The Noun
por Natalia Petruhina
1. Classifications of nouns
1.1. Grammatically: - countable/ uncountable (category of number), - declinable/ indeclinable (category of case)
1.2. Semantically: - abstract nouns (freedom, fear), - concrete nouns (puppy, pizza), - names of materials (clay, marble), - names of things (a clay, a marble), - animate/inanimate nouns, - proper names (Alfred Nobel, Alessandro Volta, Atlas, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, Guy Fawkes), - common nouns (a nobel, a volt, an atlas, a guillotine, a guy)
2. Categories
2.1. of case
2.1.1. a many-case system
2.1.1.1. Nominative
2.1.1.2. Genitive
2.1.1.3. Accusative
2.1.1.4. Dative
2.1.1.5. Vocative
2.1.1.6. Instrumental
2.1.2. a two-case system
2.1.2.1. the common case
2.1.2.2. the genitive case: meanings
2.1.2.2.1. posession
2.1.2.2.2. the relations between people
2.1.2.2.3. part of the whole
2.1.2.2.4. subjective
2.1.2.2.5. objective
2.1.2.2.6. qualitative
2.2. of number
2.2.1. singular (one)
2.2.2. plural (more than one)
2.2.3. SPECIAL CASES
2.2.3.1. The Pluralia Tantum (spectacles, measles)
2.2.3.2. The Singularia Tantum (snow, sugar)
3. General information
3.1. Meaning: thingness or substance
3.2. Form: - grammatical morphemes (relative) s, 's (categories of number and case) - lexical morphemes (derivative): -ment, -ship, -er etc.
3.3. Function: - phrase level: Adj. + N pretty girl, N+V a girl dances, V+N to read books - sentence level: subject, object
4. Genders
4.1. Masculine Gender: a noun that denotes the male genre is said to be of masculine gender (duke, actor, god).
4.2. Feminine Gender: a noun that denotes the female genre is said to be of feminine gender (duchess, actress, goddess).
4.2.1. Formation: 1) by adding suffixes –ess, -ine, -trix, -a 2) by paling a word before or after the noun