Noun as modifier

• one type of consecutive nouns may be a noun acting as a modifier, as if an adjective (but not one)
• such nouns are called "attributive" nouns
  • also called "adjunct" (supporting of) nouns or "apposite" (related to)
• attributive nouns modify or qualify another noun
  • modify = change or add to the meaning of
  • qualify = limit the meaning of
  • attributive = provides an "attribute" or characteristic or quality to the other noun
• ex.: "dog food"
  • i.e.: "dog food" = "a type of food that is for dogs"
  • "dog" thereby indicates an attribute, or type or characteristic, of "food"
• example of multiple objects + a attributive nouns:
  • "The pitcher threw the batter a hardball pitch"
  • S: pitcher V: threw IO: catcher ADJ: hardball (appositive noun) DO: pitch
    • could also be expressed as: "the pitcher threw a (hardball) pitch to the catcher"
      • "hardball" = a noun, but here it is describing the direct object "pitch"
      • thus "hardball" is acting like an adjective
• the attributive noun is (almost) always singular
  • = because it is acting like an adjective, which always remains in the singular form ("red shoes" as opposed to "reds shoes")
  • = as a category or type, the noun must remain singular
  • exception for plural attributive nouns = special words such as "arms race" or "rewards card"
  • possessive attributive noun:
    • ex.: "the National's game"
    • these are often morphed into plural attributive, thus "National's game" becomes "Nationals game", "reward's card" becomes "rewards card", or "lady's night" becomes "ladies night"
  • multiple attributives
    • ex.: "beef dog food" or "
    • news headlines often use multiple attributives, such as "South Park man Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick dies again"
• strict grammatical terms does now apply the "attributive" label for "adjective homograph" nouns (such as "iron" or "paper") or "compounds" or "open compounds"
  • see https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/explanatory-notes/dict-attributive-nouns
• attributive nouns are not adjectives
  • the only syntactic form of an adjective that the attributive noun employs is the "prepositive" position
    • i.e., preceding the noun it modifies
      • big dog, small house
  • attributive nouns cannot operate as post-positive adjectives (following the noun):
    • whereas an adjective can be a subject complement:
      • boring meeting >> the meeting is boring
    • dog food >> food dog or business meeting >> meeting business << don't work
  • attributive nouns cannot operate as subject complements (as do adjectives)
    • the food is dog or the meeting is business << don't work
  • attributive nouns cannot take on a comparative form (as do adjectives)
    • whereas nouns can go from big to bigger
      • big test >> bigger test
    • attributive nouns cannot: businesser meeting << doesn't work
• see also additional entry on
  • "appositive phrase"
  • compound noun
  • noun adjunct
• see:
  • Noun adjunct (wiki)
  • Nouns as Modifiers (meg.com)