The OED has perhaps a quarter of a million words in English?

Any source on how many are nouns, verbs, adjectives...?

It isn't exactly a clear amount. Almost all verbs can be used as nouns, and nouns as verbs, given the correct suffix. Nouns can be used as adjectives, as well. I can't think of any cases off the top of my head where verbs become adjectives but I'm sure there are some. Adjectives can become verbs, like "blacken".

In English there are no nouns that cannot be verbed.

I cannot think of any verbs becoming adjectives through zero morphology, but it's trivially true that all verbs have nominal and adjectival forms in gerunds and participles.

quote:

In English there are no nouns that cannot be verbed.

I always taught my students never to say never. I think there must be one noun that can't be verbed.

quote:

I think there must be one noun that can't be verbed.

If you can find one then I will admit that I have been Kallehed.

Kalleh:

I shall ponder examples to prove your rule, but we can make it true immediately if we add "...in polite company."

Well, yes, Richard, what about proper names? They can't always be verbed.

So tell me of one that can't.

Well, I am in Oregon now...am I "Oregoned?" I suppose you can put an "ed" on anything and say that it has been "verbed," but then why don't you accept any group of letters as a word, including that e-word that you hate?

quote:

Well, I am in Oregon now...am I "Oregoned?"

Possibly - but for the word to have meaning it has to have association. If Oregon were know for some particular disease, say, to which most visitors succumbed, then it would be quite likely that the onset of the disease might get the name "Oregon" and eventually "to be orgeonned" might become a common expression.

It has happened in the past: the word "boycott" comes directly from the actions taken against the Irish land agent, Captain Boycott. And I have seen instances where a similar thing has happened recently - although few such creations seem to have much staying power

I don't think that pronouns can be "verbed" in any proper sort of usage.

Lots of things could be Richarded, but how many could be he'ed?

Generic he is oftentimes theyed.

quote:

I don't think that pronouns can be "verbed" in any proper sort of usage.

I did say "...In English there are no nouns that cannot be verbed...."

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
[QUOTE]I don't think that pronouns can be "verbed" in any proper sort of usage.

Right again, Richard. But there is a limit to the number of nouns that can be decently 'verbed'---Uuuugh!

Agreed. Just because a thing can be done, it doesn't mean it should!

I suppose the operative word here is cannot. Surely you can add "ed" to anything (including a pronoun, by the way), so you then can say "any noun (or pronoun) can be verbed." But the fact is, many, many nouns (or pronouns) can't be considered verbable...such as "Oregon."

A common noun that is verbed here in the U.S. is coffee. Just yesterday someone at my conference said she was "all coffeed out."

quote:

But the fact is, many, many nouns (or pronouns) can't be considered verbable...such as "Oregon."

But it could. See my example.

But like your example, "all coffeed out" the verb "Oregonned" would mean means nothing at all until you understand the context. Without context it means nothing. (as the term "all coffeed out means nothing in the UK - as yet, anyway)

But as Arnie said, because you can verb a noun there's no rule that says you must.

It's not really the addition of -ed that makes a denomial verb (for those who prefer old-fashioned terminology to the newer makes a verbed noun). English, to a degree, has something called zero morphology, which upsets a great many people, but is merely a part of how languages like English, and, to a greater degree, Mandarin Chinese work.

In languages like Latin, Russian, and other more inflected langauges, to turn a noun or adjective into a verb requires the addition of a derivational suffix. English still does this: e.g., black (adjective) to blacken 'to make (something) black'. But then, we have the ability to make word that is one part of speech as a different one, merely by using it that way: e.g., I verb nouns all the time.

English, just like many other languages, also has the ability to turn any verb into a noun (infinitive or gerund) or an adjective (present or past passive particples), regularly by adding some extra bit: to verb, verbing (gerund), verbing (adjective), or verbed.

(Of course, English has the disadvantage of mudding these waters by having periphrastic verbal moods, tenses, etc., which use these different forms as part of the verbal paradigm.)

a. To verb nouns is most uncouth. (infinitive)
b. The verbing of nouns ought to be deprecated. (gerund)
c. One oughtn't to go round verbing nouns too much. (present participle)
d. My verbed nouns are better than hers. (past participle)

Other languages have different verbal forms. For example, Latin has a gerundive form of the verb which is another verbal adjective, as well as a past and a future infinitive. The latter most famously demonstrated by nos morituri te salutamus Caesar "we who are about to die salute you Caesar".

Because Mandarin Chinese is usually said to have no inflectional morphology, pretty much any lexical item can be a noun, adjective, or verb, just by how it is used (i.e., its position in a sentence).

quote:

But as Arnie said, because you can verb a noun there's no rule that says you must.

Richard, that's what I've been saying all along. I am glad you finally gave in on that.

quote:

Richard, that's what I've been saying all along. I am glad you finally gave in on that.

Tell me where I said anything else.

quote:

In English there are no nouns that cannot be verbed.

I suppose it's all semantics (interestingly, we almost never use that word here), but to me that meant that all nouns can be made into legitimate verbs. Instead you apparently meant that you could just add "ed" or "ing" or something verbish to any noun, whether it would make a meaningful word or not.

I thought you were being serious. Sorry for the confusion.
[Changed "words" to "verbs" in the first sentence.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

quote:

but to me that meant that all nouns can be made into legitimate words.

I meant that. Tell what an illegitimate word might be ;-)

Any noun can be made into a verb; whether the verb thus created is useful, needed or even nice is a different matter.

Sorry, I had meant "legitimate verbs," not "words."

Richarding would not be a legitimate word or verb. If you question that, I am happy to contact John Simpson, and he might be able to clear this up for us.

To richard: vb : to display disdain for any drink described as beer, other than real ale.

Hey, Bob's just poured away a Budweiser - he's richarding again.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

quote:

Richarding would not be a legitimate word or verb.

Maybe not right now, but as Bob suggests, there is at least one application in which it could be considered legitimate and appropriate. That it might be even rarer in its use than epicaracy does not mean it's not a legitimate word.

There are many words that have come into being in a similar fashion to this.

Kalleh, you were visting Oregon for a while, but now you're oregone.

Or perhaps orewent?