Generic mood
Information about Generic mood
The generic mood, in linguistics, is a mood used to make generalized comments about a class of thing. In English, generic verbs are not morphologically distinct from indicative. In most cases, generic statements can only be recognized by context and linguistic experience.
For instance, the sentence "Elephants are gray" could, strictly, be either generic or indicative. However, it is generally recognized as generic, due to the fact that the word "elephants" is not preceded by an article. If the sentence were reframed as "The elephants are gray", then it would seem to be an indicative statement, describing the nature of certain individual elephants. However, it could, in a strict sense, be a generic sentence as well, meaning what would generally be expressed as "Certain elephants are gray". The sentence "Elephants are white", if referring to certain white elephants, could be technically accurate. However, since it follows the pattern of a generic sentence, it would seem to be incorrect.
Certain formations are less ambiguous, however. The sentence "A mother can always tell", for example, would never be regarded as an indicative sentence describing the nature of a particular mother, but as a generic sentence describing the intuitive abilities of mothers in general. To communicate the former concept, one would have to use the circumlocutive "A particular mother can always tell", or "This mother can always tell", etc.
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For instance, the sentence "Elephants are gray" could, strictly, be either generic or indicative. However, it is generally recognized as generic, due to the fact that the word "elephants" is not preceded by an article. If the sentence were reframed as "The elephants are gray", then it would seem to be an indicative statement, describing the nature of certain individual elephants. However, it could, in a strict sense, be a generic sentence as well, meaning what would generally be expressed as "Certain elephants are gray". The sentence "Elephants are white", if referring to certain white elephants, could be technically accurate. However, since it follows the pattern of a generic sentence, it would seem to be incorrect.
Certain formations are less ambiguous, however. The sentence "A mother can always tell", for example, would never be regarded as an indicative sentence describing the nature of a particular mother, but as a generic sentence describing the intuitive abilities of mothers in general. To communicate the former concept, one would have to use the circumlocutive "A particular mother can always tell", or "This mother can always tell", etc.
See also
For the journal, see .
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist...... Click the link for more information.
In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood (or mode), which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. Many languages express distinctions of mood through morphology, by changing (inflecting) the form of the verb.
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English}}}
Writing system: Latin (English variant)
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng
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Writing system: Latin (English variant)
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng
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verb is a word belonging to the part of speech that usually denotes an action (bring, read), an occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand).
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For other uses, see Morphology.
Morphology is the field within linguistics that studies the internal structure of words. (Words as units in the lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology...... Click the link for more information.
Elephantidae
Gray, 1821
Subfamilia
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Gray, 1821
Subfamilia
- See Classification
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article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. The three main articles in the English language are the, an and a.
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white elephant is a supposedly valuable possession whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness, and it is therefore a liability. The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by traditional Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
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Intuition is "the immediate apprehension of an object by the mind without the intervention of any reasoning process" [Oxford English Dictionary].
Intuition is "1 : Immediate apprehension or cognition without reasoning or inferring 2 : knowledge or conviction gained by
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Intuition is "1 : Immediate apprehension or cognition without reasoning or inferring 2 : knowledge or conviction gained by
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Circumlocution is a figure of speech where the meaning of a word or phrase is indirectly expressed through several or many words. It may be used when defining a term, for example: "scissors" = "a thing you use to cut other things".
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Generic antecedents are representives of classes, indicated by a reference in ordinary language (most often a pronoun), where gender is typically unknown or irrelevant.
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gnomic (gnomic present, etc.).
A gnomic present states that something does happen or that something is true. A gnomic future (the rarest of the three usages) similarly states that certain events often occur, without being concerned with any specific impending event.
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A gnomic present states that something does happen or that something is true. A gnomic future (the rarest of the three usages) similarly states that certain events often occur, without being concerned with any specific impending event.
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