In the sphere of grammar, we speak of adjectives to refer to substantiated adjectives. On the other hand, the word adjectival is used to refer to the literary style of each writer in relation to the use of the adjective itself in the narrative.
The substantive adjectives
Nouns or nouns have gender and number. Normally the adjective accompanies the noun to modify it and, on the other hand, the adjective and the noun must agree in gender and number. The adjectival process occurs when the adjective takes the place of the noun.
In the sentence "The young man won the game", the adjective young has been substantiated and acts as the nucleus of the sentence by accompanying the word man. In the sentence "Blues are the best players", the word blue is not used as an adjective but as a noun.
An adjective can be transformed into a noun if it is accompanied by a determiner. On the other hand, an adjective becomes a noun when we know what object we are referring to. Thus, in the sentence "I like yellow better", the adjective yellow refers to something that has this color and is actually a noun.
Adjectives in literature
The writer needs to use the adjective to qualify the reality it describes. Qualifying adjectives express qualities and add meaningful value to the narrative. There are novelists who resort to exuberant adjectives, while others use the adjective precisely.
In poetry there is a rhetorical figure based on adjectives. This figure is the epithet and consists of unnecessarily using an adjective. Thus, the dark night, the blue waters, the white snow or the thorny brambles would be some illustrative examples.
Adjectivation is considered a rhetorical figure in itself
It consists of incorporating several adjectives to accompany a noun. Thus, in the sentence "the athlete is agile, strong, fast and energetic" all the adjectives used qualify the noun. This rhetorical device is especially used in poetic language.
In journalistic language, adjectives have to be moderate and precise, since the purpose of the information is to explain what is happening in an objective way and for this the adjective must be used sparingly.
In short, the correct use of adjectives enriches a text, while abuse generates a distortion of the message.
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