Talk:Proper adjective

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[edit] Origin of this article

This article was inspired by a question on the reference desk: Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Language/June 2006#“Proper Adjectives”?. --Mathew5000 19:29, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Any support from linguists?

The term "proper adjective" does not seem to appear in the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language at all. While it is true that some adjectives derive from proper nouns, they appear to function just like all other adjectives. This would make the term "proper adjective" something of a misnomer wouldn't it? After all, the reason proper nouns and common nouns are distinguished in grammar is not for the sake of capitalization, but because they apply to different kinds of nouns. A common noun assigns an object to a class of similar objects while a proper noun or proper name is the name of a specific and unique entity. The so-called "proper adjectives" may modify common nouns and don;t seem to have any difference in behavior from all other adjectives. So, this isn't a separate part of speech, but merely a quirk of etymology. The article really needs to clarify this point. Right now, all the references are simply for points of capitalization, and don;t suport the meat of this article at all. --EncycloPetey 23:36, 13 July 2007 (UTC)