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Phonetics, the study of speech sounds and their physiological production and acoustic qualities. It deals with the configurations of the vocal tract used to produce speech sounds (articulatory phonetics), the acoustic properties of speech sounds (acoustic phonetics), and the manner of combining sounds so as to make syllables, words, and sentences (linguistic phonetics).

linguistics: Phonetics and dialectology

Many other interesting and important developments occurred in 19th-century linguistic research, among them work in the areas of phonetics and dialectology. Research in both these fields was promoted by the Neogrammarians' concern with sound change and by their insistence that prehistoric developments...

Articulatory phonetics

The traditional method of describing speech sounds is in terms of the movements of the vocal organs that produce them. The main structures that are important in the production of speech are the lungs and the respiratory system, together with the vocal organs shown in Figure 1. The airstream from the lungs passes between the vocal cords, which are two small muscular folds located in the larynx at the top of the windpipe. The space between the vocal cords is known as the glottis. If the vocal cords are apart, as they are normally when breathing out, the air from the lungs will have a relatively free passage into the pharynx (see Figure 1) and the mouth. But if the vocal cords are adjusted so that there is a narrow passage between them, the airstream will cause them to be sucked together. As soon as they are together there will be no flow of air, and the pressure below them will be built up until they are blown apart again. The flow of air between them will then cause them to be sucked together again, and the vibratory cycle will continue. Sounds produced when the vocal cords are vibrating are said to be voiced, as opposed to those in which the vocal cords are apart, which are said to be voiceless.

The air passages above the vocal cords are known collectively as the vocal tract. For phonetic purposes they may be divided into the oral tract within the mouth and the pharynx, and the nasal tract within the nose. Many speech sounds are characterized by movements of the lower articulators- i.e., the tongue or the lower lip-toward the upper articulators within the oral tract. The upper surface includes several important structures from the point of view of speech production, such as the upper lip and the upper teeth; Figure 1 illustrates most of the terms that are commonly used. The alveolar ridge is a small protuberance just behind the upper front teeth that can easily be felt with the tongue. The major part of the roof of the mouth is formed by the hard palate in the front, and the soft palate or velum at the back. The soft palate is a muscular flap that can be raised so as to shut off the nasal tract and prevent air from going out through the nose. When it is raised so that the soft palate is pressed against the back wall of the pharynx there is said to be a velic closure. At the lower end of the soft palate is a small hanging appendage known as the uvula.

As may be seen from Figure 1, there are also specific names for different parts of the tongue. The tip and blade are the most mobile parts. Behind the blade is the so-called front of the tongue; it is actually the forward part of the body of the tongue and lies underneath the hard palate when the tongue is at rest. The remainder of the body of the tongue may be divided into the centre, which is partly beneath the hard palate and partly beneath the soft palate; the back, which is beneath the soft palate; and the root, which is opposite the back wall of the pharynx.

The major division in speech sounds is that between vowels and consonants. Phoneticians have found it difficult to give a precise definition of the articulatory distinction between these two classes of sounds. Most authorities would agree that a vowel is a sound that is produced without any major constrictions in the vocal tract, so that there is a relatively free passage for the air. It is also syllabic. This description is unsatisfactory in that no adequate definition of the notion syllabic has yet been formulated.

Consonants

In the formation of consonants, the airstream through the vocal tract is obstructed in some way. Consonants can be classified according to the place and manner of this obstruction. Some of the possible places of articulation are indicated by the arrows going from one of the lower articulators to one of the upper articulators in Figure 1. The principal terms that are required in the description of English articulation, and the structures of the vocal tract that they involve are: bilabial, the two lips; dental, tongue tip or blade and the upper front teeth; alveolar, tongue tip or blade and the teeth ridge; retroflex, tongue tip and the back part of the teeth ridge; palato-alveolar, tongue blade and the back part of the teeth ridge; palatal, front of tongue and hard palate; and velar, back of tongue and soft palate. The additional places of articulation shown in Figure 1 are required in the description of other languages. Note that the terms for the various places of articulation denote both the portion of the lower articulators ( i.e., lower lip and tongue) and the portion of the upper articulatory structures that are involved. Thus velar denotes a sound in which the back of the tongue and the soft palate are involved, and retroflex implies a sound involving the tip of the tongue and the back part of the alveolar ridge. If it is necessary to distinguish between sounds made with the tip of the tongue and those made with the blade, the terms apical (tip) and laminal (blade) may be used.

There are six basic manners of articulation that can be used at these places of articulation: stop, fricative, approximant, trill, tap, and lateral.

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Phonetics: Phonetics, the study of speech sounds and their physiological production and acoustic qualities. It deals with the configurations of the vocal tract used to produce speech sounds (articulatory phonetics), the acoustic properties of speech sounds (acoustic phonetics), and the manner of combining

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Nouns: Types of Nouns With Examples | Grammarly

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Nouns are everywhere in our writing. But what are all the types of nouns you come across, and how do you use them?

A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea. In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement, appositive, or modifier.

Some noun examples include:

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Types of nouns

Nouns form a large proportion of English vocabulary, and they come in a wide variety of types.

Nouns can name a person:

Nouns can name a place:

Nouns can name things:

Things might include intangible things, such as concepts, activities, or processes. Some might even be hypothetical or imaginary things.

Proper nouns vs. common nouns

One important distinction to be made is whether a noun is a proper noun or a common noun. A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing and is always capitalized.

Tina is the name of a specific person.

Old Faithful is the specific name of a geological phenomenon.

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a generic noun. A common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not capitalized unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading this sentence, though we know the action she takes. River is also a common noun in this sentence.

Types of common nouns

Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns, abstract nouns, and collective nouns. A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is physical or real.

Doorbell and keyboard name real things that can be sensed.

Conversely, an abstract noun is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

Courage is an abstract noun. Courage can't be seen, heard, or sensed in any other way, but we know it exists.

A collective noun denotes a group or collection of people or things.

Pack as used here is a collective noun. Collective nouns take a singular verb, as they refer to the collection of people or things they identify as one entity-in this case, the singular verb is.

Pride is also a collective noun.

Nouns and number

All nouns are either singular or plural in number. A singular noun refers to one person, place, thing, or idea and requires a singular verb, while a plural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea and requires a plural verb.

Forming plural nouns

Many English plural nouns can be formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are also many exceptions.

Note the plural verb are.

Countable nouns vs. uncountable nouns

Concrete and abstract common nouns can be further classified as either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted, even if the resulting number would be extraordinarily high (like the number of humans in the world). Countable nouns can be singular or plural and can be used with numbers and modifiers like a/an, the, some, any, a few, and many.

Uncountable nouns, or mass nouns, are nouns that are impossible to count, whether because they name intangible concepts (e.g., information, animal husbandry, wealth), collections of things that are considered as wholes (e.g., jewelry, equipment, the working class), or homogeneous physical substances (e.g., milk, sand, air). Although most of these nouns are singular in form, because they refer to things that can't be isolated and counted on their own, they are never used with the singular indefinite article a or an. Singular concrete uncountable nouns can often be expressed in countable units by adding a countable noun like piece (with of). On their own, uncountable nouns can be modified by the definite article, the, or indefinite adjectives like some.

Nouns and the possessive case

The possessive case shows the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. That relationship can be ownership, possession, occupancy, a personal relationship, or another kind of association. The possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and the letter s.

The cat possesses the toy, and we denote this by use of -' s at the end of cat.

Here, the possessive case indicates the relationship between Casey and their sister.

In the above example, the possessive case is denoting that novel is in the role of object in relationship to release; someone released the novel.

The possessive of a plural noun that ends in - s or - es is formed by adding just an apostrophe.

The possessive of an irregular plural noun is formed by adding - 's.

When a singular noun ends in the letter s or z, the general rule of adding - 's often applies.

This is a matter of a style, however, and some style guides call for leaving off the s after the apostrophe.

Whichever style an organization or writer chooses should be used consistently.

Functions of nouns

Nouns take on different roles based on their relationships to the rest of the words in a sentence.

Nouns as subjects

Every sentence must have a subject, and that subject will always be a noun or pronoun. The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is doing or being or experiencing whatever is described by the verb of the sentence.
Maria played the piece beautifully.
The noun Maria is the subject of this sentence; it tells us who is performing the action described by the sentence's verb ( played).

Nouns as objects

Nouns can also be objects of a transitive verb in a sentence. An object can be either a direct object (a noun that receives the action described by the verb) or an indirect object (a noun that receives direct object).

In both of the above sentences, the noun salt is the direct object of the verb passed; the salt is what Cleo passed. In the second sentence, there is also an indirect object: the noun Otto. Otto is the person to whom Cleo passed the salt; Otto is the recipient of the salt. A good way to identify an indirect object in a sentence is to ask yourself to whom/what or for whom/what something is being done.

Nouns as subject and object complements

Another role nouns sometimes perform in a sentence is that of a subject complement. A subject complement normally follows a linking verb such as be, become, or seem and gives more information about the subject of the sentence.

In this sentence, the noun teacher is being used as a subject complement. A teacher is what Mary is.

A related function of nouns is to act as an object complement, which provides more information about the direct object of a sentence with a transitive verb.

Husbands is a noun used as an object complement in this sentence. Verbs that denote making, naming, or creating are often followed by nouns behaving as object complements.

Nouns as appositives

A noun used as an appositive immediately follows another noun in order to further define or identify it. You can also say that the second noun is in apposition to the first noun.

Michael is an appositive here, further identifying the noun phrase my brother. Appositives can be restrictive or nonrestrictive; in the above example, we can see from the fact that it is set off between commas that Michael is nonrestrictive-that is, it could be left out of the sentence without leaving out essential information about who is six years old. In other words, we can surmise that Michael is the writer's only brother; telling us his name is extra information about him. Here is a version of the same sentence where the appositive is used restrictively, without being set off by commas:

In this case, the appositive Michael is providing information that is essential for narrowing down which brother the writer is telling us about. We can infer that they have multiple brothers, and understand that it is the one named Michael who is six years old.

Nouns as modifiers

Sometimes, nouns can be used to modify other nouns, functioning like adjectives. When they do this, they are often called attributive nouns. .

Speed is normally a noun, but here it is acting as an adjective to modify demon.

Noun FAQs

What are nouns?

Nouns refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. They serve as the subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects in a sentence, along with other roles.

What are some examples of nouns?

Nouns can be living things ( Keanu Reeves or cat), places ( beach or Detroit), things ( ruler or PlayStation 5), or ideas ( nihilism or the theory of evolution).

What are the different types of nouns?

Common nouns refer to general things (like parks), and proper nouns refer to a specific thing (like Yellowstone National Park). Nouns can also be plural or singular, depending on how many there are, countable or uncountable, and possessive or not possessive.

How do you identify a noun in a sentence?

Nouns often have articles ( the, a, or an) before them in a sentence, but not always. Sometimes you'll see adjectives like red or some before nouns. Aside from the first word in a sentence, if a word is capitalized, then it's most likely a proper noun, such as a person's name.

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What Is a Noun? Definition, Types, and Examples

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Find out all about the proper uses and types of nouns. Use our handy examples as a reference and you will never be confused about noun use again!

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What Are Pronouns? Definitions and Examples

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​​You use pronouns every day. In fact, even if you don’t know what pronouns are, you use them—and in this sentence alone, we’ve now used…

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An adverb is a part of speech that provides greater description to a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.

A great way to pick out an adverb from a sentence is to look for the word ending in -ly. Although that's not universally true, it's a great place to start. Also, given their function, these fundamental elements of the English language are usually placed right before or after the verb in the sentence.

Adverbs are intensifiers and they can even come in the form of an adverb phrase. That just means you're looking at two or more words that act as an adverb. Let's take some time to dive (v.) deeply (adv.) into these popular modifiers.

Defining an Adverb

What is an adverb? Well, first, it's important to understand the words adverbs work closely with, starting with verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being, i.e. jump, run, swim, ski, fish, talk.

An adjective is a word that describes or clarifies a noun, i.e. pretty, happy, silly, sunny.

A noun is a person, place or thing - in its simplest definition, i.e. girl, dog, mom.

Once you see a few examples, it'll be easy to see how adverbs function in a sentence. To simplify things, they explain the action.

Here are some examples of adverbs modifying verbs:

Adverbs can also modify adjectives or other adverbs. They provide more information about that other descriptive word. For example:

In this sentence, the adverb "very" is describing the adverb "quickly" ("very quickly" can be used as an adverb phrase).

In this sentence, the adverb "incredibly" is describing the adjective "pretty."

Identifying an Adverb

So, you can tell whether or not a word is an adverb by considering its function in the sentence. If it is describing a verb, adjective or other adverb it's an adverb.

Let's talk a little bit more about that -ly ending. We've compiled a list of 100 adverbs, and you'll see that many of them end in -ly. While that's a popular way to identify these modifiers, it's important to remember that isn't universally true. Don't forget adverbs such as "always", "often", "sometimes", "seldom", and "never." You've also got conjunctive adverbs such as "also," "besides," "meanwhile," and "likewise."

But, since the -ly form is very common let's keep the party going with a few more examples:

You can tell that these words are adverbs because they're describing the verbs in the sentence and they end in -ly.

Many high-frequency words are also adverbs. For example, "very," "much," "more," and "many" can all be adverbs.

Common Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives

Since adverbs and adjectives both modify other words, people often mistakenly use an adjective when they should use an adverb and vice versa. For example, the following sentence is incorrect:

This is incorrect because "bad" is an adjective being used to describe "behaved," which is a verb. It should read:

On the other hand, this would be correct:

Here, the adjective "bad" is correctly describing the noun "behavior."

Good and Well

The words good and well are common triggers to the adverb vs. adjective confusion. It's important to remember this:

Good is an adjective that modifies nouns.
For example: That good boy (n.) just gave his little sister a hug.

Well is an adverb that modifies verbs or even adjectives.
For example: He listens (v.) well.

That well educated (adj) woman went on to marry a celebrity.

Adverb Practice

To practice what you've learned here, see if you can identify the adverb in each of the following sentences. (Answers at the bottom of the page.)

1. Jim will miss the many wonderful people at work.

2. Joe walked slowly and steadily up the hill.

3. Becky ate quickly and then felt sick.

4. Jill is very late.

5. Clark wanted to see the great, big house.

For more practice, you can use YourDictionary's Adverb Flashcards, complete with definitions, to discover new adverb vocabulary words.

Be a Cautious Adverb Advocate

We hope this information will help you rise above any common adjective/adverb mistakes and fully answer your questions about what is an adverb. You can now properly describe all of your actions from here on out.

There's just one thing left to note. Don't lean too hard on adverbs. Consider them more like the neighbor you see occasionally, not the one who constantly drops by unannounced. Writers like to cut out redundancies and keep their prose as tight as possible. If you feel like you're using too many -ly words to tell a story, you're probably right.

Having said that, feel free to gleefully brag to your friends about your new knowledge and refresh your memory at any time with these adverb quizzes.

Answers to Adverb Practice:

1. Jim will miss the many wonderful people at work.
Many is the adverb, which modifies the adjective wonderful, which modifies the noun people.

2. Joe walked slowly and steadily up the hill.
Slowly and steadily are both adverbs, describing the way Joe walked.

3. Becky ate quickly and then felt sick.
Quickly is the adverb here, modifying the verb ate.

4. Jill is very late.
Very is an adverb modifying late, which is an adjective modifying Joe.

5. Clark wanted to see the great, big house.
Great is an adverb modifying "big," which is an adjective modifying the noun "house."

What Is an Adverb?

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An adverb is a part of speech that provides greater description to a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence. A great way to pick out an adverb from a sentence is to look for the word ending in -ly. Although that's not universally true, it's a great place to start.

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What Is an Adjective? Usage and Examples | Grammarly

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Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

Adjectives modify nouns

As you may already know, adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives do not modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives.

In the sentences above, the adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately before the nouns they modify.

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But adjectives can modify nouns even without appearing right before them in a sentence. Acting as what's called a subjective complement with the help of a linking verb, a predicate adjective modifies the subject of a sentence. A linking verb is a verb like to be, to feel, to seem, or to taste that, rather than describing an action, helps to describe a state of being or a sensory experience.

Uses of adjectives

Adjectives tell the reader what kind of something you're talking about, or how much or how many of something you're talking about.

Three and white are modifying flowers.

Often, when adjectives are used together, you should separate them with a comma or conjunction. See "Coordinate adjectives" below for more detail.

Degrees of adjectives

Adjectives come in three forms, known as degrees: absolute, comparative, and superlative.

Absolute adjectives describe something in its own right.

Comparative adjectives, unsurprisingly, make a comparison between two or more things. For most one-syllable adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding the suffix -er (or just -r if the adjective already ends with an e). For two-syllable adjectives, some use -er to form the comparative while others use the word more. In general, two-syllable adjectives ending in - er, - le, - ow, - ure, or - y can be made comparative by adding -er (in the case of -y words, replace y with - ier). For adjectives of three or more syllables, add the word more.

Superlative adjectives indicate that something has the highest degree of the quality in question. One-syllable adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est (or just -st for adjectives that already end in e). As with the comparative, some two-syllable adjectives use -est to form the superlative while others use the word most. In general, two-syllable adjectives ending in -y replace -y with -iest. Adjectives of three or more syllables add the word most. When you use an article with a superlative adjective, it will almost always be the definite article ( the) rather than a or an. Using a superlative inherently indicates that you are talking about a specific item or items.

Coordinate adjectives

Coordinate adjectives should be separated by a comma or the word and. Adjectives are said to be coordinate if they modify the same noun in a sentence to the same degree.

Sometimes, when two adjectives appear next to each other and modify the same noun, the one closer to the noun is so closely related to the noun that they form a single semantic unit together, and that unit is what is modified by the first adjective. In this case, the adjectives are not coordinate and should not be separated by a comma.

In some cases, it's pretty hard to tell whether two adjectives are coordinate or not. But there are a couple of ways you can test them. Try inserting the word and between the adjectives to see if the phrase still seems natural. In the first sentence above, "this tattered and woolen sweater" doesn't sound right, because you really aren't talking about a sweater that is both tattered and woolen in the same way. It's a woolen sweater inherently, and it has become tattered. Woolen sweater forms a unit of meaning that is modified by tattered.

Another way to test for coordinate adjectives is to try switching the order of the adjectives and seeing if the phrase still works. In the second sentence, you wouldn't say "No one could open the silver old locket." You can't reverse the order of the adjectives because silver locket is a unit that is modified by old.

Adjectives vs. adverbs

Many of us learned in school that adjectives modify nouns and that adverbs modify verbs. But as we've seen, adjectives don't need to be right next to nouns in order to modify them; they can do so from after a linking verb in a sentence, as predicate adjectives. This leads to a common type of mistake: using an adverb when what you want is a predicate adjective. Here's an example you've probably heard before:

Because feel is a verb, it may seem to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But feel isn't just any verb; it's a linking verb. An adverb would describe how you perform the action of feeling-an adjective describes what you feel. "I feel badly" would mean that you are bad at feeling things. If you're trying to read Braille through thick leather gloves, then it might make sense for you to say "I feel badly." But if you're trying to say that you are experiencing a negative emotion, "I feel bad" is the phrase you want.

It's easier to see this distinction with a different linking verb. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

"Max smells badly" means that Max, the poor thing, has a weak sense of smell. "Max smells bad" means that Max stinks-poor us.

When nouns are adjectives and adjectives are nouns

One more thing you should know about adjectives is that, sometimes, a word that is normally used as a noun can function as an adjective, depending on its placement.

Guide is a noun, but in this sentence, it is being put to use as an adjective to modify dog.

It works the other way too: Sometimes words that are normally adjectives shift into use as nouns. Many times this happens with adjectives used to denote a group of people, with the addition of the:

In the above examples, the word people has been elided and the adjectives French, rich, and poor are functioning as nouns. This kind of shift happens with other kinds of adjective-noun pairs too, however, especially when they are commonly used together:

In these sentences, the nouns exam and qualities have been elided.

Adjective usage advice

We'll end with a few words about adjectives and style. It's one thing to know how to use an adjective; it's another to know when using one is a good idea. Good writing is precise and concise. Sometimes you need an adjective to convey exactly what you mean. It's hard to describe a red sports car without the word red. But often, choosing the right noun eliminates the need to tack on an adjective. Is it a big house, or is it a mansion? A large crowd or a throng? A mixed-breed dog or a mutt? A dark night or just . . . night? Always aim to make every word count in your writing. If you need an adjective, use it. But if it's not pulling its weight, delete it.

Adjective FAQs

What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes the traits, qualities, or number of a noun.

What are examples of adjectives?

Descriptive words like beautiful, smooth, and heavy are all adjectives, as are numbers (" twelve eggs").

What is the difference between adjectives and adverbs?

Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. For example, in the phrase "very funny movie," funny is an adjective describing the noun movie, and very is an adverb describing the adjective funny.

Can adjectives modify adverbs?

Adjectives can modify only nouns. Only adverbs can modify other adverbs.

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Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the...