abstract (adj.)

(1) (abstr) A term used in PHONOLOGY to describe any analytical approach which relies on unobservable elements, such as UNDERLYING forms; opposed to concrete or natural. Theories vary in the amount of abstractness they permit, and this is sometimes reflected in the title of an individual approach, such as in NATURAL GENERATIVE PHONOLOGY.

(2) A traditional term used in GRAMMAR to describe NOUNS which lack observable REFERENCE, such as thought, mystery and principle; opposed to concrete, where the nouns have physical attributes, such as tree, box and dog. The distinction is treated with caution in LINGUISTICS because of the difficulty of deciding which category many nouns belong to, especially when dealing with all aspects of perception and behavior. Music and happiness, for example, have been called abstract nouns, though the first is perceptible to the senses, and the second can be related to observable behavior. Linguistically oriented grammars prefer to operate with such FORMAL distinctions as COUNTABILITY.