Adjectives: an outline of diachronic considerations

Abstract

This study outlines part of the history of the adjective, covering western thought, starting from Greek reflections, and looking at Roman foundations and their ramifications. We describe the context of the philosophical thought in which adjectives were described by Plato, and we demonstrate that due to the syntactic-semantic behavior fairly peculiar to this grammatical class, attempts were made over time to comprehend adjectives, grouping them into different classes, with the aim of increasing knowledge of the fluid behavior of this category. The main aim of this article is, therefore, to present a brief historical panorama of the configuration of the adjective class, in order to demonstrate that interest in this grammatical category follows a long tradition in western linguistic research.