “a country which is a me

42、mber”.“Killer shark” means “a shark which is a killer”.“Her doctor brother” means “her brother who is a doctor”. “His writer wife” means “his wife who is a writer”. Above examples show that noun attributes “member”, “killer”, “doctor” and “writer” play a role of appositive. 3.1.4 Object and subject

43、As in the following examples, the semantic relation is that noun attribute plays a role of object, while modified noun plays a role of subject.“An animal trainer” means “a person who trains animals”. “Drug addict” means “a person who is addicted to drug”. “Appointment secretary” means “secretary who

44、 arranges appointments”. “Animal”, “drug” and “appointment” are attributes and play a role of object, while head words “trainer”, “addict” and “secretary” play a role of subject. 3.2 External relationship In English, there are several forms of attribute to modify noun, such as noun, adjective, genit

45、ive case, prepositional phrase etc. So the external relationship refers to the relationships between noun attribute and several other forms of attribute; and here, the differences between them are mainly covered. 3.2.1 Noun attribute and adjective Generally speaking, noun is served to express the na

46、mes of people and things and can explain the modified head word; while adjective is used to describe the characteristics of people and things and can describe the modified head word. The difference between noun attribute and adjective is that noun has stronger limit of specification, while adjective

47、 has stronger description. For example, “An army officer” means “a person who serves in the army as an officer”.“His girl friend” means “his friend who is a girl”. “A gold ring” means “a ring which is made of gold”. “A new book” means “a book which is new”. “A large house” means “a house which is la

48、rge”. “A square cup” means “a cup which is square”. In order to specify “officer”, “friend” and “ring”, nouns “army”, “girl” and “gold” are applied as attribute. To describe “book”, “house” and “cup”, adjectives “new”, “large” and “square” are used as attribute.As in the following examples, one obvi

49、ous difference is that noun attribute only modifies noun, while adjective can modify noun and pronoun. “orange juice”; “time table” a green pen a green one a good dictionary a good one small apples small ones Noun attributes “orange” and “time” are used to modify noun. Adjectives “green”, “good” and

50、 “small” can modify either noun or pronoun. From the aspect of providing information, adjectives can provide information which makes people feel that it is temporary or subjective; while noun attribute can provide information which is eternal or objective. For example, an ice patch & icy winda beaut

51、y spot & beautiful viewheart trouble & hearty welcomeNoun attributes “ice”, “beauty” and “heart” show readers that the provided information is eternal or objective. “Icy”, “beautiful” and “hearty” provide the information which makes people feel that it is temporary or subjective.As in the following

52、examples, noun attribute is applied to describe the material or purpose of the modified head word; adjective often has the extended meaning which derives from the feature of its relevant noun. a stone house & stony heart a gold medal & a golden opportunity a wood house & a wooden smilea flower garde

53、n & flowery speech “Stone”, “gold” and “wood” are used as attribute and they describe what their modified head word is made of; while noun attribute “flower” explains what “garden” is used for. When “stony”, “golden”, “wooden” and “flowery” are used as attribute, they have extended meaning for the f

54、eature of their relevant noun.3.2.2 Noun attribute and genitive case Genitive case is the use of determiner. When it is used as the expression of category, it is not determiner any more; it is a kind of premodifier. Under this circumstance, the genitive case and noun attribute can replace each other

55、. For example, “Journalists association” means “Journalists association”. “Teachers Training school” means “Teachers Training school”. From the following examples, what can be obviously shown is that the difference between noun attribute and genitive case is the classification of covering. Genitive

56、case covers the scope of living things, while the noun attribute covers the scope of things which are not alive. For example, “a birds nest”; “a farmers work”; “the Womens University” “a tea merchant”; “a typewriter key”Being modified by the genitive case, “nest”, “work” and “university” show that t

57、hey are the belongings of living things. “Tea” and “typewriter” are used as attribute to modify “merchant” and “key” and to show that the modified head words are covered in the scope of things which are not alive. Sometimes, the genitive case also modifies some nouns which are not alive. But these n

58、ouns are related to peoples body, human beings activities, cultural life, geography and geographical names of places. For example, “my lifes aim”; “the brains weight”; “the bodys needs”; “the earths interior”; “chinas development”The range of expression is different. Noun modifies noun means general

59、 reference refers to the whole kind. But the modification of the genitive case refers in particular to a specific thing. For example, “Dog food” means “food that is used to feed dog”. “The dogs food” means “the food that is used to feed a specific dog”. “A Sunday paper” means “a paper which is named

60、 Sunday”. “The Sundays paper” means “the paper which is published on Sundays”.“Machine design” means “designed by machine”. “The machines design” means “designed by the particular machine”.3.2.3 Noun attribute and prepositional phrase Because of the needs of syntax and rhetoric feature, or the consi

61、deration of the length of a piece of writing, noun and prepositional phrase are used as attribute; they can replace each other sometimes. That is to say, noun attribute can be changed into postpositioned attributive which is served by prepositional phrase, or the latter can be changed into the forme

62、r. Both the noun attribute and the prepositional phrase, which is acted as attribute, almost have the same meaning, so they can replace each other. For example, “His life story” means “the story about his life”. “A pencil box” means “a box for pencils”. There is a big gap between the noun attribute

63、and prepositional phrase which is used as attribute. The meaning is vague or can not be understood after the prepositional phrase as attribute changing into noun attribute. Generally speaking, noun served as attribute is applied to describe the things which are common and familiar to people. For exa

64、mple, the man in the corner the corner mana box for paper a paper box = a box of paper = a box made of paperThe meaning is changed basically when the prepositional phrase is used as attribute changing into noun attribute. For example, goods of the consumer consumer goods a state with welfare welfare

65、 state “Consumer goods” is an expression, which has definite meaning “the goods which is for consuming”. “Goods of the consumer” means “goods which are for consumer”. “Welfare state” means that “a country or a kind of social policy which provides social insurance, unemployment compensation, free medical care and so on”. Here, “welfare state” is an abstract concept; while “a state wi