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I think a really good example of this is adjective precedence. For example, any native speaker immediately knows "wooden nice green big house" is wrong, and the
by cshimmin 4y ago
I think a really good example of this is adjective precedence. For example, any native speaker immediately knows "wooden nice green big house" is wrong, and they also immediately know that "nice big green wooden house" is the correct ordering. Good luck explaining why.
- aikinai 4y agoWow, that’s a really good one! I’ve never thought about that.
- nopinsight 4y agoHere's my own theory on this. The English adjective order does have some logic to it. opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose The adjective closer to noun tends to describe something more like an 'essence' of the noun. Changing the purpose adjective, eg 'savings account' to 'checking account', is more fundamental than changing other kinds of adjectives. The opinion adjectives are the most superficial and most fickle among them. I haven't tested this extensively enough. Your thoughts and counterexamples welcomed!