Major parts of speech

General characteristics:

• ostentive definition of the word's meaning is possible (i.e. definition by pointing at the object/ the activity)
• the meaning is lexical, i.e. there is a referent in the world; we also call these words content words.
• diachronically, the words emerge and disappear fast (If there are new inventions or items/ activities go out of use)
• open word classes (i.e. words can be added to these classes)
• the word classes are defined by operational tests (we use semantic, morphological and syntactic criteria since it is impossible to give a complete list)

These properties contrast with those of the minor parts of speech.

Major parts of speech in English:

1. Nouns
2. Verbs
3. Adjectives
4. Adverbs
5. Prepositions

Back to Words