Adjectives

Is the word "golden" a possessive, interogative, compound, demonstrative, indefinate or noun as adjective kind of adjective?

[RonBee]

Of all the possibilities given, it (golden) is only an adjective.

golden
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=golden

:)

[Casiopea]

The suffix -en, meaning “made of, resembling,” is an adjective suffix. That is, it changes nouns into adjectives: wood-> wooden, gold -> golden.

The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

gold is a thing, a noun. If we add -en, we get an adjective, golden, which means "made of".

Often times, the endings -en is dropped:

oaken table ~ oak table
woolen shirt ~ wool shirt
golden tooth ~ gold tooth

:D

[RonBee]

What class of adjective would you put golden in?

:)

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by RonBee

What class of adjective would you put golden in?

:)

Based on the current (i.e. published) classes, of which there are two: attributive and predicative, golden, based on its function and distribution would be classified as an attributive adjective.

Compare:

The chicken was fried black.
==>'black' refers to chicken. 'black' is predicative.

The chicken was fried golden-brown.
==> 'golden' refers to 'brown'. 'golden' is attributive.

The chicken was fried golden (?) awkward
==> 'golden' refers to the chicken.

Hypothesis: Seems that adjectives made from nouns (i.e. gold -> golden) cannot function predicatively. It's a working thought. :D

Past participle -en ending denotes 'made of', similar to yet distinct from 'make' of causative constructs:

He goldened the apple. (He made it *golden)

Compare:

It's golden crispy appeal. (I's attributes) Attributive adjective

:D

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Based on the current (i.e. published) classes, of which there are two: attributive and predicative, golden, based on its function and distribution would be classified as an attributive adjective.

Compare:

The chicken was fried black.
==>'black' refers to chicken. 'black' is predicative.

The chicken was fried golden-brown.
==> 'golden' refers to 'brown'. 'golden' is attributive.

The chicken was fried golden (?) awkward
==> 'golden' refers to the chicken.

Hypothesis: Seems that adjectives made from nouns (i.e. gold -> golden) cannot function predicatively. It's a working thought. :D

Past participle -en ending denotes 'made of', similar to yet distinct from 'make' of causative constructs:

He goldened the apple. (He made it *golden)

Compare:

It's golden crispy appeal. (I's attributes) Attributive adjective

:D

That is all very good, but there is one thing I don't understand. What does I's attributes refer to? Also, shouldn't it be Its golden crispy appeal?

:)

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by RonBee

That is all very good, but there is one thing I don't understand. What does I's attributes refer to? Also, shouldn't it be Its golden crispy appeal? :)

He-he.

It's attributes. (it has contracted to it's)
*It's golden crispy appeal. (my own stupidity)

:D