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All the dictionaries I've consulted say that 'home' is an adverb and a noun, depending on context. For example:

(1) He went home. [adverb]

(2) He is at home. [noun]

Also, there's this answer of John Lawler's that seemingly resolves the issue of why 'home' sometimes should be analyzed as an adverb.

But what about this example?

(3) I can find my way home.

Can you also say that home in (3) is an adverb? It seems to me that home in (3) cannot be an adverb, because I think it functions as a complement of the noun way and that my way home as a whole is a noun phrase.

Even if we accept John Lawler's analysis in the above quoted answer of considering home "one of those idiomatic locative nouns that are allowed to drop determiners and occasionally even prepositions," we cannot say home in (3) is an example of "how a noun can be used as an adverb", because (3) can be analyzed as John Lawler suggests:

(3') I can find my way (to my) home.

Here, to my home is not an adverbial prepositional phrase but an adjectival prepositional phrase that acts as a complement of the noun way. So, to take what John Lawler said and adapt it to (3), "what it is is an [adjectival] prepositional phrase that has been stripped of its prepositions and determiners, leaving only a naked noun to stand for the whole phrase. That's how a noun can be used as an [adjective]."

Now, does this mean we should call home a noun, an adverb, or an adjective, depending on context?

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JK2
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  • In "home cooking," "home" should probably be viewed as an adjective. Problem is, language came first, and then a bunch of nerds started to attach rules to it, not all of them quite sensible or useful. In the phrase "I'll just find my way home," the word "home" stands in for "to the place where I currently happen to be residing," "place" being - what? - subject? - noun? - So I would think "home" in "my way home" is a noun after all, but what do I know. – Ricky Apr 20 '17 at 06:32
  • As John Lawler said, "home" acts most like a prepositional phrase, not like an adverb (prepositional phrases are not actually "adverbs", but they can be used adverbially). Prepositional phrases can be used after the word "way": " I can find my way to the store." So maybe it is no surprise that "home" can also be used in this position. – herisson Apr 20 '17 at 11:34
  • @sumelic I'm not saying that "home" cannot be used after "way", or that "home" doesn't act like a prepositional phrase. Your comment doesn't address my question or only tangentially does so. – JK2 Apr 20 '17 at 11:39
  • Well, there's a reason it was a comment and not an answer. I wanted to understand if you agreed that there is a difference between an "adverbial prepositional phrase" or a word "used as an adverb" and a word that we "should call... an adverb." As far as I can see, John Lawler doesn't say that we should ever call "home" an adverb. – herisson Apr 20 '17 at 11:42
  • @sumelic Could you explain the difference? John Lawler said, and I quote, "That's how a noun can be used as an adverb." Do you mean he believes that we should still call it a noun when it is "used as an adverb"? Even if he does, what does that have any significance in my question? Essentially, in his answer, John Lawler was backing up the traditional grammar and the labeling of 'home' as "an adverb" in all the dictionaries out there. So I think you can say he was essentially saying that we should call "home" an adverb. – JK2 Apr 20 '17 at 11:51
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    The difference as I use the words is that "adverbs" are a class of words while "adverbial" is a type of function or grammatical role assigned to phrases. See Araucaria's answer here: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/266755/adverbial-phrase/266799#266799 – herisson Apr 20 '17 at 11:55
  • @sumelic Maybe, you're confusing an adverbial phrase having two or more words with an adverbial phrase having one word, i.e., an adverb. Araucaria's answer, as I understand it, talks only about the former. (And understandably so. Because parts of speech are originally intended for words, not for phrases.) But my question is only about the latter case, because "home" is a single word that is said to function as a noun and an adverb according to all the dictionaries out there. So, your distinction between adverbs and adverbials is moot, I think. – JK2 Apr 20 '17 at 12:14
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    I would say it is a single-word prepositional phrase. (A phrase may be but doesn't have to be more than one word.) If "home" were an adjective, it would be expected to come before "way". – herisson Apr 20 '17 at 12:21
  • @sumelic I'm not saying that a phrase cannot have a single word. In fact, I would define any phrase as comprising one or more words. That said, it's a non-issue here whether to view "home" as a phrase or not. The issue here is whether it is logical to define "home" as a noun and an adverb as all the dictionaries do, while no dictionary in the world defines it as an adjective when they should if there were to follow the same logic. – JK2 Apr 20 '17 at 12:32
  • @sumelic Snap! See my post below :) – Araucaria - Him Apr 20 '17 at 13:48

2 Answers2

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Home is a preposition according to modern grammars such as Oxford Modern English Grammar (Aarts 2011) or The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston & Pullum 2002).

According to such grammars, although prepositions often—prototypically in fact—take noun phrase complements, this is not an essential feature of the word category. In the same way that verbs that don't take objects are still verbs, prepositions that don't take objects are still prepositions.

First of all, notice that home patterns like other preposition phrases in the Original Poster's example, as a complement of the noun way:

  • I can find my way out of the building.
  • I can find my way out.
  • I can find my way through.
  • I can find my way through the forest.
  • I can find my way home.

In addition home can be modified by the specialised adverbs right and straight, which modify prepositions but not usually adverbs:

  • Go straight home.
  • Go straight past the station
  • I have to go right home.
  • Go right through the forest.

In addition, home cannot be modified by the adverb very which freely modifies adverbs (at least those with a gradable meaning) but not prepositions (even those which are gradable):

  • *I went very home. (ungrammatical)
  • *I went very past the station. (ungrammatical)
  • I went very slowly.

Unlike adverbs, prepositions such as home can function as locative complements of the verb BE:

  • Are you in the building?
  • Are you home yet?
  • *Are you locally? (ungrammatical)

Unlike adverbs , preposition phrases commonly modify nouns:

  • people home alone
  • the man in a hat
  • *the locally shop (ungrammatical noun phrase)
  • *the shop locally (ungrammatical noun phrase)
  • *the beautifully woman (ungrammatical noun phrase)
  • *the woman beautifully (ungrammatical noun phrase)

Thus the evidence would seem to suggest that home is a preposition and not an adverb.

Araucaria - Him
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To address the question in the title, I would say that "home" can certainly be an adjective as in (as one commenter noted) "home cooking" (as opposed to fancy restaurant-style cooking), "home base" (as opposed to other bases), or "home office" (as opposed to an office outside one's residence.)

Roger Sinasohn
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