Functional Labels

The eight traditional parts of speech are indicated as follows:

adjective as in ¹bold noun as in bo.le.ro adverb as in hand.some.ly preposition as in ²under

conjunction as in ¹but pronoun as in some.one interjection as in oops verb as in ¹shrink

If a verb is both transitive and intransitive, the labels transitive verb and intransitive verb introduce the subdivisions:

Main Entry: flat.ten
Function: transitive verb
: to make flat . . .
intransitive verb
: to become flat or flatter . . .

If there is no subdivision, transitive verb or intransitive verb takes the place of verb:

Main Entry: ²fleece
Function: transitive verb

Main Entry: ap.per.tain
Function: intransitive verb

Labeling a verb as transitive, however, does not preclude occasional intransitive use (as in absolute constructions).

Other italicized labels used to indicate functional classifications that are not traditional parts of speech are:

combining form as in poly- noun combining form as in -logy adjective combining form as in -if.er.ous prefix as in super- service mark as in Gram.my adjective suffix as in ¹-ic adverb suffix as in -ward or -wards noun suffix as in -itis

verb suffix as in -ize trademark as in Ly.cra symbol as in -nd verbal auxiliary as in ¹may verb imperative as in gid.dap verb impersonal as in me.thinks certification mark as in NC-17

Two functional labels are sometimes combined:

Main Entry: zilch
Function: adjective or noun

Main Entry: afloat
Function: adjective or adverb

 

[Back to Explanatory Notes main page] [Back to Help main page]