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figmentPez t1_j6lbj5k wrote

It feels wrong because it doesn't mean the same thing. Even though we aren't taught the adjective order, and there's even some debate over exactly what that order is, there still remains an implied difference in how the adjectives are being applied to the word.

One commonly cited order of adjectives is "Determiner, Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, and Purpose." Since size usually comes before color, big seems out of place in your second phrasing, since it is not an origin, material, or purpose. There's also more ambiguity in your second example, since "brick" could be describing the shade of brown, instead of the material of the wall.

In other discussion of adjective order I've seen people use a "great green dragon" and a "green great dragon" used as example of how adjective order matters. In a fantasy world the first would be a large sized member of the green dragon species/breed, while the latter would be a green colored member of the great dragon species.

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Dorocche t1_j6lp61y wrote

Yeah, I read the second sentence as meaning the wall is brick-brown. In this case, the order does carry meaning.

"The brown big brick wall" still sounds weird though, and I don't think it can be interpreted differently.

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AceDecade t1_j6lqj8z wrote

A brown wall made of big bricks?

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Captain-Griffen t1_j6mdx4v wrote

In spoken English, yes. In written English, that would be "brown, big-brick wall". Then again, it should be "The brown, big, brick wall" in written English to begin with.

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foolishle t1_j6otspm wrote

I would read “The brown big brick wall” as being a wall made of big bricks that were brown.

I think what happens is that if the adjectives go out of order your brain re-parses the list and assumes that they’re out of order for a reason and that there’s some kind of nesting is going on. some things are modifying other adjectives (sometimes nouning them) rather than the base noun.

Like “the old big cat” makes me assume that we are assessing “big cats” and talking about the old one.

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figmentPez t1_j6lra9p wrote

Well, if you really wanted to come up with a reason for that non-standard adjective order, it could be used to describe an average sized wall that is made of big bricks.

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Captain-Griffen t1_j6mdzhl wrote

Putting the brown first puts the emphasis on brown. Imagine two big brick walls, one brown, one green. "The brown big brick wall" no longer sounds wrong.

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czbz t1_j6ogub9 wrote

Right - but in the dragon example I don't think the second word in either phrase could be considered an adjective, if it's part of the name of the species.

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