On semantic classification of modifiers

To search a large dictionary for a collocation expressing a desired meaning, the human reader needs some kind of hierarchical structure that would facilitate such search. In this paper, fragments of semantic classification of modifiers are elaborated based on several highly modifier-productive nouns, namely, common nouns person, action, look, corporation, and price, as well the terms coating, medium, and check. By modifiers meant are adjectives, participles, or preposition phrases syntactically dependent on the nouns. The classification rubrics proved to be heavily dependent on the modified headword noun and are representative fragments of a Roget-like thesaurus. It is shown that the modifiers under consideration are rather selective in their use, similarly to standard lexical functions (Us) by Mel'cuk, while for many nouns Us can be absent. The obtained classification rubrics can be used for other English nouns and for other languages. Some deficiencies of the proposed rubrics are discussed.