English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
NOMINAL or ADJECTIVAL?
I took some ~linguistic~ classes (nonstandard).
I took some linguistics classes (standard).
In the sentences above, the intent of the speaker is to say that s/he took some classes or took some courses in linguistics. That being the case, the nominal adjective, linguistics, should be used. Nominal adjectives are nouns that are used to qualify other nouns like adjectives do.
Professor Wale Adegbite is a ~linguistics~ virtuoso (nonstandard).
Professor Wale Adegbite is a linguistic virtuoso (standard).
In this second instance, the adjective ‘linguistic’ is appropriate to qualify the noun, virtuoso.
Other examples are:
My linguistics lecturer ✔️ (my lecturer who teaches linguistics; not my lecturer who is linguistic in nature)
My linguistic courses ✔️ (the adjective ‘linguistic’ qualifies the noun ‘courses’).
GAB
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