Editing Adjective (section)

==Semantics==
{{Expand section|with=other aspects of adjective semantics|talk=Problems with Semantics Section|date=August 2022}}

Semanticist [[Barbara Partee]] classifies adjectives semantically as [[Intersective modifier|intersective]], [[Subsective modifier|subsective]], or nonsubsective, with nonsubsective adjectives being plain nonsubsective or [[Privative adjective|privative]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Partee |first=Barbara |url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4671/An-Invitation-to-Cognitive-ScienceLanguage |title=An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Language |publisher=The MIT Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-262-15044-6 |editor-last=Gleitman |editor-first=Lila |language=en |chapter=Lexical semantics and compositionality |doi=10.7551/mitpress/3964.003.0015 |author-link=Barbara Partee |editor2-last=Liberman |editor2-first=Mark |editor3-last=Osherson |editor3-first=Daniel N.}}</ref>

* An adjective is intersective if and only if the [[Extension (semantics)|extension]] of its combination with a noun is equal to the [[intersection]] of its extension and that of the noun its modifying. For example, the adjective ''carnivorous'' is intersective, given the extension of ''carnivorous mammal'' is the intersection of the extensions of ''carnivorous'' and ''mammal'' (i.e., the set of all mammals who are carnivorous).
* An adjective is subsective if and only if the extension of its combination with a noun is a subset of the extension of the noun. For example, the extension of ''skillful surgeon'' is a subset of the extension of ''surgeon'', but it is not the intersection of that and the extension of ''skillful'', as that would include (for example) incompetent surgeons who are skilled violinists. All intersective adjectives are subsective, but the term 'subsective' is sometimes used to refer to only those subsective adjectives which are not intersective.
* An adjective is privative if and only if the extension of its combination with a noun is [[Disjoint sets|disjoint]] from the extension of the noun. For example, ''fake'' is privative because a <u>fake</u> cat is not a cat.
* A plain nonsubsective adjective is an adjective that is not subsective or privative. For example, the word ''possible'' is this kind of adjective, as the extension of ''possible murderer'' overlaps with, but is not included in the extension of ''murderer'' (as some, but not all, possible murderers are murderers).