What is peripheral adjective?

Question

i really need info about peripheral adjective for my presentation.Can someone help me?i need the examples and how to define peripheral adjevtive.Thank you..

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Here's a start:

'The main criteria for the adjective class are gradability, comparative and superlative forms, and the ability to occur attributively and predicatively. Most adjectives fulfil all these criteria, and are known as CENTRAL adjectives. Those which do not fulfil all the criteria are known as PERIPHERAL adjectives.

Anonymous · Answer

Surely, the main criterion for the adjective class is that its members modify (give additional information about) associated nouns. Warren (1984) separates their semantic / pragmatic roles into

a) classifying adjectives (eg nuclear reaction; they indicate sub-sets)
b) identifying adjectives (eg Pass me the blue shirt; they pick out, rather like determiners, but have adjectival meaning )
c) descriptive adjectives (merely adding further information)

They are further classified (syntactically) by the positions they may take in grammatically acceptable structures:

The beautiful blue sky ... (attributive position)
The sky is blue... (predicative position)

Most adjectives can be used in either of these positions, but some are restricted to the attributive position (eg chemical reaction) or to the predicative position (eg John is asleep).
There is a third position some may take - after the associated noun (eg the runway proper - not the grass verge!). The meaning may change if the position is allowed to (eg the proper runway - not that one they only use in emergencies).

Again, some but not all adjectives may themselves accept modifiers (very high, suspiciously quiet, *highly chemical) and have comparative and superlative forms (high, higher, highest; good, better, best; important, more important, most important; nuclear, *more nuclear . . .).

Some authorities separate 'well-behaved' ("central") adjectives from "peripheral adjectives" - central ones being as mentioned in the first answer, above.

However, this masks the fact that some adjectives - and I think everyone would call these at least peripheral (or marginal or possibly not even adjectives!) don't even really modify the adjacent noun.

a heavy man is, of course, heavy but a heavy drinker needn't be (this is called non-inherent usage)

a hard surface is hard but a hard worker works hard

a proud parent is proud but a proud moment is experienced by a proud parent say

Where the adjective is clearly associated with a second noun elsewhere in the passage, or deducible from the context, it is called a transferred epithet. Disabled Toilet signs are a good example.

However, with some adjectives-or-are-they, it is impossible to posit a reasonable second noun referent.eg

A former president. Former refers to a state/position/condition existing in a previous time - neither the former president nor anyone else can be said to be former.

A mere youth. Mere, perhaps the most peripheral of all adjectives (I expect it will escape soon) refers to 'membership of that
class, regarded as ineffectual, naive and needing care, known as youths'. Youths are not mere, and youth is not mere.

E F Ashworth

Anonymous · Answer

Could an administrator please correct the inappropriate carry, which I do not accept responsibility for, and add the essential 'here' before refers to in the penultimate sentence in my above post, which omission I do accept responsibility for?

Thank you, Edwin Ashworth

Mister Micawber · Answer

You have responded to a year-old post, Edwin, so perhaps no one will notice.

Anonymous · Answer

I would hope anyone researching 'peripheral adjectives' would, and you're very high up the Google pecking order!

What is peripheral adjective?

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