Survey of Foreign Linguistics

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-12-01
Features: Fragment: Adjacency Pair
In Conversation Analysis, it refers to the relationship between utterances produced consecutively by the two parties in a conversation. In a conversation, the speaker issues a specific type of utterance, forcing the other participant to respond in a way that matches it. For example:
A: You lost the key. (You lost the key.)
B: It wasn’t me. (It wasn’t me.)
In the dialogue above, A expresses a complaint, and B responds with a denial. Such a sequence of complaint followed by denial constitutes a pair of adjacency. Other examples include: greeting—greeting, question—answer, request—agreement/refusal, invitation—acceptance/rejection, offer of help—acceptance/refusal, complaint—apology, etc. See Conversation Analysis; turn entry.
Adjacency Principle
The Adjacency Principle is a principle in Government and Binding Theory. It requires that complement with case marking should precede complement without case marking. In this way, the complement with case marking is in adjacency with the head of the phrase. See Complement; Government and Binding Theory entry.
adjective (ADJ, A)
An adjective is a type of word that primarily functions to modify nouns, describing the characteristics or attributes of the things represented by nouns. Adjectives typically appear in noun phrases, serving as adjectives, such as "large" in "a large book." They can also appear after a verb or in the position of a complement or subject, such as "stupid" in "He called it stupid" and "ready" in "It is ready." Adjectives can also function as the head of certain phrases, such as "satisfactory" in "very satisfactory." Some types of clauses also have adjective functions, such as "Isold" in "the book I sold" (the book I sold).
Most English adjectives have three forms: base form, comparative form, and superlative form. The latter two are usually formed by adding the suffixes - (e)r and - (e)st to the adjective or by adding more, most, or less, least before the adjective. For example: high (high), higher (higher), highest (highest); difficult (difficult), more difficult (more difficult), most difficult (most difficult); probable (probable), less probable (less probable), least probable (least probable). See gradability; modification entry.
adjoin
See adjunction entry.
adjunct
Modifying element; adjunct
1. Refers to any component or minor element in a structure, i.e., its removal does not affect the core of the structure. Typical examples include: vocative elements, adjectives, or adverbs. For example, "John" in "John, please close the door" and "always" in "He always helps me." See word class.
2. In X-bar Theory, refers to one of the main components of a phrase, with other components including the head, complement, and specifier. See X-bar Theory entry.
3. In some grammatical models, refers to a subclass of adverbials, specifically adverbials that modify adverbs. It contrasts with conjunct adverbials (conjuncts) and disjunct adverbials (disconjuncts). See adverbial entry.