|
Adjectives, nouns, and verbs were less rigidly confined to particular classes in Shakespeare\'s day. Adjectives could be used as adverbs:
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven
(I, i, 9-10)
\"New\" is used for \"newly.\" Adjectives could also be used as nouns:
Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!
(I, i, 182)
Here, \"fair\" is the equivalent of \"fairness\" or \"beauty.\" Adjectives could also be used as verbs. \"Coy\" means \"to caress\" in
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
(IV, i, 2)
Nouns could be used as verbs. \"Square\" means \"to fight, quarrel\" in
But they do square,
(II, i, 30)
Nouns could also be used as verbals, like \"flews\" (dog\'s jowls) and \"sand\" (the color of sand) in
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind;
So flewed, so sanded;
(IV, i, 118-19)
|
