ABSTRACT
8.11. As already indicated (1.31) the different parts of speech are marked off by formal criteria. The chief criteria by which substantives as such are distinguished from other parts of speech, are the formation of the plural by means of the endings, etc., enumerated in 2.21, and the formation of a genitive in 's. Neither of these criteria, however, is absolute and applicable to all substantives; there are some substantives which form no plural, and there are a great many substantives from which a genitive is never formed. As a third criterion might be mentioned the capability of taking an (adjective) adjunct; especially when a word can take one of the articles the and a before it, we seldom hesitate to reckon it among substantives.
