[Sidenote: _By ellipses, nouns used to modify._]

18. Nouns used as descriptive terms. Sometimes a noun is attached
to another noun to add to its meaning, or describe it; for example, "a
_family_ quarrel," "a _New York_ bank," "the _State Bank Tax_ bill,"
"a _morning_ walk."

It is evident that these approach very near to the function of
adjectives. But it is better to consider them as nouns, for these
reasons: they do not give up their identity as nouns; they do not
express quality; they cannot be compared, as descriptive adjectives
are.

They are more like the possessive noun, which belongs to another word,
but is still a noun. They may be regarded as elliptical expressions,
meaning a walk _in the morning_, a bank _in New York_, a bill _as to
tax on the banks_, etc.

NOTE.--If the descriptive word be a _material_ noun, it may be
regarded as changed to an adjective. The term "_gold_ pen" conveys the
same idea as "_golden_ pen," which contains a pure adjective.


WORDS AND WORD GROUPS USED AS NOUNS.

[Sidenote: _The noun may borrow from any part of speech, or from any
expression._]

19. Owing to the scarcity of distinctive forms, and to the