Subject: the lexicogrammar of adjectives : a systemic functional approach to lexis

tucker , gordon h ( cardiff university ) ; the lexicogrammar of adjectives : a systemic functional approach to lexis ; published by cassell ; hb . : 0 304 33903 2 ; us $ 75 . 00 / 50 . 00 adjectives are the third most important class of words ( after verbs and nouns ) , yet this is the first book-length study in english of this central grammatical category . in it english adjectives are described within a framework which unifies semantics and syntax ; this has important implications for the modelling of lexis in general . it has long been a principle of systemic functional linguistics - the theory in which the description is set - that lexis should be treated , in halliday 's words , as ' most delicate grammar ' . until now , this challenging concept has never been explored and tested for more than a few small areas of lexis . the research reported here is the first large-scale test of this hypothesis . after a thorough survey of the relevant literature , gordon tucker provides a linguistic description of the meanings and forms of the adjectives themselves , the structures that occur around them , and the funtions that such units perform as elements of other units ( such as the clause and the nominal group ) . the lexicogrammar of adjectives constitutes a major descriptive additon to our knowledge of the value of ' lexis as most delicate grammar ' . it is a major contribution to the theoretical modelling of language in general and of words in particular . its conclusions are important both for systemic functional linguistics and for linguistic theory in general . available for review . email : sales @ cassellexport . demon . co . uk
